Today, out of the clear blue sky, I am wondering if the upper ball joints were installed correctly. As you can see, they have been in place for a long time. Since the OEM joint was riveted to the top of the arm, I put the aftermarket one on top as well. Now, I am wondering if this the way others have put theirs on. If a giant dope slap is forthcoming, let me have it!

 

Looks perfect to me. Nice work.

Ken

 

It looks good to me too. Check out this link

I show installing it just like you did.

 

One ball joint was slightly loose so I decided to replace it. While at it, I tried mounting both joints on the under side. I'm still having issues with premature inner tire edge wear. After replacing everything, I'm desperate for a cure. I'll see if this arrangement affects tire wear to any degree. (Thanks Tom for the link. It definitely shows an upper mounting.)

 

did the change in ball mounting affect alignment settings?

are you running positive camber?

 

Mrs AeroColo drug me out of the garage before I even had a chance to drive the van.

Last fall, I requested the camber be pushed more to the positive side and still the inner edges are wearing down too soon. Computerized alignment specs say everything is within acceptable ranges but obviously something is amiss. I'll drive it tomorrow and see if there is any difference.

 

I have seen some very strange tire wear issues but if the oem joint was on the top, why would you put the replacement on the bottom?

Ken

 

visualization portion of brain is on strike tonight but believe moving top ball mount to bottom side would decrease caster and increase camber

also, should slightly decrease spring tension

 

That was the arrangement I've been thinking about experimenting with. It pushes the upper arm a little higher at static ride height. You will need to correct the static camber; set it to zero if possible. This will provide a more aggressive negative roll camber curve; as the suspension compresses, the camber will go more negative, and more positive as the suspension extends. This is actually a good thing, because usually when you go into a turn and the outside suspension compresses, the stock settings create a positive roll camber, which causes the outside tire to roll its tread under, so you end up riding on the sidewalls. With dynamic negative camber, the outside tire is forced to place more of its tread on the road in a turn. With the upper arm high enough, during the same condition the inside tire will roll to positive camber, which also forces that tire tread onto the road. Ideally, when you're not turning, the camber would return to zero.

This is like the trick that Carrol Shelby did with his Mustangs; he lowered the pivot mounts of the upper control arms by up to 2 inches. Since the early Mustangs' springs were above the upper arms, this lowered the front end by about an inch. I don't think this will affect the Aerostar's ride height or effective spring rate.

The potential problem with this setup is that in this new position, the ball stud has swung slightly inward at static ride height, which means it has that much less travel during a compression or bump. I think the bump stop snubber works against the lower control arm, so you will be pushing the upper arm beyond its normal range of motion.

Also, you should loosen the pivot shaft to relieve the tension this new position will put on the rubber bushings.

But let us know how this works out from the point of views of handling and tire wear. I might try it myself, if you don't break the upper ball joints.

 

Folks, I was thinking of replacing my upper ball joint and last time I perused here, there were some pictures showing that a ball joint clamp is necessary (I got one from autozone, but could not fit it between the a-frame and inner wheel well). Does one really need a clamp, or does the new joint just "sit in" as tom-foremans link suggests?
Thanks.
92 Aero

 

No special clamps required for the upper joint. If its the original, OEM style, it will be riveted to the upper control arm and will have to be removed. There are various methods to do this but taking off the entire control arm is the preferred way. If the existing joint is held in by 4 bolts, then the heavy grunt work has already been done and a simple swap is all that is required.

While this can be done with the tire in place, its easier to work with it removed. After taking off the tire, use a jack and wooden block under the lower control arm and bring the suspension to as near level as possible without lifting the van off the jack stand. In this position, there is no tension on the upper control arm. You simply remove the single large pinch bolt, the four bolts on the bad ball joint and the entire joint will just pop right out. Use a restraining wire/rope around the spindle to keep it from pitching over to one side while the joint is out. This keeps strain off the rubber brake hose and over extension of the half-shaft joint on the E4WD versions.

Hope this helps!

 

Looks good. I did UBJ 3 year ago. But I used BJ of other design, requiring no periodical lubrication.