[DeTomaso] machine ball joint to modify alignment

[boyd casey]

I purchased the Dennis Quella camber lock kit . It has not arrived and I
have not had my a-arms powder coated yet so I haven't started trying to
re-assemble everything so I have no idea how everything is going to work out
with new bushings, new ball joints, new tie rod ends and new shocks and all
new risers , hubs, wheels bearings ( of the Ken Green suspension
modification) so my expectations are for  a great end result even though I
have no factual reason to expect the end result to be an improvement over a
new stock set up ( other then the fact that I have spent allot of money and
I am an optimist!.  I seem to remember that the ball joint modification
called for milling 1 thousandth from the ball joint.  Since all the parts
are brand new ( the A-arms aren't new but the bushings are new and every
part that can be changed has been) So I believe it would be foolish to make
any changes to the set up until it has been assembled and I find out what
I've got. I spoke to Pat Mikal and he offers a modification that requires
you to turn in your stock upper A-arms and he does a modification that is
supposed to make your a-arms adjustable and provides the ability to increase
or decrease your caster camber by over 3 degrees. He also offers a
modification to the rear upper a-arms that  allows for adjusting the ball
joint in and out ( in addition to the front and back that is normally
obtained with the shims. His modification requires you to supply your stock
upper A-arms as a core and has a cost of $1200.00 for the front upper a-arms
and $1200.00 for the rear upper a-arms. So His is not an inexpensive
modification. He claims that Dennis Quellas camber lock is "No Good" and
that he has replaced many of Dennis Quellas camber lock kits. I bought
Dennis's kit and have heard only good things about it (except from Pat
Mikal) Mike Drew told me he was very happy with Dennis Quellas camber lock
kit and does it on every car he has the opportunity to work on. I have never
spoken to anyone that has had Pat's A-arm Mod. I would be interested in
hearing from anyone who has had it done.

Boyd

On Sun, May 2, 2010 at 3:55 PM, <MikeLDrew at aol.com> wrote:

>
> In a message dated 5/2/10 8:40:28 AM, julian_kift at hotmail.com writes:
>
>
>
> I have heard various amounts that can be safely milled off of the balljoint
> before breaking through to the ball, most of those quoted values are around
> one hundredth of an inch. It might be wise to practice and determining the
> safe limit on your old joint prior to milling the new one.
>
>
> By happy coincidence, the amount that can safely be milled corresponds
> roughly to the thickness of the shim which comes as part of the camber lock
> kit.  Actually, I take that back.  The camber lock shim is about 2x the
> amount that can be safely removed from each end of the ball joint.  When
> installing the kit in a '71 Pantera, which has different A-arms from the
> later cars, the only way you have room is to mill BOTH sides of the ball
> joint about .100".  On a later car, you mill the back side .100", remove
> .100" in shims from the front side, and substitute in the camber lock kit.
> :>)
>
> Mike