Radius Ball on Wishbone Question

The long pin that goes through the boss on the bottom of the clutch housing. It goes through from side to side and retains the felt pad & fits into the slots on top of the bolt heads to prevent rotation.

Any good general purpose chassis grease is good.
 
rotorwrench said:
I've run into most problems associated with the radius rod ball joint assembly. The most common problem is deterioration of the bolt counter bores where the head seats. They like to wear out. I have been fortunate that they tend to wear evenly on both sides. This allowed me to get spacers to use under the bolt heads and put the heads back up to where the pin will still retain them from turning. This defect, if present, causes the bolts to be loose and protrude too far which just compounds the problem.

The other issue is lubrication. While the felt pad will hold oil for a while, it doesn't seem to last all that long in practice until the rear main starts to leak more. I drop the ball down a bit now and then and apply grease to the components. This seems to work a lot better in the long run. A person can pull the pin and squirt oil in there to wet the pad if they choose to use oil in there as Ford intended. I do a little bit of both but just remember not to mess with the bolts until the pin is back in there.
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I too have had the bolts recede into the bell housing and like you, I made spacers. By the time that happens, the top cup iv very lose in the bell housing and moves about. I asked a machinist friend to take out the wear and make a bush to repair things. He refused saying it was too difficult. I still can't see why so I battel on. Replacement bell housings for RHD cars are usually no better than the one I want to replace. I suggested to that friend that if he made the tooling, he would get plenty to repair - still no interest. The holes in the bell housing that those bolts go through also wears. I make up a stepped stud to go in there and rely on its rigidity rather than the cup in the bell housing.
As for the felt, the first time I saw one was when I bought a repair kit for the ball joint. NONE of the cars I had seen up till then had one at all.
To the OP, don't worry too much about wrestling it in there nor what to use to lubricate it. If lubrication is an issue, your gearbox and rear sealing are WAY better than Henry wanted. He relied on leakage from both to soak the felt and lube the ball. I think all this discussion about it is over thinking it.
 
Several years ago I read to get a small (I don't remember what size) coil spring and cut small sections of it and it will fit the hole in the housing, raise the bolt head and the inside fits the bolt. This shimmed the hole and worked very well. Also it didn't take very long to do this. I still have some pieces I cut fo this and if anyone is interested I can measure it tomorrow. I don't remember having to do any drilling. I will try to remember where I read this.
 
I purchased drill bushings from McMaster Carr to fit into the bores. They have a wide variety of sizes and happened to have ones that fit. I make tooling from the products they supply all the time. They have good stuff that is sometimes hard to find elsewhere.
 
I had the rubber ball "bandage fix" replaced with the original style metal ball. My previous front end "wiggle" stopped and it's a pleasure to drive now.

I should have fixed this years ago.

Marc
 
Use the rubber liner if you want but it's not a better product. It was more of a band aid for worn parts.
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Yes and no. It could be used on worn balls, but its also where Ford production on MANY Ford products went after the Model A Era.

The advantage being a quick-change to replace the rubber done (say) annually. Everything kind of went the same way (ball-joints) in later independent front ends.

Hence the "captive bolt" situation and the metal on metal cap - the "relief" is entirely in the rubber ball.

Unless you're looking to fine point the car - a rubber ball liner/cap is probably fine.

Joe K
 
Joe K,

Is it you're understanding then that say a replacement rubber covering would be O.K. for a limited amount of time?

I do not know the answer, as my Model A has always had the rubber fix; and with the metal replacement now it drives much better.

Marc
 
I would and have used the replacement rubber. In fact I went back to the original for a time but in a front end rebuild, went again to the rubber.

I have changed out that last rubber iteration once - after about a year of driving. I found no wear I could see, not even damage to the rubber, but changed it out for new simply on principle.

Rubber needs to be greased both inside and out - and properly tightened. And - it's not really adequate compensation for a worn ball - although you might try "filler" between the ball and the cover similar to what is done with the original setup. Snyder's sells a "disk" for this purpose.

Original has its place - if you're attempting to bring the car back to when it left the assembly line. I've been there but its a pretty hard row to plow - or to keep.

I have heard comments about the rubber ball/cover "changes" the "caster" of the front end - but the change is small (1/4 inch in nearly 3 feet) and more likely the front axle has otherwise been "bent" in nearly 100 years of potholes and other potential damage.

I've rebuilt three front axles now from the ground up and almost always it is the right "overhang" beyond the spring perch which is "pushed back" because of hitting roadside potholes. VERY rare to find a correctly straight axle methinks.

Joe K
 
Joe K said:
Any semi-solid grease such as would be used in a "screw down top" grease cup.


Google AI explains it more accurately than I.



The grease of my familiarity would be the No. 2 above, which for me comes in a plain pint paint can.


Joe K
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Would the 'Red and Tacky" grease work in this application?
 
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