When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Where can upper ball joint bolts and nutts be sourced?
They seem to be, and most likely ARE, a unique item?
Pleased for the time off (actually layed off without pay last week! Terrible social policy in the USA) so amongst a bunch of other things car,,, I decided to replace the front ball joints on Cherry Pie today. They said it was supposed to be easy!
Actually it was not bad at all.. Got the passengers side done-ish. I'll explain.
Driver's side upper bolt. The one with the tappered head closest to the rotor will not come off. It spins but is stripped. I just left everything alone for now on the LH side... Then, replacing the passengers side upper, the top bolt just spins and I can't torque it down.
Advise on getting them off is welcomed... I think if I pry at them while turning I can get the nuts off. Hate the idea of grinding them off. I'm not to worried about that part...
What I am worried about is finding replacements...
I've looked around and can't find a new set of four... Have seen plenty of the four lower,,, but no upper? I can't be the first this has happened to...?
Any suggestions on a set of replacement ball joint bolts???
Something from master carr with the head ground down???
Grade 8 3/8 fine bolt usually can be found at Reimans on the NS and Garber on the SS.
I prefer to use Stainless bolts with stainless nyloc nuts. Both can be found at Lowes on the NS or SS.
The rounded head isn't a deal braker and you can use a standard bolt in a pinch or if you are so inclined....just leave the bolt normal or the taper can be replicated with a file or grinder if you worried about the caliper hitting when at full lock.
Last edited by icsamerica; Mar 30, 2020 at 08:01 PM.
All the normal suppliers have this bolt JJJ. The one in the ebay listing is the one you want and it will be correct. If you use a normal bolt without grinding it down, it WILL ruin your disc. I would buy the correct part.
As for your other questions, can you be a bit clearer please? Are you looking for the actual ball joints? or for some bolts. Can you explain what this means in your post? "What I am worried about is finding replacements... I've looked around and can't find a new set of four... Have seen plenty of the four lower,,, but no upper? I can't be the first this has happened to...?"
I think he's talking about the availability of the 4x 'special' bolts for the lower ball joint that are available in a lot of places.
Upper balljoint bolts are 3/8" UNF.
Rear most longer bolt has a 4" long shank/thread length.
Front shorter bolt has 2.5" thread, with dome head. To make one, put the bolt in a drill chuck, spin it up & use an angle grinder on it perpendicularly to smooth it out.
All the normal suppliers have this bolt JJJ. The one in the ebay listing is the one you want and it will be correct. If you use a normal bolt without grinding it down, it WILL ruin your disc. I would buy the correct part.
As for your other questions, can you be a bit clearer please? Are you looking for the actual ball joints? or for some bolts. Can you explain what this means in your post? "What I am worried about is finding replacements... I've looked around and can't find a new set of four... Have seen plenty of the four lower,,, but no upper? I can't be the first this has happened to...?"
Good Morning. Sorry about the confusion. I 'talk' too much.
I have the 4 ball joints. I need all four upper ball joint bolts and nutts that hold the ball joints to the upper arms...
2 ball joints successfully installed on the RH side. BUT, on the RH side, of the 2 bolts on the UPPER ball joint, when torquing the one furthers from the wheel, it keeps spinning and won't torque down. Need a new one and want to replace both while I am at it.
On the LH side (the reason I did this anyways as the lower LH ball joint is shot),,, I was immediately faced with a bolt (the inner closest to the rotor) that would not spin off. Stripped on. So, rather than gett myself in any deeper I paused and moved to the other side.
I want to replace all 4 top bolts. The 4 (2 on each side) that hold the ball joint to the upper arms.
Where and how that tapered outer most bolt sits is close close close to the rotor... While I'm not afraid of an angle grinder, I am a little afraid of producing something that will struggle to remove in the future - a rounded head.
And,,, I now have two bolts that have nutts on them that won't easily thread OFF the bolts...
Thanks for y'alls help and attention...
