UBJ removal & rocker question

Technical and Repair Discussions
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PostPosted: Sun Jan 10, 2016 9:54 am
I've had my car for five seasons now and it's in for heavy maintenance over the winter. I'm going over all the suspension rod ends, ball joints, wheel bearings, hoses, caliper & master seals etc etc.
Does the UBJ remove with the typical removal fork tool? I started on one yesterday and it seemed resistant. Do I just need a bigger hammer?
Also, I read a number of posts suggesting checking of the UBJ bracket and rocker. What's the best way to check the rocker, if there is no obvious damage? The bracket should be a straight forward inspection.
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PostPosted: Sun Jan 10, 2016 11:41 am
For the UBJ, don't hammer on the end without some support as you'll be putting a load on the shocks and rocker. Get a length of wood and put in on the outside end of the rocker to take the load, then give a good whack with a mallet.

On the rocker pivot, check the holes to see if they've oval'ed out. This can happen if the bolts are not sufficiently tightened (which should be a regular check every race weekend.) Make sure the rocker moves easily up and down. If it slides horizontally on the crush tube or is too tight, this may indicate a need for new brass bushings on the rocker or a damaged crush tube (e.g. it has "mushroomed" on the ends, shortening its length and making it difficult to get a tight fit in the bushings.)

A bent rocker will generally show up as a noticeable disparity in the height of the spring perches on the shocks, though a small amount may be OK. Visually check the bottom of the rockers when they're out of the car for any signs of cracking (I do this on the car by cleaning the bottom and running my finger across the lower section to feel for any noticeable cracks). If you have the rockers
off the car, visually check side-by-side (or measure) for any noticeable difference in the bend.

Check shock bushings for excessive play. The sway bar bushing don't last very long and are a generally an annual maintenance item.

Check the bushings and pins on the calipers for excessive wear. These also tend to wear over time and can affect braking performance. I assume that caliper seals are changed at least every other pad/rotor change (I prefer to do pads/rotors/seals on each change.) Look for leaks around the master and clutch cylinders. The Girling master cylinders are rebuildable.

Ball joints should not have any noticeable play and have some resistance when moved by hand (too tight is not good, either).

Good time to have the shocks dyno'd or sent out for a rebuild.
Bob Breton - SRF 51 - San Francisco Region
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PostPosted: Sun Jan 10, 2016 3:37 pm
I'm not at the shop, so I don't have a picture, but we have a tool that slides between the ball joint and rocker and has a screw that pushes the ball joint stud through the rocker - it works better than a "pickle fork". Also tapping lightly on the end of the rocker can jar it a little if it is really stuck. Or even a little liquid wrench, if it hasn't been disassembled and gotten corroded...
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PostPosted: Mon Jan 11, 2016 4:47 pm
Dave is this the type of tool your talking about?
http://www.amazon.com/OTC-6297-Ball-Joi ... _1?ie=UTF8
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PostPosted: Tue Jan 12, 2016 7:55 am
A fellow racer taught me a trick. To remove the ball joint all you need is a hammer. Take a hammer and tap on the end of the rocker arm. No need to hit it hard, a few firm strikes will do. If there is weight on the ball joint, it may fall out, if not a light tap on the top and it will come out. Again no need to beat the heck out of it, if it doesn't come out the first time repeat. No special tools required
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PostPosted: Tue Jan 19, 2016 10:30 am
Zealous wrote:Dave is this the type of tool your talking about?
http://www.amazon.com/OTC-6297-Ball-Joi ... _1?ie=UTF8


I bought the tool referenced in the above link from Amazon and I can tell you it works GREAT! The fork slides right under the ball joint and you then crank down the pin to pop the ball joint shaft out of the control arm without having to beat on the control arm or ball point shaft, which will very easily lead to crushing of the threads.

There is also a tie rod end remover from the same company. It is very handy as well when trying to remove the tie rod end from the uprights.
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 21, 2016 8:57 pm
I bought the harbor freight version (#99849) for about $18 with the 20% coupon. It works great.
I already had the tie-rod remover tool and will second the thumbs up rating.

Another question: The UBJs coming out have no zerk fittings. The new ones have 90 deg zerks I can install. I can see the trick will be having end up pointing in the one direction allowed by the bracket for access. Does anyone install them?

Thanks for the tips.
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 21, 2016 9:06 pm
Bob Breton wrote:
Check the bushings and pins on the calipers for excessive wear. These also tend to wear over time and can affect braking performance...
...Good time to have the shocks dyno'd or sent out for a rebuild.


I have an interesting collection of pin & bushing diameters. I am going to measure the pad taper and see if there is a correlation to pin/bushing clearance. I'll put the results in a separate thread.
Shocks went to Stimola for rebuild in Nov. The calipers and master rebuild kits are all in hand, waiting for a snowy day at the workbench. I'll get the front rockers out for a close inspection.
Thanks for the suggestions.
Les Kurz
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PostPosted: Fri Jan 22, 2016 1:10 am
xvracer wrote:
Bob Breton wrote:
Check the bushings and pins on the calipers for excessive wear. These also tend to wear over time and can affect braking performance...
...Good time to have the shocks dyno'd or sent out for a rebuild.


I have an interesting collection of pin & bushing diameters. I am going to measure the pad taper and see if there is a correlation to pin/bushing clearance. I'll put the results in a separate thread.
Shocks went to Stimola for rebuild in Nov. The calipers and master rebuild kits are all in hand, waiting for a snowy day at the workbench. I'll get the front rockers out for a close inspection.
Thanks for the suggestions.


It isn't only wear on the caliper pin and bushing, they come in different sizes and have to be matched.

Are you sure you have enough clearance between the ball joint and upright to even have a 90 fit? I'm not looking at one, but it seems like it would be pretty tight.
Dave Harriman
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PostPosted: Fri Jan 22, 2016 12:43 pm
I bought some ubj at napa that came with that 90 degree fitting and I could not make them fit. What I did was fill them with grease then cut off a small bolt with the same thread and screwed it in the hole.

I am not sure it straight fittings would work or not.
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