Taller balljoints for a fox-chassis Mustang: Grassroots Motorsports forum: Grassroots Motorsports Magazine

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July 28, 2011 5:11 p.m. ReverendDexter SuperDork

I seem to remember someone making a comment on here (or maybe it was corner-carvers?) about the Steeda X2 balljoints being identical to a Crown Vic balljoint... anyone have more info on that? I'm all for Steeda, but if I can pay $30 for a replacement balljoint instead of $150, your damn right I'm gonna go that route.

Basically I've realized that at least some portion of my front grip issues are the fact that my A-arms angle up towards the tire with the car at rest, so any compression starts costing me negative camber. I figure the only ways to correct this are either with a taller balljoint (thus bringing the outer end of the A-arm down), relocating the mount point of the A-arm upward, and I don't have the time/money/skillz to do the latter.

So, a taller balljoint seems to be my best bet.

Of course, compounding the issue is the fact I'm running SN95 spindles on foxbody everything else. I think that the balljoints interchange insofar as how they mount in the A-arm, so that shouldn't be a huge issue, but...

Thanks!
July 28, 2011 9:53 p.m. jimbbski Reader

You might get more information if you went to a forum called "Corner Carvers" and did a search. I am sure that this has been covered there. Do a search first as posting a question before searching for the answer will get you only grief there.
July 28, 2011 10:40 p.m. ReverendDexter SuperDork

jimbbski wrote:

You might get more information if you went to a forum called "Corner Carvers" and did a search. I am sure that this has been covered there. Do a search first as posting a question before searching for the answer will get you only grief there.

The forum I mentioned might be the one I heard it on? hahaha
July 29, 2011 5:40 a.m. novaderrik Dork

look up the different ball joints on rockauto.com.. you can look at pics and there might even be some specs listed.
July 29, 2011 8:09 a.m. ReverendDexter SuperDork

I found the post on CC that I had remembered.

What it said was the X2 was a Crown Vic balljoint in a Mustang housing (so that it would fit in the Mustang control arm).
July 29, 2011 10:51 a.m. ReverendDexter SuperDork

And after even further reading, I'm realizing that the taller balljoint alone isn't gonna do squat without a taller spring.

Damnit... everytime I think I can fix this on the cheap, I come back to "needing" to do a front CO coversion to make it work.
July 29, 2011 10:55 a.m. foxtrapper SuperDork

Are you trying to raise the car? Put a spacer in between the strut hat and the chassis tower.
July 29, 2011 1:17 p.m. novaderrik Dork

a taller balljoint will lower the car by the amount that it is taller than the stocker, and may change the bumpsteer and camber curve a little bit.
July 29, 2011 1:51 p.m. ransom HalfDork

Apologies if I've fallen and hit my head without knowing it, but...

On a Mac strut front end, a taller ball joint shouldn't raise or lower the car at all, should it? It should just lower the outer end of the A-arm relative to the strut (plus whatever effect on camber/steer from changing the point in the A-arm's arc vs ride height). The distance from the hub to the spring perch stays the same, the overall ride height should be unchanged...

It's too simple. I feel like I must be having a no-coffee day (which I am)...

Why would a taller spring be necessary?

Double-apologies if this is something obvious that applies to the Mustang strut assembly that's not in my generic strut model in my head.
July 29, 2011 2:01 p.m. ReverendDexter SuperDork

In reply to ransom:

You're right in general, but fox-chassis Mustangs use an inboard spring setup. Because of this, a taller balljoint actually lowers the car some, because it elevates the spindle away from the control arm, and the control arm height is dictated by the spring.
July 29, 2011 2:05 p.m. ransom HalfDork

In reply to ReverendDexter:

Thanks! Sorry, I should've at least googled for a look at the specific car before rambling on...
July 29, 2011 4:21 p.m. novaderrik Dork

3rd gen Camaros are similar to Fox/SN95 Mustangs in that they don't have the spring mounted to the strut, but rather inboard like a car with upper control arms.
July 29, 2011 4:39 p.m. Javelin SuperDork

ransom wrote:

In reply to ReverendDexter:

Thanks! Sorry, I should've at least googled for a look at the specific car before rambling on...

Hey don't beat yourself up! Some of us suspension-deficient readers are learning by reading these things, like me!
July 29, 2011 7:43 p.m. ncjay Reader

If you really want to get to know ball joints, look here: http://www.howeracing.com/c-560-howe-precision-ball-joints.aspx With a bit of research and a few tools, you can put almost any ball joint on any car if you can weld.
July 29, 2011 10:57 p.m. jimbbski Reader

I did install the X2 joints on my car and it did lower the car a bit, about 1/4-38 of an inch. On most cars that won't make much of a difference unless the car already has lowering springs. I had already done a CO conversion so it was a non-issue. In fact the kit I bought included 2-1/4 inch spacers to place under the coil springs to conpensate for this.