new idea for a lift ...

[boreddead88]

Has anyone considered upper ball joint spacers? After laying on the ground staring at the front end for an hour or 2 the idea popped into my head. Basically use a 2" block to go between the balljoint and the upper control arm. I am welding supervisor at a machine shop so im going to see if one of my coworkers can wip somthing up for me. If it works out would any one be interested in the finished product" I'm thinking $75 for a pair of blocks, and maybe a $200 kit with some blocks for the rear with u-bolts and hardware? I'm thinking I want to provide a 1", 1.5", and 2" model

Also I am going be putting some effort into designing a kit to drop the front end, similar to how alot of toyota lifts work, this would maintain the stock suspension geomerty, and allow for alot more lift. This kit will obviously be sustantially more expensive, but I'm imagining it would have some appeal for certain people.

I'm looking for feedback on this, positive or negative, any feedback would be appreiated...

Given the realitivly small market for these parts, It would probibly be a special order basis, I am certain I can make either of these work, and can get my employer to back me up. If there is enough interest shown, I will presue it. If not Ill probibly end up just making them for myself.  Just leave a reply if your interested, and as the idea manifests itself I will update this, and provide some pics, and statistics...

[68AMXGOPAC]

Someone has made these before and sold them here. I believe they were "water" cut ?? A one ich spacer gives 2" lift I believe.....I have a set.

[eagledreamer]

G'day,

I was just reading your post on the ball joint spacer idea. I'm in the process of doing something similar. I bought a piece of 1 1/2" thick aluminum from the local recycler and was going to have it cut out with a water jet. I've made a template from a ball joint to do the cutting. My idea was to go up 3", two 1 1/2" blocks on each side. Also lower the differential 3" to reduce the axle shaft angle. The other concerns will be the tie rod angles and lower ball joint angle. So, to compensate for the tie rod angle, use a 2" dropped steering arm from a Jeep Cherokee and lower the idler arm mount. To minimize the lower ball joint angle, I was going to modify the crossmember and relocate the mounting point for the a-arm.

If you'd like to compare notes on this let me know....

Eagle Dreamer 

[mudkicker715]

Dropping the axle will still overflex the halfshaft. I forget why. I did that years back. It changes the flex maybe there is another buried thread that discusses that.

[thereverendbill]

my 2 cents:  a solid axle is the way to go if your going to do any serious offroading, the time and energy put into making the stock setup lower to the ground to lift the car you could already have your new axle and be about half way done.

[eagledreamer]

Solid axle is the way to go in the long run....

Something that seems to be overlooked when raising the vehicle is that the axle angle increases making them more likely to break. That's why the differential should be dropped at the same time. That decreases the axle angle bringing them back or at least closer to the stock angle...

Other concerns are the ball joint angle. When you're pushing the upper and lower arms down your limiting their range of motion in one direction putting the ball joints in a bind and possibly causing a failure. Any IFS lift should be thought through. Look and see how other companies have made their IFS lifts...       

[standup650]

so spacers please?

[Bird-o-Prey]

The only thing you really get out of using spacers to lift the eagle is a body lift.  If you lower the front axle, you really haven't gained anything much on the trail or dirt road.  You get a car that looks like it can go off roading, but still gets hung up on the front axle and that big rock in the trail.  For anything other than a gravel road, the straight axle is the way to go.

However, if all you want is the "look" of a more off road vehicle, then the 'body lift' is the easiest.  My 2 cents.

 

[standup650]

the only way to get axle clearance is by tires. and if you lift a rig with a solid axle then in theory your dropping the axle. so i guess i dont know what you mean by "look". not trying to be a punk just wondering if i missed something about lifting rigs. some of the best rigs i have wheeled in where lifted ifs and the lift kits them are the same idea.

[Bird-o-Prey]

Well, perhaps it was me that missed something.  I agree that it would be tire size that gives clearance.  I just think that the straight axle would ultimately be the easier project than lowering the whole drive train.  Because, I believe that is what you would have to do, to drop the front axle.  Wouldn't that require lowering the front cross member as well as the tranny mounts?  Not to mention some of the ancillary connections?  Whereas the straight axle swap would only need a couple of leaf spring mounts (admittedly the easier of the suspension options) for the axle?  I admit my knowledge of the engineering is lacking, but I have spent some time looking at this option for my other 84.  OR...have still missed the plot??

[carnuck]

You will need to switch to bigger rims if you do this (happened with Cam Brown's rig too years ago)

[mach1mustang351]

My eagle originally had ball joint spacers when I body lifted my wagon the first time.  It wasn't an ideal setup and that is why I went with my modified knuckle idea.  It will be hard to make a spacer that doesn't tweak the alignment and cause strange bump steer issues.  Not to say it can't work but I tried it twice and scrapped the idea. 

You will definitely need different rims.  I had to run a 15x8 with a 4" backspace....  I should have ordered a 15x7 but I must have had a few beers before I placed the order and got the really wide rims.  I still have a bit of clearance issues I had to solve with some trimming.

[standup650]

Well, perhaps it was me that missed something.  I agree that it would be tire size that gives clearance.  I just think that the straight axle would ultimately be the easier project than lowering the whole drive train.  Because, I believe that is what you would have to do, to drop the front axle.  Wouldn't that require lowering the front cross member as well as the tranny mounts?  Not to mention some of the ancillary connections?  Whereas the straight axle swap would only need a couple of leaf spring mounts (admittedly the easier of the suspension options) for the axle?  I admit my knowledge of the engineering is lacking, but I have spent some time looking at this option for my other 84.  OR...have still missed the plot??

Aw... I just didnt understand what you were saying. thank you for clearifying. bump steer aside cant you space the front end without moving the motor and tranny?

[standup650]

Never mind. Your right! i just read this thread.   http://forums.amceaglenest.com/index.php?topic=36720.0 
I now see the light sensei!

[mach1mustang351]

mach1, was there really any driveability issues with the eagle having the ball joint spacers?? im talking every day driving?? was there bad bump steer issues? im a little leary of the ball joint spacers, even tho i thought about it and asked once also. i still think it may be safer with just spring lifting. just something about ball joint spacers that can be a weak point at highway speeds pushes me away from that thought...

The issues were bad.  I ran the ball joint spacers through 2 incarnations.  The first set were so bad anything other than a flat road made the vehicle wander and hard to control.  The next set built had shims and spacers that were machined to fine tune the alignment so they would be the same side to side.  This was better but still didn't make me comfortable driving it on the street.  That is how my modified knuckles came into play for the next try.

I also had steering issues with having to drop the steering gear and idler which I'm sure complicated the problem. 

As many have said.  The solid axle is probably the way to go as far as simplicity... even though that isn't exactly simple either.