ICS,,, I have a key and KTM (Key Transponder Module) that don't talk to eachother on my 2003 XKR Portfolio... Know a good automotive lock person on the island that programs keys to cars???? Looks like I have to shell out a few bucks - which I hate.
Buy the correct bolts from Jaguar, Manners or similar, they are cheap. Cut of the nut from the ones that will not undo, once you have the new bolts in yor hand. The outer-most (rounded-headed bolt MUST go into the upper arm and the ball joint from the FRONT so the rounded head is at the front. If you turn the wheel to full LH lock you will see that on the RH wheel that bolt head is very close to the disc. Note that there are shims each side of the ball joint, these control the Caster (sometimes called king pin inclination) and as a rule of thumb space them evenly two each side.
ICS,,, I have a key and KTM (Key Transponder Module) that don't talk to eachother on my 2003 XKR Portfolio... Know a good automotive lock person on the island that programs keys to cars???? Looks like I have to shell out a few bucks - which I hate.
Buy the correct bolts from Jaguar, Manners or similar, they are cheap. Cut of the nut from the ones that will not undo, once you have the new bolts in yor hand. The outer-most (rounded-headed bolt MUST go into the upper arm and the ball joint from the FRONT so the rounded head is at the front. If you turn the wheel to full LH lock you will see that on the RH wheel that bolt head is very close to the disc. Note that there are shims each side of the ball joint, these control the Caster (sometimes called king pin inclination) and as a rule of thumb space them evenly two each side.
Understood... And, good to know.
For some reason the RH side has all four spacers on the forward side of the upper ball joint. I didn't like the looks of it but replaced them in the same place when I put everything back together...
I will keep searching for the parts. Perhaps I will find a local Jag dealer and give them a call/email...
So the proper bolts are on there way. With another question, about nutts (as far as I know these bolts didn't ship with nutts), a regular sized nylock nutt should do the trick, yes? Inner and outer?
With all the projects I got going on, I hate mid job surprise... And I always get em! Lol...
What a thing today! Replaced bolts both sides. And upper and lower ball joints LH side AND passengers side (RH) bearings this afternoon. What a beautiful day weather wise, tho! About the nicest day this year. I like the looks of the shims being 2 and 2. Let's see if a difference can be noticed.
Thanks y'all for your help in this.
Thing of it is, and I don't know if these were the ORIGINAL ball joints, them damn things (event the one with little or no boot remaining) were still tough and stiff. Was hard to bin them (so I didn't, lol). I think they ARE better equipment than the ones I installed. British Parts Joints.
The old (stripped) bolts were not hard to remove. Loosened the ones (one stripped on either side - would tighten but not completely) that were still good til 3 or 4 threads held on the nut. Wedged a good sized screwdriver into the space and applied some pressure will turning the stripped but, and they back right off. I was relieved. I didn't wanna be shaving, cutting, wrestling with a 9/16ths nut and bolt today. I'm ALWAYS amazed at how those wrestling matches can turn 2hrs into 5 or 6. Good grief... Yup... It's getting to the point where I can actually have CLEAN HANDS working on the ol lady. Things are good,,, and my girlfriend appreciates the LESS grimy paws.
Chuck the old BJs with no bellows JJJ. FYI, I have found that any BJs apart from Lemforder have a half life of about a year, so do not be surprised if the new ones fail in that sort of timescale.
Chuck the old BJs with no bellows JJJ. FYI, I have found that any BJs apart from Lemforder have a half life of about a year, so do not be surprised if the new ones fail in that sort of timescale.
Disappointing but not completely surprising...
Kinda,,, get what you pay for kind of thing.
In a year or two, I guess I'll do it again. I'm sure it will be less painful (and it wasn't so bad, honestly) next time around. I'm learning.
Just looking. The damn Lemforder BJs are not even that much more costly... I wasn't thinking and should have checked around, better... Sage advice, Greg. Sage advise.
1990 Jaguar XJS - Ball Joint Headache
