fitting the top ball joint back in to the wishbone

[dixieflatline]

I tried to fit the new top ball joint back in to the wishbone today, and it was rattling around in there a bit. I assumed I'd picked up the wrong replacement, so I dug out what's left of the old one but that was exactly the same. Are there meant to be washers or spacers that fit between the joint and the inside of the wishbone? I was a bit surprised as most of the problems I'd read about on here seemed to concern the ball joint being too big for the wishbone and not the other way round. What I should have done of course was take a photo before I took it apart, but I didn't.

[Elfit]

I've just replaced mine.
There was a shim either side of the old ball joint. Just a thin piece of metal with two holes ~ one for each bolt.
I have put them back as I found them but will have geometry set up professionally once everything else is back on.
Cheers
Tim

[tvrgit]

Yes there is a spacer each side of the balljoint, inside the wishbone. If you can't find them, I think TVRcarparts.com sell them - I happened to see them somewhere recently while I was looking for something else.

[tvrgit]

Elfit said:

I've just replaced mine.
There was a shim either side of the old ball joint. Just a thin piece of metal with two holes ~ one for each bolt.
I have put them back as I found them but will have geometry set up professionally once everything else is back on.
Cheers
Tim

Yes the shims affect the wheel caster, while the in / out position of the joint in the slotted holes in the wishbone, determine wheel camber, so they should be set up properly after refitting.

[dixieflatline]

Thanks everyone - I'll go and dig them out of the box of rusty bits tonight and see if I can clean them up. I'll definitely be getting the suspension set up properly once it's back together!

[hvdweerden]

Fitting the shims with the ball joints wasn't so easy for me. I superglued the shims on the ball joints before putting them on the wishbones.

Br, Han

[magpies]

my new top ball joint was very tight in the top wishbone without shims - will I have a problem getting the castor (along with everything else) set up?

[Gerald-TVR]

Hi Tom

Let me know if you needs some could bring with me this weekend

[dixieflatline]

Thanks Norman - I'm going up to the workshop a bit later to see what state the old ones are in, so if I do I'll let you know this evening.

Tom