[malacde]

I would like to know your opinion about the extended upper ball joints that some companies sell mostly in Australia, would they solve, at least in a moderate way, the coil bucket contact?
Would you guys use them of light off roading?

Link to the product:

Nissan Navara D40 Extended Ball Joint - Press In From Under (Spanish) - PSRNAV-001 - PSR Quality Offroad 4X4 & Racing Products

Buy the Nissan Navara D40 Extended Ball Joint - Press In From Under (Spanish) from PSR

www.performancesuspension.com.au

 

[Steveie]

It will not lift the front of the vehicle if that is what you are thinking. But it will help a lifted vehicle maintenance upper control alignment on install.

 

[TWX]

From their website:

Using an extended ball joint allows your suspension to use its full travel by pushing the upper arm away from the chassis giving you the ability to lift the front end over 2["] without the expense of aftermarket arms. Our replacement ball joints are supplied 35mm longer than OE, which when installed, allows exactly 35mm extra down travel at the wheel.​

35mm is approximately 1.4".

One of the suspension forum stickies features calcs. If the stock travel is 5.6" and if this gives downward travel without sacrificing upward travel, then that would mean a total travel of roughly 7.0". This would put it pretty even with the PRG UCA. It's not as much travel as the SPC arm at somewhere between 7.4" and 7.8", but the SPC doesn't have travel limit stops either.

I could see some advantages here, the UCA still has a hard limit on the coil bucket, more factory parts are left alone so if one trusts the quality of factory UCAs over aftermarket then this would tickle that. What I don't know is how much force this puts on the UCA itself in the press-fit socket. Will it wear out the UCA at that socket prematurely?

Also are there any potential wheel or tire clearance issues that need to be verified? In other words this is essentially lengthening the distance from the centerpoint of the hub to the top of the steering knuckle and UCA assembly. Will this clear 16" wheels? If not, how about 17"?

EDIT: I'll add one more thing, if a truck owner lives somewhere that is particularly hostile to truck modifications and has an inspection regimen, this mod might much more easily sneak in under the radar than a tubular UCA would, especially once it gets some weathering on it. No inspector is going to check the upper control arm ball joint height unless the ball joint has enough play to fail an equipment-readiness inspection anyway, so in those circumstances it might be the best choice, if it's durable enough and doesn't cause undue wear on the UCA itself.

 

[Steveie]

If I was selling car parts I would tell any to keep you buying or happy. Don't want a Experance punch in my face like Experance and books will tell you.

 

[Steveie]

😎looks nice. Kiss it

 

[Colo.Frontier]

I follow a couple of Navarra pages on FB, as TWX said, if you live someplace with insane modification laws, like Australia or Europe, yes, these will work, but, here in the states its not really an issue. In addition, the cost to ship might negate anything else. Talk to Nisstec or All Dogs for a decent set of uppers.

Sent from my LM-G710VM using Tapatalk

 

[rdp91356]

I would like to know your opinion about the extended upper ball joints that some companies sell mostly in Australia, would they solve, at least in a moderate way, the coil bucket contact?
Would you guys use them of light off roading?
View attachment 329871
View attachment 329872
Link to the product:

Nissan Navara D40 Extended Ball Joint - Press In From Under (Spanish) - PSRNAV-001 - PSR Quality Offroad 4X4 & Racing Products

Buy the Nissan Navara D40 Extended Ball Joint - Press In From Under (Spanish) from PSR

www.performancesuspension.com.au

Curious about those as well. I've seen these from Australian sellers for the D40 and they they are specific to Thai or Spanish built D40s -- diameter, and whether the ball joint presses in from the top or bottom. I was never able to determine if our American-built D40s are the same as the Thai or Spanish built and which would be compatible. It would give you plenty of clearance, but are they sturdy enough? I believe the lower UCA takes more of the load than the upper, but it could be catastrophic if that fails driving down the highway.

