Getting cotter pin through ball joint

[wedged]

ma73z if you're that concearned over taking a few thousands of an inch off of a castle nut to allow it to do the job it was designed to do, then perhaps you'd better find another hobby. Sorry to be harsh, but there are many times when one must modify parts to enable them to work. I can't imagine what you'd think of people cutting , shortening and welding steering arms back together. If no one did stuff like this, then this entire website and this hobby would not exist.

[scherp69]

Thanks for all the advice guys. I plan on getting to them on Monday or Tuesday so this will come in handy.

JR...I'm not sure if I would have had to replace the ball joints or not. If I would have asked this question back then, I wouldn't have. I guess I just didn't know better and thought since they were spinning, something must be wrong. Atleast I didn't throw them out so I have two good replacements.

[ma73z]

Wedged I think if you read my posts again you will see that I was saying I had no problem modifying the nuts in order to make them work, I have done so many times sorry if my advise doesn't work for you it has for me.

[JRouche]

Originally Posted by ma73z

Wedged I think if you read my posts again you will see that I was saying I had no problem modifying the nuts in order to make them work, I have done so many times sorry if my advise doesn't work for you it has for me.

Hahaha!! He was on such a rant that he pointed it at the wrong dude. He was talking to me. Guess he got a lil flustered and hit the wrong reply to button. Hmmm, quick to act but not thinking.

Just kidding Wedged, honest mistake. Posting to the wrong person. I get a lil fired up sometimes too. And so with that Ill go ahead and take the reins on your post.

Wedge said: ma73z if you're that concearned over taking a few thousands of an inch off of a castle nut to allow it to do the job it was designed to do, then perhaps you'd better find another hobby. Sorry to be harsh, but there are many times when one must modify parts to enable them to work. I can't imagine what you'd think of people cutting , shortening and welding steering arms back together. If no one did stuff like this, then this entire website and this hobby would not exist.
Yesterday 08:16 PM

So that was for me.. Umm. Well Ill stand by my idea that you shouldnt thin out a castellated nut, that is weak already. And you say a few thou?? Really? You talked about touching it off on the sander. What method did you use to ensure a parallel surface? If I remove any metal from a seating member I use a lathe or mill. So do you hold it with your fingers and take a couple thou off. Where do you determine that the nut still has a flat parallel surface? Not an issue? Ok.

So I guess its about just getting the job done right? I get that. I HAVE been there and done it. Still do.

But the diff is when I do it I dont get online and say F off dude when someone questions my methods. No, I will just ignore it. If they dont like my idea then thats fine. Cause really, my idea was prolly a hack fix anyway. I cant defend a hack fix. But I will still give my hack advise.

But for you to come back and defend your hack fix just makes you look petty.

Keep giving advice, its really good to have ALL the options. JR

[wedged]

ma73z- woops- sorry, wrong person.

JRouche - You might want to try re-reading what I wrote. No where did I use the offensive language that you implied. I did not question your method. I never mentioned a sander. What I did imply is that is that you may be worrying too much about modifying a part to make it work.

Defend my "hack fix" ? No need. The nut and stud I descibed modifying (actually not a ball joint, but a pitman arm stud and I didn't use a castellated nut) has been in service for over 20 years now. I'm not concearned about the nut not having a parallel face since I didn't grind the contact surface.

[xpsled]

Hey guys im an aircraft engineer and new to the forum, we encounter this problem often on aircraft, nut has to be torqued to a specific torque and cotter pin installed but 99% of the time the holes wont line up. Just shim the nut with thin washers until you can achieve this. Standard practice on aircraft and works every time.

[JRouche]

Originally Posted by xpsled

Hey guys im an aircraft engineer and new to the forum, we encounter this problem often on aircraft, nut has to be torqued to a specific torque and cotter pin installed but 99% of the time the holes wont line up. Just shim the nut with thin washers until you can achieve this. Standard practice on aircraft and works every time.

That does work, if you can see the hole. I think, I may be wrong but it sounds like the nut is sitting ABOVE the hole. Thats why I was thinking one of the tapers were off. Either the pin or the bore. JR

[JRouche]

Originally Posted by wedged

ma73z- woops- sorry, wrong person.

JRouche - You might want to try re-reading what I wrote. No where did I use the offensive language that you implied. I did not question your method. I never mentioned a sander. What I did imply is that is that you may be worrying too much about modifying a part to make it work.
Defend my "hack fix" ? No need. The nut and stud I descibed modifying (actually not a ball joint, but a pitman arm stud and I didn't use a castellated nut) has been in service for over 20 years now. I'm not concearned about the nut not having a parallel face since I didn't grind the contact surface.

Hi wedged.. Yer right, you didnt use offensive language, and I didnt mean to imply you did, solly. Its just terminology. You can tell someone to get F-ed without ever using the F word. And Im again not saying thats what you implied. Solly again..

So, yeah, you didnt say you sanded the nut ( I got confused with the other post and linked it with what you did). But you were telling him if he has an issue with it that he may need to find a new hobby. Condoning the sanded nut reply. I really dont have an issue with what a guy wants to do with his car. I guess I just took offense to you saying if he is so anal he should find a new hobby. Thats just wrong..

And the hack term I used, and used. I feel comfortable in describing modifying a castellated nut as a hack fix, it is. And Im comfortable with the term hack cause well, I do some hack fixes also.

Sometimes you just have to. For design issues, availability of parts, monetary issues. One reason that isint valid is laziness. Not saying thats the issue here, just that its never acceptable for that reason.

And there are two sections of a car that I dont think ANY hack work should be used, ever. Brakes and steering. You loose any of those systems and yer doomed to not be able to fix it later.

And you say you described what fix you did. Solly, I missed that one too What I saw was this "ma73z if you're that concearned over taking a few thousands of an inch off of a castle nut to allow it to do the job it was designed to do, then perhaps you'd better find another hobby."

I missed your talk of modifying a standard nut and its application.

Bottom line for me, I dont think a castle nut should ever be modified. They are heavily modified already. I dont like them.

Again, sorry for implying anything that was not correct. My bust.

And back to original post. How did it work out? What did scherp69 come up with. Im hoping it was just a matter of the pin not seating deep enough. Hate to think the spindle was made incorrectly. Not that it doesnt happen. JR

[Novelli]

Had the same problem with a set of aftermarket spindles from a very well know suspension company.......no not one that advertises on this site, The tapered bore on the spindle was wrong! Swapped out the spindle to fix the problem. P.S half of the aftermarket, or re-pop stuff out there is a bunch of ****! Quality control does not seem to be that high on the list of things to do with most of these companys.

[JRouche]

Im kinda curious on how Mike fixed it? It was a month now, Im sure he fixed it. What was the fix?? Everyone likes a fix to to story. How did it turn out??? Come on, a happy ending Start a story then end it JR