ball joint question

[gray dog]

has anyone tried the bone fish fab. (king pin ) ball joint replacement ??? not alot of info out there about them that i could find,,,thanks in advance

 

[sweetk30]

need pics / info or link.

lots have had super lick with the reid or c&m performance ( if you can get him to ship on time ) bronze / ampco bushings over the stock nylon.

and dont mix the terms up its king pin OR ball joints.

 

[Stomis]

Wait a second here. Are we talking about something that replaces ball joints with king pins like the toyota guys have that replaces trunion bearings ?!

 

[dhcomp]

Found this:

http://www.bonefishfab.com/

 

[rampage]

$400 to do an axle

 

[big dan]

the bonefish balljoints are supposedly kingpins that replace the balljoints. Look plenty strong but for the price tag they better be, just dont know how well they would wear.

 

[Stomis]

the bonefish balljoints are supposedly kingpins that replace the balljoints. Look plenty strong but for the price tag they better be, just dont know how well they would wear.

Meh. Not for $400. Its a good idea but fact of the matter is if your literally breaking good quality ball joints on a dana 44 you need a dana 60.

 

[gray dog]

need pics / info or link.

lots have had super lick with the reid or c&m performance ( if you can get him to ship on time ) bronze / ampco bushings over the stock nylon.

and dont mix the terms up its king pin OR ball joints.

thanks for the replys guys,,the bonefish link has been posted by another member on this thread,,,having replaced both king pins and ball joints over the years i do know the difference ,,this product IS a kingpin (no ball or socket) to replace the ball joint,,(they were thinking outside the box on this one) i have never broke a ball joint but have worn out plenty of lower ones,,the uppers seam to hold up ok,,my thoughts were that IF they hold up (no way to grease them) they might be a good idea for the lowers only,,going to check out the reid and c&m ones too,,or may just keep replacing the lowers every 20k miles. thanks again.

 

[Stomis]

thanks for the replys guys,,the bonefish link has been posted by another member on this thread,,,having replaced both king pins and ball joints over the years i do know the difference ,,this product IS a kingpin (no ball or socket) to replace the ball joint,,(they were thinking outside the box on this one) i have never broke a ball joint but have worn out plenty of lower ones,,the uppers seam to hold up ok,,my thoughts were that IF they hold up (no way to grease them) they might be a good idea for the lowers only,,going to check out the reid and c&m ones too,,or may just keep replacing the lowers every 20k miles. thanks again.

The dreaded question: What size tires are you running on a dana 44/10 bolt?

 

[gray dog]

The dreaded question: What size tires are you running on a dana 44/10 bolt?

35s on 10 inch with 4 inch bs,,,and yes that is the reason for short lived lower ball joints,,,thus the reason for my interest in the king pin style,,just dont know how long they will last,,stock type are cheap just a pita to replace regularly,,,in my younger days it was fun to me just to tear it down and fix,,tinker,repack,,etc.,,,,,,,not any more,,knees hurt,,back hurts,,cant see s**t anymore without glasses,,sweat in eyes,,,,,,,just not fun like it use to be.

 

[Blue85]

I would like to hear some real world experience with this conversion. In places, it is surely stronger, but isn't the weak link still the tapered shaft? Sure, the ball won't wear and get loose anymore, but the slop is what prompts you to change the things out periodically. It also seems to me that you lose the compensation for misalignment. The axle "C" may not be perfectly inline with the knuckle - top and bottom - So now the press fit and drawing the nuts tight is forcing the "C" and/or knuckle to flex or putting the bushing/kingpin loading unevenly in the bore. I know it's inherent to king pins, but is the D44 design well suited for it?

Does a D44 take the same ball joint as a 10B?

 

[gray dog]

I would like to hear some real world experience with this conversion. In places, it is surely stronger, but isn't the weak link still the tapered shaft? Sure, the ball won't wear and get loose anymore, but the slop is what prompts you to change the things out periodically. It also seems to me that you lose the compensation for misalignment. The axle "C" may not be perfectly inline with the knuckle - top and bottom - So now the press fit and drawing the nuts tight is forcing the "C" and/or knuckle to flex or putting the bushing/kingpin loading unevenly in the bore. I know it's inherent to king pins, but is the D44 design well suited for it?

Does a D44 take the same ball joint as a 10B?

very good point,,i too was thinking someone on the forum may have used them,,,but mabey not,,and yes the d44 and 10 bolt have same part number upper and lower ball joints 72-91 years,,, thanks