Ridetech Upper Control Arm/Ball Joint Problem

[piratebaseball]

Hey guys,
Helping a friend put a ridetech coilover suspension kit on his first gen camaro. He bought the kit complete from ridetech including the ball joints. Problem is the ball joint holes do not match the holes on the Ridetech upper control arm. You can get 2 of the bolts in, but the other two are off enough that they won't go in. What should I tell him to do? Send the stuff back to ridetech and wait another 8 weeks to hopefully get parts that fit and bolt together or just drill the other two holes out and bolt it together? The other two holes aren't off by much, just half a hole. I can post pics if anybody needs to see. Thanks guy!

[Rod]

?? ream out the holes?? its common enough on many arms sets



simple fix

[bret]

Umm...that's not a ridetech control arm. It's got a Global West decal on it.

[exwestracer]

Umm...that's not a ridetech control arm. It's got a Global West decal on it.

Different poster Bret. I think it was an explanation... Arms built for different balljoint? Wonder why they would be THAT far off...

[piratebaseball]

Thank you, that was exactly what I was asking for. My buddy is paranoid about his suspension being as strong as possible so he wanted to make sure that redrilling the holes or extending the holes on the ridetech upper control arm wouldn't hurt anything or make anything weaker. The way those bolts are off on the speed tech is almost the same thing on his ridetechs. You can get the bolts in on the right side or left side, but when you do the other side is off by half bolt.

[piratebaseball]

Before anybody asks or says it, yes we have swapped the ball joints around (put the one that wouldn't line up on the other upper control arm and vice versa). There is just no way to bolt them in without redrilling a little bit. Like I said, they are not off by much, just enough not to be able to get the bolt in.

Bret,
I see in your signature that it says President of ridetech. The suspension pieces including the tru turn is awesome! This is the only problem that we have had in installing anything so far. Air bar bracketry is already in. Would you recommend redrilling since they are only off by half a bolt hole or send them back because it would weaken it somehow? Thanks!

[Proforged]

If I remember correctly, the original control arms had slotted bolt holes to allow for some variation in manufacturing. Most of the aftermarket ball joints do not have slotted bolt holes - they aren't necessary because the control arms are slotted. Aftermarket control arms aren't slotted and the ball joints aren't slotted, so unless the arms are drilled for a specific brand of ball joint and that ball joint is always used, these types of issues can come up - the bolt patterns aren't matched.

The reason for the issue you see in the photos with the Global West arms is that the Global West arms are drilled for a certain brand of ball joint, and it looks like Rod installed a different brand of ball joint than the ones that originally came with the arms (it looks like he decided to run tall ball joints, which Global West doesn't offer). The bolt pattern is slightly different on the replacement ball joint than on the ball joint that came with the GW arms.

It may be fine to drill out the arms - check with the manufacturer. Do not drill out the ball joint holes on the ball joint itself.

[bret]

Yep, just saw that the pictures came from a different poster...my bad.

In general, should be no problem to ream the holes. I can't imagine any strength compromise if it's close. If you have any concerns we'll send a replacement set that are prefitted to the specific brand of balljoint. It shouldn't happen, but we're starting to see variations on bolt patterns from brand to brand of balljoints, as Zach indicated above. This seems to be a recent development and I may have to look at slotting one or more of the mounting holes. More investigation on Monday...

[exwestracer]

Yep, just saw that the pictures came from a different poster...my bad.

In general, should be no problem to ream the holes. I can't imagine any strength compromise if it's close. If you have any concerns we'll send a replacement set that are prefitted to the specific brand of balljoint. It shouldn't happen, but we're starting to see variations on bolt patterns from brand to brand of balljoints, as Zach indicated above. This seems to be a recent development and I may have to look at slotting one or more of the mounting holes. More investigation on Monday...

Or ship them all with the center hole fitted and blank for the bolts...lol. Think anyone would forget to drill them?

[Rod]

yes
that was a set of global west arms and Proforged tall ball joints, I was just suggesting reaming out the holes on the arms, I have also reamed out a set of Hotchkis and DSE arms, so i was just guessing the Ride Techs were the same deal-e-o, didnt want to confuse any one that's why i posted pictures on what to do, and please only ream the holes in the arm,(and repaint that area so it wont rust)

[PTS]

Hey guys,
Helping a friend put a ridetech coilover suspension kit on his first gen camaro. He bought the kit complete from ridetech including the ball joints. Problem is the ball joint holes do not match the holes on the Ridetech upper control arm. You can get 2 of the bolts in, but the other two are off enough that they won't go in. What should I tell him to do? Send the stuff back to ridetech and wait another 8 weeks to hopefully get parts that fit and bolt together or just drill the other two holes out and bolt it together? The other two holes aren't off by much, just half a hole. I can post pics if anybody needs to see. Thanks guy!

Hey Landon,

Let me know what you want to do as I saw Brets reply.

Regards,

Perry
PTS

[piratebaseball]

Thanks guys, we've got it fixed!

[piratebaseball]

Here is a picture of what I was referring too.

[BuzzKillian]

I just had the same issue with some new MOOG ball joints in Stock Arms... I would say it is not a control arm issue. I never thought twice about reaming them out.