Front 10 Bolt Axle Assembly

[Doppleganger]

I'm sure this is old stuff for you fellas but I never did it (yet) so have a couple quick and easy questions.

Putting my front axle back together. The top ball joint has that threaded insert. I know I need to tighten the top nut to preload the lower ball joint so I can tighten it (the lower) without it turning. Not even 100% sure what that threaded insert does.

So how far do I tighten the threaded insert, and in what order (threaded insert, lower ball joint, castle nut), and how tight? Yes, I have the spanner socket to do the insert.

This is where they are sitting now:

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

Thanks in advance.




...

 

[dvdswan]

Chevy Balljoints.pdf (pirate4x4.com)

and the adjustment tool...

dana 44 ball joint adjustment - Google Search

 

[Doppleganger]

This is what I found and will do unless told otherwise.

1. Torque lower ball joint nut to 70 ft lbs.

2. Torque upper ball joint threaded sleeve to 70 ft lbs.

3. Torque upper ball joint (castle nut) to 100 ft lbs. If cotter pin holes do not line up, continue tightening till they do.

One thing the article never mentioned was preloading the top ball joint in order to tighten the lower without it spinning.

 

[bucket]

That torque spec for the sleeve sounds higher than I remembered, but it's probably correct.

I never actually torqued the sleeve. Just tightened it until I thought it felt "right" when steering the knuckle by hand.

 

[Customblue]

Iirc, torque lower to 50 lbs, torque adjust sleeve to 50, lower then to 70, move to top at 100 lbs

 

[Octane]

I put the top nut on without the preload sleeve to pull balljoint into place, tighten lower to about 80.Remove top nut and install sleeve,torque to 50, tighten lower to around 100,and go back and torque top nut to the same.

 

[idahovette]

I've always found if you put pressure on the bottom of the lower ball joint to force it up into the taper, you can usually set the torque. On my front end rack it was easy to set a hydraulic jack on the beam to force the lower joint into position. This is with the sleeve screwed in to the upper slightly to guide the upper joint into place, then set your torque to whatever specs you are going by...............sleeve kinda tight, upper joint tight, lower joint damn tight

 

[Doppleganger]

I barely tightened the top joint's castle nut and the lower torqued fine. I took it off then to do the threaded insert, etc. Its all torqued and back together. One of the upper ball joints I had to go about a tad past 100ft lbs to get the cotter pin holes to align - as per instructed anyways. The other was right on the money (aligned at 100).

When I torqued the threaded insert I stopped at 50. It was below the surface quite a bit and felt plenty tight. Its not going anywhere.

If I finish my dolly for the front axle today I'll have pics. Woo-hoo!

 

[Scott Vincent]

Ok, now that I've seen someone else mention the sleeve protruding through the bottom quite a bit, like mine is, I have to ask the question.

Is it a problem if that sleeve is protruding through the bottom?