camber bushing
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camber bushing
I replaced my ball joints and now I can't get my camber bushings to fully seat. They stick out 1/4 - 1/2 inch. If I can get them to almost sit flush, they just pop out when the lower ball joint is tightened. Thanks for any help. 1986 f150, twin i beam, 2 wheel drive. Stock suspension.
Last edited by LarsTurner; Mar 11, 2020 at 06:56 PM. Reason: add vehicle description
Laughing Gas
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I replaced my ball joints and now I can't get my camber bushings to fully seat. They stick out 1/4 - 1/2 inch. If I can get them to almost sit flush, they just pop out when the lower ball joint is tightened. Thanks for any help. 1986 f150, twin i beam, 2 wheel drive. Stock suspension.
Short story is I tried all the tricks on the internet about centering the stud up in the axle tube bore, anti-seize, etc. - no dice. I even removed the knuckle and made sure both joints were seated well. After looking at bushing design, I decided that, as long as the bushing was driven down the joint’s taper enough to swell it against the axle tube bore, I was satisfied, so I tightened it up and left it alone.
Disclaimer: I’ve only put maybe 75 miles on it and haven’t had it realigned just yet. It’s possible the alignment shop may share my opinion or tell me I’m an idiot. Will update if it’s the latter.
Lead Driver
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I reviewed several videos on YouTube last year and found some nicely done ones on F series ball joint replacement. You might take a look at a few. Sorry no links but do a search and see if one of them covers this issue.
Fleet Mechanic
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From: Atlantic Canada
I replaced my ball joints and now I can't get my camber bushings to fully seat. They stick out 1/4 - 1/2 inch. If I can get them to almost sit flush, they just pop out when the lower ball joint is tightened. Thanks for any help. 1986 f150, twin i beam, 2 wheel drive. Stock suspension.
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Thanks for your reply & picture, Franklin2. My truck's ball joints have the threads pointing downward, as opposed to all the videos showing a top-down camber sleeve placement secured by a pinch bolt. Anyway, yes, I got a mile of threads to work with. And, I can even get the bushing to go all the way in the knuckle. The problem happens when I begin to tighten the lower ball joint. That's when the bushing starts to pop put. I even did a test by ignoring the torquing sequence and cranking down on the top ball joint first (leaving the bottom one loose). I got it flush. But dang if it still didn't pop out when I began to tighten the bottom ball joint. The camber bushings were replaced with exact replica's. The only thing I can think of is that the new NAPA ball joint's tapered stud was not machined properly. I know this is reaching, but there it is. Thanks again for your help.
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Thanks for your input, packagejr.
I'm afraid that worst-case scenario, I will also have to run the truck with the camber bushing sticking out. I really don't want to have to resort to that. It just doesn't seem right. The camber bushings were all the way in with the old ball joints. That's why I'm thinking there may be an issue with the new ball joints. If machining is standard across the industry, then I'm thinking that any brand of ball joint tapered stud will have the same diameter. (I could be wrong). All the relevant videos on youtube show the style of ball joint with the busing coming in from the top, secured by a pinch bolt. No one has a problem with that style. I wish I could find a video of my style (with the bushing inserted from the bottom).
I'm afraid that worst-case scenario, I will also have to run the truck with the camber bushing sticking out. I really don't want to have to resort to that. It just doesn't seem right. The camber bushings were all the way in with the old ball joints. That's why I'm thinking there may be an issue with the new ball joints. If machining is standard across the industry, then I'm thinking that any brand of ball joint tapered stud will have the same diameter. (I could be wrong). All the relevant videos on youtube show the style of ball joint with the busing coming in from the top, secured by a pinch bolt. No one has a problem with that style. I wish I could find a video of my style (with the bushing inserted from the bottom).
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Thanks for your reply, BigBlue2.
I did find some good videos, but unfortunately, they have a different knuckle set-up. Theirs have the upper balljoint facing upward, with the camber bushing being held in place by a pinch-bolt. Mine has the balljoint facing downward, with the camber bushing held in place by the castle nut. I don't know if my style of balljoint placement is prone to the problem I'm having, or if it's just by chance that there isn't a video.
I did find some good videos, but unfortunately, they have a different knuckle set-up. Theirs have the upper balljoint facing upward, with the camber bushing being held in place by a pinch-bolt. Mine has the balljoint facing downward, with the camber bushing held in place by the castle nut. I don't know if my style of balljoint placement is prone to the problem I'm having, or if it's just by chance that there isn't a video.
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From: Atlantic Canada
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Yes, Rembrant!
