American Iron Offroad Balljoint Deletes
- Thread starter Rescue6
- Start date
I am not knocking the product, I am just stating that these are a very new thing for our Jeeps.
Just so everyone knows. I’m not making a dime on these. I payed for my set. I have just been begging the manufacturer to make them for awhile now and agreed to help him with test fitment and measurements etc during the trial and fitment process. If they wind up sucking I will absolutely say so. However I’m very hopeful as the fitment and build quality seemed great even on the test fitment set I received. I’m sure the final product will be even better.
What is the value with the delete kit? Is it getting rid of the soft bushing material in the traditional ball joint?
When you install the axle shafts, you need to check the centering in the axle tube to make sure the knuckle is at the correct height. I spend a lot of time and money to make sure the two holes, end of the axle tube and the hole for the unit bearing are concentric within .030. (closer actually, but a 32nd will be close enough for this)
If they are off, they will be off slightly on the low side so any wear or impact loads that may drive the knuckle up on the lower pin will not take it above center.
BTW- 2 things for those who are following along. This is a version of how Dynatrac does theirs, just not as fancy.
If you wanted, you could measure the diameter of the spherical bearings and use that on the FK website to find out the load capacity. I believe that when I checked with them awhile back, the axial load rating was about 30% of the radial load rating. In other words, this is the worst possible direction to run a spherical bearing under load.
Are the pins heat treated?
I often wonder what else is going on. There is a pretty large complement of us that run the Spicer F-450 ball joints on sticky 40ish" tires in JV. I literally have 100's of trips over the trails out there without ever wearing a set out. They are just massive joints.
You need to get in touch and discuss one highly important aspect of the install with him. The stock inner C is not machined flat on the bottom side of the upper like your aftermarket C's are. The top side is machined since the install direction of the ball joint is from the top down and the shoulder of the ball joint lands on the machined flat top.
The differences in the various forgings over the years will not let him control the depth nor will it give him a flat spot to zero against. The upper needs to flip over and install top down. If that doesn't happen, there is the potential for lots of issues.
I will forward him all of your feedback. The reason he is making a change is so we can get the axle centered perfectly actually. I’m not sure on your comment about the upper installing top down as it did press in from the top down. Anyway I’ll get them the feedback. Thanks
So @Rescue6 , any updates? I see Josh has released the TJ BJD's to the public.
Can new Cs be welded onto the factory axles that would allow for a bigger, more heavy duty ball joint to be run?
I have been wondering about that myself since I have an aftermarket front 44 housing with high pinion and 3” tubes. I actually have a Spyder Trax 9” Bare housing to build a 609 but that’s gonna be a few years to complete. Got a killer deal on it so it can sit in the barn until I can manage all the parts to build it I guess.
It seems easy enough to do, so unless I am missing something (which I likely am), I can't see why it wouldn't be a common modification. You get the Cs from a Dana 60 (or similar) and weld them do your Dana 44, and then you can use the Dana 60 ball joints.
Like I said, I'm sure I'm overlooking something important and Blaine will be along quickly to let me know what that is, but it seems this would solve the ball joint issue people face when running larger tires on stock axles.
I’m thinking you would want to upgrade carriers in my case to get larger shafts for strength as well. If going through the hassle of it all.
So you could do that, but the outer Dana 60 C would have a different axle tube thickness that would have to be addressed, the hub wouldn’t bolt on so you would need different outer stub shafts or locking hubs that would work with a Dana60 knuckle, and the bolt pattern wouldn’t be the same for the wheels. Those are just a few issues you’d run into. I honestly think it would be easier to install a Dana 60 into your TJ.
I figured that that's what it was going to come down to, that it would be just as much work to put in the entire Dana 60 axle.
I guess the next question is ultimately, what's the next weakest link on a TJ Dana 44? Let's say these B.J.E.'s are the resolution to clear the 35" tire hurdle. We all know we can squeeze a JK Dana 44 ring gear, sleeve/truss and gusset axles, rcv's/chromo's, etc... But now we're into aftermarket axle price territory and that's probably the extent of upgrades to strengthen the axle.
I'm also curious as to how much demand they'll be for Dana 44/Dana 30 TJ axle Ball Joint Eliminators when a stock wheelbase TJ wheels very good on 33's and 35's. A handful of people, if running 37"+ could see the need but a majority of those are probably not running factory axles.
I'm also curious as to how much demand they'll be for Dana 44/Dana 30 TJ axle Ball Joint Eliminators when a stock wheelbase TJ wheels very good on 33's and 35's. A handful of people, if running 37"+ could see the need but a majority of those are probably not running factory axles.