Let's say you have an upper control arm with a ball joint in it, and want to mount that ball joint into a custom knuckle adapter. If the adapter is machined billet aluminum, can you simple drill a hole and ream it with an angled ball joint reamer? What if you use steel - can you sandwich and weld 2 layers of 1/4" steel, drill a hole through both sheets, and ream that to the ball joint angle? Is there some product I can think of for doing this more easily? Think Challenge budget
With out knowing a lot more I will give you a definite maybe to both with a huge helping if "it depends". A steel ball joint into alu could cause a galvanic reaction and that is probably not a good idea for long term use.
I'm not sure I would use aluminum for a ball joint mount. We've been running dirt modifieds and late models for years and no one I know uses it for suspension parts. And we want everything as light as possible. Not sure what kind of adapter your planning, but ball joints take a beating even on the street.
In reply to drock25too :
Aluminum hub carriers are common on street cars today, with taper seats for ball joints. I have seen it on some older road racing cars, but McLaren had a steel insert between the ball joint stud and the magnesium upright. Only the inside of the insert was a taper, the O.D. was straight.
just get a tapered reamer and have at it.
All I really know is this: you'll pull it off. The list of stuff you've built is proof.
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