Street (Regular) vs Racing Ball Joints

[Jonathonar89]

Hey Guys,

Just want to share my shopping experience so some people can see the difference. I'm building a street oriented car and thought it would be cool to go with the "cool" low friction and rebuildable ball joints for my car because, "why not?"

Below, pictured, are QA1 Ultimate Ball Joints and a pair of Proforged ball joints. I ordered the QA1 ball joints a few years ago because I thought they would be a cool addition to the car at the time but after finding they don't have ball joint dust covers and need to be cleaned/reset every so often, I quickly realized this is the type of item which is really a race car item. I contemplated this for a while but decided to order new (Proforged) ball joints that work for street-oriented cars. There is nothing wrong with the QA1 setup and they're actually pretty awesome but they really don't suit what my ultimate goal is (lower-maintenance street car). There certainly is much less friction in the QA1 ball joint but this is not meant for long term (no maintenance) use. The proforged is a better product for a street-oriented car in my goals but if I were building a track-car, I would certainly use the QA1's instead.

This post is not meant to put down QA1's product or glorify Proforged's ball joint but I hope this helps someone out for future buying decisions. Both are nice but both serve a completely different purpose/use.

Jon



Untitled by Jonathon Randolph, on Flickr
Untitled by Jonathon Randolph, on Flickr
Untitled by Jonathon Randolph, on Flickr

[Hotwire]

Thank you for the visual, I appreciate the time it took to do this because you won't see the small details in a catalog.

You can purchase dust boot covers for the balljoints, but it might take time to get the right fit as the aftermarket isn't really there for that? Just type in balljoint dust cover in google and away you go.

I've got around 18k HARD miles on my proforged joints/steering components and am happy with their performance so far, they've done everything I've asked of them. Keep them lubed up with moly and roll. (Not affiliated with them or any other brand, just consumer statement)

[Jonathonar89]

Hey Jeff,

Thanks for your review.

To be clear, no brand affiliation from me as well, although that would help my build progress lol. I looked at the dust covers but it seems people have issue with the polyurethane offerings not staying attached when installed. The QA1 instructions actually had dust boot covers in their instruction pictures but none of the ones I ordered had them (upper or lower) and I got them from two different vendors at the time. Again I don’t have any negative opinion on either but these two ball joints serve completely a different purpose respectively. Now it’s time to sell 2nd-hand new “changing build direction” QA1 ball joints since it’s been so long and I’m way outside return time.

Jon

[anguilla1980]

Great example, thanks for sharing!

I've caught myself countless times starting to make decisions on things to benefit my car when road racing, but will make it trash when doing tours or rallys. I just remind myself that I'll be racing for fun and while it would be nice to be competitive to the point of not being last, I'm not in it to win anything. I want to be able to drive to the track and back home, to do One Lap of America and not be beat to hell by my car while driving it between events, to not have to do maintenance every single weekend if I haven't done a racing event or am prepping for one.

It's a tough balance to strike deciding where to compromise and where not to.

[Hotwire]

Hey Jeff,

Thanks for your review.

To be clear, no brand affiliation from me as well, although that would help my build progress lol. I looked at the dust covers but it seems people have issue with the polyurethane offerings not staying attached when installed. The QA1 instructions actually had dust boot covers in their instruction pictures but none of the ones I ordered had them (upper or lower) and I got them from two different vendors at the time. Again I don’t have any negative opinion on either but these two ball joints serve completely a different purpose respectively. Now it’s time to sell 2nd-hand new “changing build direction” QA1 ball joints since it’s been so long and I’m way outside return time.

Jon

Not a problem. The only thing I would like to note is if you're running tall ball joints you'll have to figure a way to keep the dust boot sealed to the stud. I haven't done anything and have grease coming down the stud. I was thinking zip tie or safety wire around the end of the boot, but saw a great idea and am going to copy it. Saw somewhere someone took rubber hose and cut it to length so that it was tall enough to keep tension on the rubber boot when installed w/ the joint against the spindle. Keeping the boot pushed up towards the joint stretches it against the stud sealing it. Another thing is if grease escapes out of the boot it'll be captured by the hose..

As anguilla poetically dispelled, it's a very tough balance. I was just running an banked oval/slalom on Sunday. Was getting kinda pissy as a stockish Mazda was pulling away from me on the onset to the banked oval because I couldn't get any power down at all, BUT I was catching back up to him on the straight and in the slalom. I've got my car set up as a budget swiss army knife. Great cruiser/long distance hauler, and can also drag race, autocross, etc. There's times I have regrets, but for the couple hours of fame from beating strangers to needing a kidney belt to drive this thing isn't appealing. I'm happy with an all around ok deal vs tuned towards one certain aspect.

Video from Sunday, complete stranger took them and shared them with me, kinda wish he'd gotten some slalom too, but beggars can't be choosers. Caddy v wagon waved me by on the straight, I was pushing him pretty good through the slalom, that's my boy scout badge for the month. :D

https://youtu.be/7fEnTr4lUyY

[TanMan]

Great example, thanks for sharing!

I've caught myself countless times starting to make decisions on things to benefit my car when road racing, but will make it trash when doing tours or rallys. I just remind myself that I'll be racing for fun and while it would be nice to be competitive to the point of not being last, I'm not in it to win anything. I want to be able to drive to the track and back home, to do One Lap of America and not be beat to hell by my car while driving it between events, to not have to do maintenance every single weekend if I haven't done a racing event or am prepping for one.

It's a tough balance to strike deciding where to compromise and where not to.

Very well put. Nearly every decision on each vehicle component is a struggle. The more racecar-oriented you go, the less streetable things become, and then you can end up with a car you don’t even want to drive.

Personally, I want to have it all. I want an all-out racecar that is still comfortable, reliable, affordable... Slowly realizing that’s not how this works. With every benefit there is a drawback, no way around it!