Ball joint and trailing arm identification help please

Discussion in 'Mech Tech' started by Joe Exotic, May 28, 2020.

  1. Good morning all. I'm new to the late bus scene and have recently acquired a 72 cross over. She has a 4 inch narrow beam and requires some new ball joints. Unfortunately I'm not sure if the trailing arms are standard or if the ball joints are too. Can anyone help to identify what I have so I can order the correct replacements please? Unfortunately the p.o cant help as he paid a local specialist to supply and fit but they have since gone out of business. Thanks in advance. 20200528_074313.jpg 20200528_074115.jpg 20200528_074330.jpg 20200528_074403.jpg
     
  2. Standard ball joints (but best quality ones ) I'm narrowed beam and standard arms


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  3. Thank you. I'll order some standard ball joints then. Can you tell if the spindles are stock and if my lower arm has been modified for shock clearance?
    Thanks again.
     
  4. mikedjames

    mikedjames Supporter

    Your ball joints look like they are the right way up, so not flipped

    Stock, lowered, passenger side, coilover shock, bump stop chopped.
    20200528_174443.jpg
    My bus, just now
     
  5. Thank you
     
  6. Zed

    Zed Gradually getting grumpier

    I think your arms have been narrowed to move the shock mounts outwards. :thumbsup:

    A lowering gone wrong true story. :)

    I had a chap round with a slammed narrowed beam done by ***. He'd been back and forth so many times and been charged each time while they "dialled in the ride" that he said he couldn't afford to go back again and had no faith in them anyway. He'd spent so much money he offered that he was too embarrassed to speak the sum out loud.

    The problem was the harshness of the ride. The way he described it I thought he must be exaggerating.

    I took it for spin, and if I went over 25mph it was so bad that it was impossible to read the speedo which was just a blur!

    I found the arm had been cut away but the stud hadn't been shortened. You can't just cut it shorter, there isn't enough thread, but what they'd done was pack out to the thread with a heap of washers.

    When it was let down onto its "suspension" the chassis was riding on the shock studs.

    It was very low, tubbed like @1973daisey 's you had to lift it up to see under. I guess every time it went back to "have the ride dialled in" they lifted it up, the stud fell away from the chassis and... Doh!

    These are "the" experts apparently, he was on coilovers by then, the third set of shocks they'd sold him and charged to fit as expertly "dialled in the ride" This is after it was them that "expertly" lowered it in the first place!

    I didn't charge him anything for that 1/2 hour but I did refuse to fix it and encouraged him to take it back, demand £1-2k back or whatever and shout at them, then bad mouth them on the internet if they wouldn't both sort it and pay up. I never did hear back, but he said that was exactly what he was going to do.
     

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