That's exactly what I have. Thanks for the great pictures. My camber bushings look like that. They stick so far out that little more than half of their material is in the knuckle. That doesn't seem right to me. It seems that it would compromise stability. Also, my old ball joints allowed the bushing to sit flush. Furthermore, the guy's on youtube who have their bushings coming in from the top have no problem with getting them to seat all the way. Have you seen other trucks with their camber bushings not fully seated?
That's exactly what I have. Thanks for the great pictures. My camber bushings look like that. They stick so far out that little more than half of their material is in the knuckle. That doesn't seem right to me. It seems that it would compromise stability. Also, my old ball joints allowed the bushing to sit flush. Furthermore, the guy's on youtube who have their bushings coming in from the top have no problem with getting them to seat all the way. Have you seen other trucks with their camber bushings not fully seated?
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From: Atlantic Canada
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Thanks for the reply, Rembrant.
The pictures are very descriptive. Looking at the top one I can see that even with the camber bushing not fully flush, there is still plenty of meat inside the knuckle. This makes me feel better because I was thinking that there was only about 1 inch of 'camber bushing meat' in contact with the knuckle. It's also comforting to read that your truck came that way, too. My replacement bushings are from NAPA and looked identical to the naked eye. I'm wondering if I tap the ball joint farther up into the knuckle if this will help any. My thought is that by doing so there will be less of the fat portion of the ball joint stud interacting with the camber bushing. Anyway, your input has helped to put my mind at rest. By knowing that others run with protruding camber bushing I am less inclined to pull my hair out trying to get 'it right'.
Thanks for the peace of mind.
The pictures are very descriptive. Looking at the top one I can see that even with the camber bushing not fully flush, there is still plenty of meat inside the knuckle. This makes me feel better because I was thinking that there was only about 1 inch of 'camber bushing meat' in contact with the knuckle. It's also comforting to read that your truck came that way, too. My replacement bushings are from NAPA and looked identical to the naked eye. I'm wondering if I tap the ball joint farther up into the knuckle if this will help any. My thought is that by doing so there will be less of the fat portion of the ball joint stud interacting with the camber bushing. Anyway, your input has helped to put my mind at rest. By knowing that others run with protruding camber bushing I am less inclined to pull my hair out trying to get 'it right'.
Thanks for the peace of mind.
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I would tighten the lower ball joint first. Let that place the whole spindle in position. Then just tighten the upper nut. Let the bushing and the upper ball joint do whatever they want to do. Eventually the bushing is going to get pinched inbetween the balljoint taper and the axle taper and get tight.
Are these the old bushings or new? Did you mark the old bushings before taking them out? If you did, you can get them back in close. If not, the guy at the alignment shop is going to have to undo all this anyway to set the alignment. I put never seize on mine when I redid it, and I think he appreciated not having to beat his guts out getting it back loose.
Are these the old bushings or new? Did you mark the old bushings before taking them out? If you did, you can get them back in close. If not, the guy at the alignment shop is going to have to undo all this anyway to set the alignment. I put never seize on mine when I redid it, and I think he appreciated not having to beat his guts out getting it back loose.
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I have a four wheel drive Bronco, so not exactly similar. But if your bushings were flush with the bottom BJ nut tight, it means the upper BJ stud taper won’t be able to expand the bushing into the axle tube bore. That’s a worst-case to me because it means your top BJ isn’t connected to the axle. At least that’s how I understand the system.
EDIT: Assuming there is negligible upper stud movement within the BJ casing.
EDIT: Assuming there is negligible upper stud movement within the BJ casing.
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Thanks again for your reply, Franklin2.
I like your philosophy of letting the parts do what they want. That sounds natural.
These are new bushings that have been tried in several positions including the original one.
I've already had one trip to the alignment shop and they did not have the needed 2.71-degree bushing on hand, so I picked up adjustable camber bushings at NAPA. I will put them in myself and dial things in as best I can. (At this point I don't know if I need to set the adjustable bushing to - 2.71 degrees or +2.71 degrees. The alignment machine printout reads +2.71. I'll have to fiddle with it.)
And yes, I will be courteous and apply never-seize.
I like your philosophy of letting the parts do what they want. That sounds natural.
These are new bushings that have been tried in several positions including the original one.
I've already had one trip to the alignment shop and they did not have the needed 2.71-degree bushing on hand, so I picked up adjustable camber bushings at NAPA. I will put them in myself and dial things in as best I can. (At this point I don't know if I need to set the adjustable bushing to - 2.71 degrees or +2.71 degrees. The alignment machine printout reads +2.71. I'll have to fiddle with it.)
And yes, I will be courteous and apply never-seize.