Front lower ball joints

[tarmac terrorist]

Anyone know of an alternative source of lower balljoints for the front?
I got some from eurocarparts but as usual they were the wrong fitting.
Surely they are fitted to something else out there 17quid to 107 is a fookin liberty, and I'm not giving Renault that much of a margin, thieving scrotes.
Anyone with access to the Renault system able to cross reference them?
I'Ve specced spherical joints for F1 car suspension that have cost less.
If it comes to the worst I am going to design and cnc some blocks that will accept a standard tapered joint

 

[Eastlmark]

No way around it. I needed some and there is nothing else to fit.
you better go into production!

oh, and dont think you can order the wishbone and get a free ball joint...........well you will get a ball joint but its incorrect for the vee!

 

[Brett]

To be honest I haven't had a very close look, even though I'm about to rebuild my suspension, but could rose joints not be used in anyway? Ok they don't last as long as the usual ball joint but they are cheap and can give a better handling car.

 

[Jamesv6]

Guess work here. I've asked for the bits on the end of the wishbone things. This is the pic I've been sent.

£253.95 each

 

[scrabble]

Bought mine from Reno.

They were that expensive though James? Both sides with the whole wishbone and joints were around £80 each?

 

[Eastlmark]

Bought mine from Reno.

They were that expensive though James? Both sides with the whole wishbone and joints were around £80 each?

#

as I said, order the complete wishbone and the ball joint supplied on it will not be the corect one, it will be a standard Clio item, angles will be all wrong. You need to also order the correct ball joint on its own and remove and discard the one supplied, sounds crazy I know. Not sure where James price cam from, they are around £107 each IIRC. Whatever, in my case it was just a split rubber seal= much expense.

 

[tarmac terrorist]

it's still a liberty. The whole point about buying the whole lwb and removing the ball-joint for less money proves the point. I'm going to look into who does the standard ball-joints and find out if they are used on something else. There's no way Renault would spec a 1off part when they can get an off the shelf ball-joint.
I'm happy to pay for the parts for the vee but not when they are taking a diabolical liberty.
James sent me info confirming both front and rear uprights are common, so the rear joint could work with a mount for it to fit the front lwb.......

 

[tarmac terrorist]

James,

Do you have the OE part number of them at all [item 1 on dwg]? I [holds breath] think I may have found ze solution.... Just need to cross reference....


Cheers

 

[Jamesv6]

SUSPENSION BALL JOINT RENAULT
TIE ROD END LH
Part number : 6020011532

SUSPENSION BALL JOINT RENAULT
ROTULE SUSPEN D
Part number : 6020011533

 

[tarmac terrorist]

Bugger, that's thrown the cross-referencing out. I spoke to a dealer this morning and he said word he shouldn't have been using on the phone when he pulled the price up...

He's goning to look into it and see if he can get som e information on it. He also said "i realise we have to make a margin on parts, but we don't need to be taking the piss out of owners to that level"!!!

Thanks anyway James.

 

[Brett]

Ive just came back from my local dealer with a few hundred quid bill and the ball joint ends are vee specific. The bottom arms aren't and neither is the steering arms which i find strange considering the wider front track. Was going to get new front D panels and radiator shroud but wanted my ass intact so took my suspension parts and went.

Just for your info T Terror, Im making some fully rosejointed bottom arms in the new year which will give full camber and castor adjustment.

 

[tarmac terrorist]

Hmmmmm, i was thinking along the same lines myself. If you are swapping the BJ's over could you save the old one? The taper part is going to be a standard fitting and i reckon that it would be possible to get something machined up pretty easily to mate the std arm to a £7.50 balljoint.
Other than that it could be feasible to use spherical joints and a tapered shaft to replace the balljoints. Could be an idea for the outboard end of your idea.
Let me know what you were planning on doing as I might be able to help out with CAD for it. That way they could be CNC'd from Billet ally

 

[Brett]

Let me know what you were planning on doing as I might be able to help out with CAD for it. That way they could be CNC'd from Billet ally

Done a bit of CAD CNC myself just not for a while lol. To be honest, I don't think too many special parts will be needed. They will probably be made from steel tube and tig welded as opposed to anything ally. Once a jig is knocked up, it will be very easy to make them. Rose joints are two a penny aswell. Like I said though, this will be happening after new year as I'm currently spending a big wedge on a load of things at the mo.

 

[tarmac terrorist]

Good effort. Keep me posted. And if you need a hand, let me know

 

[Brett]

Will do mate. Infact, when I get an hour or so, I'll do a few drawings and post them up. See what you think.

 

[tarmac terrorist]

Cool cool. If you could pm them in native CAD Format that would also be good

 

[Brett]

I would do mate but Ive no longer got AutoCad on the laptop and haven't done and simple format for ages. Will give it a go though lol. [smilie=boohoo.gif]

 

[tarmac terrorist]

Nae worries. If you want to give me some fag packet sketches with dims on I'll do something in CATIA. I can chuck out ACad DWGS if you need em.
In the meantime I'm looking into a m/c'd replacement for the lower ball-joint using a spherical bearing and a tapered shaft

 

[tarmac terrorist]

Think I've got a "backup" of autocad if you need?

 

[Brett]

Hahaha Yeah ive got the so called "back up" disc lol...............was very expensive