 

[Nissan4Life]

Using a ball joint spacer was pretty common. I had some in my some in my hardbody. Would think they would work fine. Though Like it was said previously. I am not sure they will acutely give any lift, but increased CB clearance.

 

[rdp91356]

Using a ball joint spacer was pretty common. I had some in my some in my hardbody. Would think they would work fine. Though Like it was said previously. I am not sure they will acutely give any lift, but increased CB clearance.

I had them on my D21 as well to correct the camber after a lift.

 

[TWX]

So I did a little more digging. A Canadian Xterra owner over on thenewx put this kind of balljoint into his rig about two years ago. Unfortunately other than a picture he doesn't have any more information, doesn't remember if his truck was more like Thai or Spanish builds, doesn't have the documentation on the diameter of the balljoint. I went to cross-reference P/N of the American-spec balljoint, but then realized that Nissan USA doesn't offer just the balljoint as far as I can tell. I find that the stock UCA part number does cross to an international/Navara model but I haven't yet found if that is in reference to Spain- or Thailand-sourced trucks.

From the factory, one has upper balljoints that press-in from above, the other that press-in from below. As important as that is though, more important is the OD of the balljoint housing, it obviously must match first and foremost.

 

[rdp91356]

So I did a little more digging. A Canadian Xterra owner over on thenewx put this kind of balljoint into his rig about two years ago. Unfortunately other than a picture he doesn't have any more information, doesn't remember if his truck was more like Thai or Spanish builds, doesn't have the documentation on the diameter of the balljoint. I went to cross-reference P/N of the American-spec balljoint, but then realized that Nissan USA doesn't offer just the balljoint as far as I can tell. I find that the stock UCA part number does cross to an international/Navara model but I haven't yet found if that is in reference to Spain- or Thailand-sourced trucks.

From the factory, one has upper balljoints that press-in from above, the other that press-in from below. As important as that is though, more important is the OD of the balljoint housing, it obviously must match first and foremost.

I wonder if the Thai UCA would bolt up the US D40? But the cost of the parts and labor one would be better of with SPCs.

 

[TWX]

I wonder if the Thai UCA would bolt up the US D40? But the cost of the parts and labor one would be better of with SPCs.

So what I'm running up against, I've found a website with basically all of Nissan's global part numbers for all models listed:

parts catalog NISSAN [Europe (left wheel)], original catalog NISSAN [Europe (left wheel)], online catalog NISSAN [Europe (left wheel)], Car catalog NISSAN [Europe (left wheel)]

parts catalog NISSAN [Europe (left wheel)], original catalog NISSAN [Europe (left wheel)], online catalog NISSAN [Europe (left wheel)], Car catalog NISSAN [Europe (left wheel)]

nissan.7zap.com

The problem is that part numbers from the Thai, Spanish, and American sources appear to be unique to the factory. So I cannot compare if the parts are actually the same by part-number or not.

As an example for front suspension I'm finding the following:

Europe​	Right Upper​	54524EB30A​	​	​	​	​
America​	Right Upper​	54524EA00A​	54524EA000​	​	​	​
Asia​	Right Upper​	54524EB70D​	​	​	​	​
​	​	​	​	​	​	​
Europe​	Left Upper​	54525EB30A​	​	​	​	​
America​	Left Upper​	54525EA00A​	54525EA000​	​	​	​
Asia​	Left Upper​	54525EB70D​	​	​	​	​
​	​	​	​	​	​	​
Europe​	Right Lower​	54500EB300​	54500EB31A​	54525EB30A​	54524EB30A​	​
America​	Right Lower​	54500EA00A​	54500ZG90B​	​	​	​
Asia​	Right Lower​	54500EB71A​	​	​	​	​
​	​	​	​	​	​	​
Europe​	Left Lower​	54501EB300​	54501EB31A​	54525EB30A​	54524EB30A​	54500EB300​
America​	Left Lower​	54501EA00A​	54501ZG90B​	​	​	​
Asia​	Left Lower​	54501EB71A​	​	​	​	​

My hope had been that one of the sources from one of the other factories would have been the same part number as the American factory. Unfortunately it looks like they coded the part numbers to the factory of original production, rather than to which parts are identical or at least dimensionally identical. This is presuming that any of the parts are dimensionally identical between factories.

