spherical bearing upper ball joint

Max I had an idea the other day about using a spherical bearing as an upper joint....you said you like to use them sideways as it will only limit steering which may be limited anyways.....is there a way to weld a tapered shaft or a bolt (and drill out the spindle) to the bearing sleeve making it a bolt in deal.....wouldnt really limit steering either this way....i am just not sure if it will be strong enough.....i wonder if there is something i am missing in my thinking since i dont think anyone has thought of this before.....i dont know of anyone locally i could send my spindles to be welded.....and i am not sure i would trust just anyone

You cant weld the bolt or tapered shaft directly to the bearing, but you can weld it to a cup that the bearing would sit inside. Ive done this before when trying to figure out a bolt in way to make upper arms with unlimited travel at the joint, but i have yet to ever try one on the road.  I machined a tapered shaft, then tig'd it to the cup.  The the cup would bolt ontop of the spindle, and also bolt into the control arm. It looked nice, but now im trying to make a new styled cup that bolts two sides together, instead of using snap ring to hold the bearing in.    Its deffinentally possible tho.  I would do a bit more research into the lowers tho...i still havent gotten that far.  Taylor

did this on a 2009 dodge didnt affect the steering  cuz the tires hit the frame at the same time the bearing is maxed out

did u end up doing the lowers like that eventually also?  how did it hold up down thare??  im a bit worried about the stress on the lowers with that kind of setup...

Potter, that setup looks great btw, that's on the front of Dan's Dodge right?   Bolt in wise that setup wouldn't work as an aftermarket system unless you also some how moved the pivot points of the control arms or the steering.  The setup posted raises the pivot point of the upper control arm versus where a normal ball joint would be.  Granted the amount that you moved it is not drasitic by any means but very little can change the way the suspension handles.   It clearly looks like you guys did move the upper control arm mounts, so I'm in no way discrediting that suspension design.  I just wanted to point out to others that is not as simple as just making a new control arm to bolt in the factory spot. 

no the lowers are an 88-98 chevy ball joint so we could flip it up instead of down like factoryyes thats on dans 09  we raised the uppers  cuz we flipped the lowers so we had to reloacte the uppers  to keep everything inline  if we didnt flip the lowers we could have left the uppers in stock location.  dans front suspension  came  out better then anyother i have ever driven with relocated arms    absolutly no bump steer  and does exactly what we needed it to 

---------------------------------------------Originally posted by Chopped MazdaYou cant weld the bolt or tapered shaft directly to the bearing, but you can weld it to a cup that the bearing would sit inside.--------------------------------------------- Sorry if i wasnt clear but that is what i meant...lol....what would you charge for something like this.....actually just a sleeve and a tapered shaft welded...i can get the bearing myself......i dont have a TIG and i am a little uncomfortable using a MIG and doing it myself. Thanks for those pics IMLOWER....tahts exactly what i was thinking

---------------------------------------------Originally posted by e10pvmt---------------------------------------------Originally posted by Chopped MazdaYou cant weld the bolt or tapered shaft directly to the bearing, but you can weld it to a cup that the bearing would sit inside.---------------------------------------------Sorry if i wasnt clear but that is what i meant...lol....what would you charge for something like this.....actually just a sleeve and a tapered shaft welded...i can get the bearing myself......i dont have a TIG and i am a little uncomfortable using a MIG and doing it myself. Thanks for those pics IMLOWER....tahts exactly what i was thinking ---------------------------------------------

Sorry man, wouldnt really feel comfortable selling a part like that yet , untill i have time to properly test it and see how it holds up in person. Hit potter up, he can probably make you one.   Taylor

would you machine a shaft to fit the toyota spindle

---------------------------------------------Originally posted by TuckingLugs05would you machine a shaft to fit the toyota spindle

--------------------------------------------if I was building control arms for you, i would for sure.  But, i dont make them alone, only in control arm kits.  Taylor