Ok, decided to start a thread rather than continue to hijack Dukesracin's thread about the spindle type ball joints. Sorry man, your work looks good, and has stimulated ideas all around, but we will move the discussion here.
As mentioned, the strut type front ends all seem to have the same issue, ball joint failures. With the ball joint built into the spindle, you have to buy new ones. Fine if you have an ASW or Hammerhead buggy, but what about the harder to find ones, like Dazon or Carter for example. The ones on mine were replaced with Kinroad spindles roughly one year ago, and three out of four joints are loose. If that is the expected life span, then I am in trouble. At 80-100 bucks a side, I am looking at alternatives.
One idea is heims. The yerfs do great with heims. I'm thinking of going that route on mine, even though I already have the BD joints. The question really is, mounting. Although I have not disassembled the fornt yet, I have been able to take some preliminary measurements, the spindle tube is ~1.4"(35.5mm) and the turn in from straight is a little more than 30 degrees.
Mounting the heim vertically makes it the strongest it can be, but you would need more than 60 degrees of articulation to go stop to stop. A high misalign joint can give up to 64, too close for comfort for me. The positive is the up/down articulation is virtually unlimited in this position.
Mounting the joint horizontally gives unlimited turning, but at the price of overall joint strength, and limiting up/down articulation. Again, the high misalign joint, or regular joint with spacers, can yield 60 degrees, which on this type of suspension, I think is more than adequate. The thought here is to go a size larger to help offset the weakness of the joint mounted this way. The other drawback, is the stud on the ends of the spindle would need to be perfectly straight.
^^ This is the direction I am leaning right now. ^^
Another option is to use a joint similar to, or even the exact joint that BD offers for the Yerfs. They seem to hold up pretty well and they offer their lifetime warranty(just don't tell them it's not on a Yerf). The double stud joint is a good compromise between ease of install and durability, but aesthetically, lets face it, they are not as sexy as heims. This thought has crossed my mind while eyeballing hiems for the yerf, and although they seem like a good idea, my gut tells me something won't work with them.
There are weldable ball joint kits available, and not terribly priced, but they do not offer above 30 degrees of articulation. They are, however, re-buildable. The fabrication needed to make that joint work seems too complicated in comparison to hiem joints or conventional ball joints. Not to mention, if it breaks on the trail, unless you brought the tool and another joint, you might be SOL.
If I am wrong in any of the above, please step in and correct me. I am not one to get butt hurt over incorrect information. Also, step in weighing options and additional ideas. In this case, I want as much info to help make the right choice the first time, instead of the second or third time.