For what it's worth, it looks like American factory trucks are body code D40, with Spanish being D40M and Thai as D40T.

When I looked at pictures it looks like the American and Thai UCAs are much more similar, with the Spanish UCA being different, but without dimensions on the images that doesn't tell me enough to know if they're exactly the same design or not.

From the factory it look like American UCA ball joints install from above, which also looks like how Thai UCA ball joints were installed, with Spanish UCA ball joints differing in that they install from below, but Rockauto shows a Delphi replacement ball joint for the American model that installs from below. It may no be so much about the install direction as it is about the diameter and how tall the socket that it friction-fits into is.

So I guess it's time to try to figure out diameters. Yay. So much fun. /sarcasm

 

[TWX]

So another observation from an Australian e-bay listing lists the following:

	Nissan	Navara	2014	D40 Ute 2.5 dCi 4WD (D40T)	AWD Diesel 2.5L 4cyl 140kW YD25DDTi	2488cc 140kW (Diesel)
	Nissan	Navara	2014	D40 Ute 3.0 dCi 4WD	AWD Diesel 3.0L 6cyl 170kW V9X	2993cc 170kW (Diesel)
	Nissan	Navara	2014	D40 Ute 4.0	RWD Petrol 4.0L 6cyl 198kW VQ40	3954cc 198kW (Petrol)

Bear in mind that trucks for Australia were sent only from Spain and Thailand. No American production were sent there.

The first one indicates Thai production, D40T.

The second and third are Spanish production, as the 4.0 V6 gas motor and the 3.0 diesel motor were not installed in the Thai factory.

So perhaps while Thai and Spanish trucks had different ball joints from the factory, one installed from above and the other from below, maybe it doesn't matter. Maybe the hole in the UCA for the ball joint is the same regardless of where they come from.

The annoying thing trying to resolve this is that Nissan doesn't sell the ball joint by itself anywhere. There is no Nissan p/n to refer to.

EDIT: I'm pretty sure now that this information is incorrect. I haven't confirmed actual dimensions but it looks like they're different and that e-bay's method of determining compatibility is giving misleading information.

 

[rdp91356]

So another observation from an Australian e-bay listing lists the following:

	Nissan	Navara	2014	D40 Ute 2.5 dCi 4WD (D40T)	AWD Diesel 2.5L 4cyl 140kW YD25DDTi	2488cc 140kW (Diesel)
	Nissan	Navara	2014	D40 Ute 3.0 dCi 4WD	AWD Diesel 3.0L 6cyl 170kW V9X	2993cc 170kW (Diesel)
	Nissan	Navara	2014	D40 Ute 4.0	RWD Petrol 4.0L 6cyl 198kW VQ40	3954cc 198kW (Petrol)

Bear in mind that trucks for Australia were sent only from Spain and Thailand. No American production were sent there.

The first one indicates Thai production, D40T.

The second and third are Spanish production, as the 4.0 V6 gas motor and the 3.0 diesel motor were not installed in the Thai factory.

So perhaps while Thai and Spanish trucks had different ball joints from the factory, one installed from above and the other from below, maybe it doesn't matter. Maybe the hole in the UCA for the ball joint is the same regardless of where they come from.

The annoying thing trying to resolve this is that Nissan doesn't sell the ball joint by itself anywhere. There is no Nissan p/n to refer to.

This Moog replacement upper ball joint looks like it installs from above. Might be able to get dimensions from Moog. EDIT: From what I've found diameter of these is 1.96" or 49.78mm, but that is probably the total diameter with the lip. The Austraila seller's eBay listing for the extended ball joint states: "42.30mm dia where the balljoint inserts in to the arm". It seems like it would fit. (the 25mm in the title refers to the thickness, or amount of extension)

 

[rdp91356]

From the eBay seller:
25mm extended Upper Ball Joint
suits:
D40 Navara 2008-on
Please check the dia of your existing balljoint
42.30mm dia where the balljoint inserts in to the arm.
45.5mm Not Available in extended

Not exactly precise, but if the outermost dimension of the Moog is 1.96" or 49.78mm, then the inner dimension looks like 45mm based on this mock up I did. No way to no for sure without measuring.

