Hicas Alternative To Ball Joints, Maybe?

[Stevoss]

I removed my rear hicas today and had a look at the ball joints and they were both flogged out but i had an idea.

Getting straight into the idea, if you look below at the silvia forum post i like that idea of completely removing the ball joint in favour of a bush, but instead of making the bracket like they have to contain the bush i want to use the original one the way it was designed so it pulls against the ball joint and is held by a nut, but make up a 3-4mm thick washer on the lathe a to sit on the far side of where the ball joint was(first pic) and have that support and retain the bush (2nd pic) then run a high tensile bolt through the bush and the standard arm and put a nut on it.

Insight and ideas welcome.

You might not understand what i am trying to get across but if i can make it up it should mean being serviceable for the cost of the bushes, compared to $100 each from just jap if they had them in stock or maybe a supplier can get them if they order them in.

Good to see some guys having a go them selves here

http://www.nissansil...howtopic=396207

Another thing was i couldn't find a supplier for an alternative after market part in aus

http://www.skylineow...ad.php?t=141864

other alternative is the Drift works Total HICAS Eliminator Kit or the bycas kit

[madbung]

Whats wrong with a simple lock bar for around $70-100

[Stevoss]

sorry for the confusion i realised they were flogged out i was installing my hicas lock bar i bought from justjap.

so i found some part #'s today and i think i am getting closer.

here is what they look like

and the genuine part # 55154-0P800 (available from just jap)

Another from http://www.importcar...nfo.asp?id=1744

Part # ICP1744

And here is some other part #'s which might be useful

Bottom ball joint lower l/h & r/h Bj492 $33.49 each (these are not the hicas ball joints they are the bottom ones)

rack end Re913

tie rod end Te926-12

left and right Rr Rack end Re858

[Risking]

The idea you have is the way to fix it.

I've been cnc machining a similar solution for a while now.

I use spherical bearings and rose joints instead of bushes though.

[Stevoss]

adding more information to the list i got under the car and had a little measure, with the callipers. (**not sure on the accuracy until i get the old ball joints out of the housing and do a proper measure**)

ID of the ball joint housing 32.35mm

OD of the ball joint housing face(for the washer) up to 43.34 mm

Depth of the housing 35.27mm

bolt hole sizing for the ball joint in the tie rod end 10mm* roughly

i started looking for the sizes for the bushes which supposedly fit 46218(nolathane) Control arm upper 1 kit contain 4bushes

od 30.3mm id 22mm length 19mm fl/d 4mm fl/od 40mm

crushtubes t22.2 x 13.2 x 41mm

talking to my trusty machinist at work and we have some spare material lying around so i am going to give this ago and see, cant hurt also we are going to make the bushes out of nylon and see how they go first

[Stevoss]

okay just finished getting my rear end back together, ended up using 1 set of 46218(nolathane) bushes $49.43 delivered, made 4 washers 43mm diameter, 4mm thick with a 12mm centre hole. 2x 12mm bolt about 80mm long (was a spare from a old sub-frame off a commy)

steps :

make the washers

buy bush kit

car on hoist

wheels off

remove the lower bolt in the shock

(if you have extra time i say remove the whole strut)

take the nut off the end of the ball joint

bash or leaver the tie rod off the ball joint

remove the circlip on the rear of the ball joint

** gets tricky to remove the ball joint, from here on in we tried with a massive g-clamp, bashing from the rear with massive breaker bar, in the end we used the oxy and cut it out** PLEASE NOTE THE BACK OF THE JOINT WAS FULL OF AIR / GREASE COMPRESSED AND EXPLODED TAKE EXTREME CARE

clean up the area

apply a small amount of rubber grease to the bushes and place in either side of the housing

insert the crush tube

drill out the hole in the centre of the tie rod to 12mm

place washer at the rear of the bushes, closer to the front of the car

insert 12mm bolt through

line up the tierod and place over the bolt

use a small washer on the backside of the tierod

lock with nut

reconnect up the suspension and go for a wheel alignment

all up took me 7 hours and $50 in parts, waiting on the final results after the wheel alignment and to see how it feels and drives after i

trash it on the track (longevity wise). the size of the bushes was a exact fit, so much for my measuring upside down under a car skills.

Photos to come later

[warp speed]

The idea you have is the way to fix it.

I've been cnc machining a similar solution for a while now.

I use spherical bearings and rose joints instead of bushes though.

I'm intersted in seeing your fix to the crappy tie rod ends.

[sucram]

If the bush was solid (alloy/steel) it would work.

You shouldnt run a poly/urethane bush on tie rods as they deflect under load. Ball Joints pivot to compensate for arm angle changes without deflecting (squishing one way or another)

[Luke_GTS-T]

nice work!

Keen to see pics

[Stevoss]

Sorry it took so long im having problems with uploading photos.