Upper Control Arms

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ProjectSlim

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Hey guys I've got adjustable upper ball joints but they need a different upper control arm than the stock one. Do any of yall know which upper to go with? Need help ASAP
 

dudeman2009

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2wd or 4wd? Why do you need adjustable ball joints?
 
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ProjectSlim

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2wd. I've got a coil space on and it put the hall joint at a horrible angle so I was told I needed Adjustables
 

dudeman2009

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I'm guessing you got the kind that has threaded rod coming from both ends, not the type with the flange and three bolt holes. I'm not sure of any that work with the first type, and I don't know of any of the second type of ball joints that are adjustable.

You might try looking through jeep parts to see if any will fit. An option is to get a picture of our standard ball joints and head to a jeep forum and ask if they know of any like that which are adjustable.

How far out is the camber? I'm an auto technician and quite often vehicles that I do alignments on either don't have a way specified by the manufacturer or the answer is to get the grinder out. As long as it's not too far from optimal, we usually tell the customer not to worry about it,

I checked the specs for the camber, the spec is 0.50 degrees, thats what is should be. However the tolerance ranges from 0.00-1.00 degrees. Anywhere in that range is considered good by the manufacturer. Generally, you take half that tolerance and add it onto either side to find the acceptable range, in this case -0.25-1.75 degrees would be considered acceptable, outside of that, it's considered out of spec. It can be intimidating to have someone tell you that the alignment is bad and cannot be adjusted without aftermarket parts, especially when they show you a printout that is yellow or red. Without knowing what those numbers mean, you can't determine how bad it really is.

I recommend getting the numbers on your alignment, if it's within either of the two ranges above, just ignore it, unless you put skinny ass tires on there, they won't wear unevenly much at all. As far as tire wear is concerned, the most important adjustment is the toe, that can be 1/5th as bad as the camber and still cause 75% of the wear.

If you're unsure about the numbers from your alignment, post them on here and i'll take a look for you.
 
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ProjectSlim

Junior Member
Joined
Dec 1, 2013
Posts
22
Reaction score
2
Location
Houston Tx
Ram Year
2001
Engine
5.9 V8 Magnum
I'm guessing you got the kind that has threaded rod coming from both ends, not the type with the flange and three bolt holes. I'm not sure of any that work with the first type, and I don't know of any of the second type of ball joints that are adjustable.

You might try looking through jeep parts to see if any will fit. An option is to get a picture of our standard ball joints and head to a jeep forum and ask if they know of any like that which are adjustable.

How far out is the camber? I'm an auto technician and quite often vehicles that I do alignments on either don't have a way specified by the manufacturer or the answer is to get the grinder out. As long as it's not too far from optimal, we usually tell the customer not to worry about it,

I checked the specs for the camber, the spec is 0.50 degrees, thats what is should be. However the tolerance ranges from 0.00-1.00 degrees. Anywhere in that range is considered good by the manufacturer. Generally, you take half that tolerance and add it onto either side to find the acceptable range, in this case -0.25-1.75 degrees would be considered acceptable, outside of that, it's considered out of spec. It can be intimidating to have someone tell you that the alignment is bad and cannot be adjusted without aftermarket parts, especially when they show you a printout that is yellow or red. Without knowing what those numbers mean, you can't determine how bad it really is.

I recommend getting the numbers on your alignment, if it's within either of the two ranges above, just ignore it, unless you put skinny ass tires on there, they won't wear unevenly much at all. As far as tire wear is concerned, the most important adjustment is the toe, that can be 1/5th as bad as the camber and still cause 75% of the wear.

If you're unsure about the numbers from your alignment, post them on here and i'll take a look for you.

I'll have to take it this weekend to get it looked at but the ball joints themselves are in a bind due to the lift spindle and coil spacer. Ill let you know whenever I get the numbers.
 
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