Ball joint flips

Please can someone tell me why? After posting a thread on ball joint flips a couple of years ago The thread was stopped because. Apparently flipping the ball joints was dangerous because it 1. it makes the car totaly unstable. 2. Puts extreme pressure on the joint making it liable to snap at any time causing complete loss of control. So why when mentioning no names does a ball joint flip on his car (compleat with pictures) Then all of a sudden this is ok and maybe common practice. So why it ok to do this now. But not then. ???

1 rule for some another rule for others...have the xact same going on in my local sailing club in wicklow...just out of curiosity did ya do it wat did ya gain??cheers

I must admit, I cannot understand a sane person doing this, precisely for the reasons you give. If such a modified vehicle was presented to me for MOT I like to think I would spot it.......and fail it for the same reasons.

But then, apparantly there are testers passing vehicles with ARBs' removed too...................doesn't mean they're safe to use, just that the tester didn't know what he was looking at/for.

I vaguely recall the flipped ball joint discussion thread and the way it degenerated into an argument - that is, I believe, why the thread was pulled.

Yes, there are some members here that have since flipped their front upper ball joints and have not as yet reported any issues. I don't think the MOT issue has yet been a problem. The ball joint flip is something that the individual must decide on doing as FOG Admin/Mod/Tech team can't condone such a modification when a proven solution is available (ie, Calmini replacement upper arms).

Lawrence

I have flipped mine, my MOT man ( very strict ) passed it after I pointed it out to him, his words, its solid it does the job there is no reason to fail it, if I was failed on it I would contest it.

After extensive trawling through Australian and American Isuzu sites, they run the same suspension set up as ours, not one reported failure of a flipped ball joint, why should it fail???

If we go down the " we dont endorse it route, I would be wary of giving advice to people about fixing their brakes, far more room for a fatal mistake.

The original post on Ball joints was pulled by an ex admin member who hadnt thought through what he was advising and thought he knew it all but wouldnt argue the pro's and Con's, thankfully we lost that member early last year.

Can someone post a photo of a flipped set up?

Best I could muster up quickly, will get the write up from planet Isuzu :wink:

This is the write up on Planetisuzoo but this includes the spacer.

http://www.planetisuzoo.com/articles.ht ... acer_Howto

as above

prob stupid question lads but why would you do this n wat do ya gain??

The purpose of this modification is two fold: Increase suspension down-travel, and improve the alignment after lifting. When the torsion bars are cranked, some amount of negative camber is induced into the steering geometry. This is just due to the design of the IFS system. Under ideal circumstances there should be a slightly negative camber. Too much negative camber will cause uneven tyre wear, and will also decrease the traction, mostly during cornering due to the tyre having a poor contact patch.

By flipping the ball joint, or flipping it and using a spacer, the camber is moved back toward the norm, which is much closer to 0. Depending on your specific setup, it may go back to perfect alignment, or not, but you should have the truck aligned after front end suspension changes anyway.

Taken from the link posted above by Drift :wink:

If you crank your torsion bars up say over 2" you throw out the camber of the front wheels, flipping the balljoint will help recover the lost camber making it easier to align the wheels and prevent uneven tyre wear and other stresses on the steering and suspension components making your wheels go from /----\ without the flip back nearer this I-----I with the flip.

Bernie got quick :lol:

The pictures make it very clear what the problem is
The ball joint is there to support the weight of the vehicle.....all that supports this vehicle is a split pin and a castellated nut!
The danger here is the ball can be pulled out of its cup (seat) and leave you on 3 wheels

I dont like the angle of the driveshaft. It looks constantly under strain.