 

[TWX]

This Moog replacement upper ball joint looks like it installs from above. Might be able to get dimensions from Moog. EDIT: From what I've found diameter of these is 1.96" or 49.78mm, but that is probably the total diameter with the lip. The Austraila seller's eBay listing for the extended ball joint states: "42.30mm dia where the balljoint inserts in to the arm". It seems like it would fit. (the 25mm in the title refers to the thickness, or mount of extension)

I want to try to find more information on the ones from PSR as they're 35mm in length instead of 25mm:

Nissan Navara D40 Extended Ball Joint - Press In From Under (Spanish) - PSRNAV-001 - PSR Quality Offroad 4X4 & Racing Products

Buy the Nissan Navara D40 Extended Ball Joint - Press In From Under (Spanish) from PSR

www.performancesuspension.com.au

Nissan Navara D40 Extended Ball Joint - Press In From Top (Thai) - PSRNAV-002 - PSR Quality Offroad 4X4 & Racing Products

Buy the Nissan Navara D40 Extended Ball Joint - Press In From Top (Thai) from PSR

www.performancesuspension.com.au

The top one is Spanish, the bottom is Thai.

IF they have the same socket diameter, then the one for the Spanish trucks looks like the housing below the control arm is much bigger, since only the top that pushes up into the A-arm has to fit through the hole. In contrast the Thai one has to slide in its entirety through the hole, which means its total OD must be no larger than that hole.

I may need to e-mail them. Having a bit of trouble calculating shipping from their website.

 

[rdp91356]

Here's the Xterra thread: Upper Control Arm Ball Joint Extension?

 

[TWX]

Here's the Xterra thread: Upper Control Arm Ball Joint Extension?

Yeah.

I was surprised that the guy was so uninformed about the aftermarket parts he installed in his truck, especially since he had to go through the effort to measure and import.

Seems like if we can figure out what works, and if the parts are durable for those of us that aren't going to go do something insane, that this wuold really open up a lot of opportunities for inexpensive lifts. Hell, if the ball joint replacement can be done on-vehicle, without pulling the upper arm off, then the alignment itself may still be good enough to not require realigning at a shop, or if installing some kind of lift, make the drive to the alignment shop not so awkward.

 

[TWX]

I've also started a discussion in the Navara subforum about models/factories/interchange.

Making Sense of Sales Market, Body Code, and Source Factory

I've been trying to make sense of how the various trucks sold on the international market are the same or different in order to figure out parts interchange. In short, based on what I have been able to find from various international parts sellers, "D40" is not the only body code. Trucks from...

www.clubfrontier.org

 

[TWX]

Fou

From the eBay seller:
25mm extended Upper Ball Joint
suits:
D40 Navara 2008-on
Please check the dia of your existing balljoint
42.30mm dia where the balljoint inserts in to the arm.
45.5mm Not Available in extended

Not exactly precise, but if the outermost dimension of the Moog is 1.96" or 49.78mm, then the inner dimension looks like 45mm based on this mock up I did. No way to no for sure without measuring.
View attachment 329957

Now I'm confused.

I find one listing that claims Spanish trucks are 46.20mm diameter. I find another that claims that they're 42.10mm diameter.

I find another listing that claims Thai trucks are 46.20mm diameter.

Starting to develop a headache here. I did find two different LCA part numbers for European-produced trucks, one was seemingly standard duty, the other heavy duty. Perhaps Spanish-built trucks of certain trims were built with different front suspension components?

I think I'm going to have to visit an auto parts store with a pair of calipers to see what our American trucks are, then I can start to look more thoroughly at what the other factories used.