I was just going through lightracing's website and fell on those::nerd: Specialty Products Company | SPC Alignment | The Automotive Alignment Leaders
they call it a sealed flex joint looks a lot like a uniball to me! just nylon lined with grease and sealed!!!>
just e-mailed them to see if it could be used as a replacement!
If it's sized to fit the bore I don't see why they wouldn't work as long as the spacing works out. Can't tell from the pic whether the misalignment spacers are built into the uniball or if they are removable. I've never mic'd out mine on the PRG arms so not sure what the spacing is from end to end on the sleeves/spacers but would be interesting to find out. Sub'd for updates!
just given then the size of the uniball for the TC titan UCA...
Nicolas –
Without knowing the exact dimensions of your uniballs, it is hard to say if we have a replacement for them. However given the aspect ratio of most uniballs, I would venture to guess that we don’t have a drop-in replacement. In that case, your only option would be to modify your upper control arms. Additionally I noticed the Frontier arms have a bumpstop built in that would heavily load the joint in the axial direction. These types of joints are only designed to be loaded in the radial direction. Loading them axially is not recommended.
bummer gave all the measurements to SPC and they are not answering me now! must be because Idon't live in the US
may have to buy one and measure/adapt soon!
cheers
just had some news back from SPC, Guess i was a bit to much in a rush for an answer!::grin::
The closest unit we have to your Uni-Ball is the 15611. It uses a ¾” (19mm) bolt hole, with a 3.250” width and a 2.501” outside diameter ±0.001”.
To achieve proper press fit, you would need to machine your arm’s receiver to Ø2.497” ± 0.001” to guarantee .002”-.006” of interference fit. Given your application is operating in single sheer, it would be wise to add a positive retention feature to the housing and the bolt in case of joint failure. Of course these are suggestions, you will have to make decisions on how this joint is applied to your application to maintain a safe operating condition.
now just got to have a think on how to use the 3/4" bolt hole, put a sleeve for the top and keep the 9/16th bolt and tapered sleeve.. or see if I can do a tapered sleeve for the 3/4 bolt? lots to think about...what do you guys think?
you need to keep the high-misalignment spacer and tapered sleeve in order to fit the stock knuckle and keep the correct geometry with your control arms. i'm not sure you'll get as much of a range of pivots out of the sealed flex joint as you do the spherical bearings either.
I've found replacement ptfe coated 1" FK spherical bearing replacements for $45 a piece on summit racing (size for Total Chaos UCAs). considering i've put over 50k miles on the original ones in mine, i'm not that worried about getting a sealed spherical bearing in there. take a look at your shocks, they have exposed chrome steel shafts yet people aren't all worried about them being sealed off from the elements.
my bearings started making some noise a while back after i hosed them down at the car wash after a muddy trip but have been fixed with a couple shots of white lithium grease. looks ugly, works fine. when the time comes i'll happily pay $90 in parts for another 4 years of use.
^ Tri-flow or other teflon spray lube works great and won't attract as much dust and grime as the white lith grease will. And it doesn't look like it has rabies ; )
thats probably true but its what i had around. i used wd40 before but it only stopped the noise for a day, so i guess the lithium grease sticks to the parts better. it does look nasty, but i'm not trying to win any beauty contests
thanks for your answer! not denying uniballs are good but it all depends the conditions. I have had to change my first set after 3000km, wet coral dust is very abrasive I would say close to valve grinding paste, that's cleaning with wd40 and dry Teflon lubricant every 3 weeks.
Shock shafts are fine, but shock bearings on my previous truck only lasted 10 000km unprotected as a comparison and they are vertical and don't flex as much as a uniball!:surprise:
the sealed uniball seems all a bit too hard though i am curious about it LOl
have a look at my build thread I think have found a solution to protect mine and will trail it soon...
cheers
Wow that's pretty poor life, maybe for harsh applications like that something like the light racing arms is a better setup. Has anyone tried just packing grease around the exposed chrome and wrapping it up with something like rescue tape? Wouldn't be pretty but might work better.
AndrewVK you should probably try this if you want to keep the titan arms? what do you think? probably not as good as aftermarket arm but will correct ball joint angle and give you a little bit more travel.
:serious: