Uniball Beam Pivots

[VintageIronFab]

Hello All,
I asked Swiftmike about some uniballs that he had for sale awhile back (he's out) -- the uniballs he said I need are 1" uni ball cups that are 2 5/8"
OD and are 1.5" tall. So I need two pair of them and was wondering where to buy them and are there any brands you all might recommend? Also any tips that you all might have for installing them. The holesaw method seems pretty straightforward but I am wondering more about the frame -- is there anything that has to be done so this goes off without a hitch? Thinking that best practice is probably to add 3/4" weld washers to the frame pivots. Also I want to move the axle forward just 1" so that I have less hassle with killing a/c boxes. From what I gather dont you just move the beams forward and with the uniballs they just misalign a few degrees?

Thanks for the help,
Matt

[Silverslk]

I think Baja Scott was going to offer uniballs/cups already machined for fitment into the stock beam pivots (if thats what you are looking for).... If he isn't doing that yet, Scott at Camburg also offers them already machined.

[Travisfab]

I hole sawed mine and used 1" FK uniballs. I had a tiny bit of material machined off the cups, but I would not say that is necessary though. You do not need to modify the beam pivot, but you will need to have some custom spacers made.

Here's mine

[ChaseTruck754]

The spacers are what I think guys were talking about making - not the actual cups.

I'm pretty sure someone out there already makes the cups that work right out of the box. Think Philo said he got his as Kartek and they were just the shortest ones they had, but I'm not positive. I'd THINK the 1.5" overall height cups would work, but I haven't looked at this recently or thoroughly, so again, verify with Philo.

[hobbyturnedobsession]

When Scott built my beams hr had the misalignment spacers turned on a mill.

[ChaseTruck754]

it's not hard to do if you have the right equipment, but I think Scott or others were talking about doing a few sets to have on hand specifically for this purpose.

They are just turned down versions of the readily available spacers. They just need to be a bit shorter than what is available.

[hobbyturnedobsession]

Correct. Scott wanted to have a bunch done but it isn't cheap to buy up a bunch and have them turned.

[Travisfab]

My spacers are just some thick wall tube.

[VintageIronFab]

Its like anything--if they are ready to go units will be you literally take out the old bushings and put in that would be great provided the cost isn't crazy. The 2 5/8" holesaw method seems pretty easy if you ask me. The ease of installation would for sure be worth something absolutely. Is it the misalignment spacers that need to be shorter for everything to work right? I figured you put weld washers on the outside of the frame mounts to make the holes less prone to "wallowing-out" and then a washer out of say 3/16" flat plate was made for a spacer on the inside. Just trying to understand all that entails so this what seems straightforward actually is

[VintageIronFab]

1.25" x .250 wall DOM makes a great 3/4" spacer drilled out and cut down with a horizontal bandsaw-- or a lathe even better!

[ChaseTruck754]

weld washers are a good idea. So is the plate on the inside of the mount - although that will make fitment of stuff a bit tighter.

Making spacers out of DOM or 4130 tube works well if you have the tube. Throwing off the shelf misalignment spacers in the lathe works just as well too.


The uniball cups themselves can contact the mounts if you happen to try & use one of the bigger/taller cups & you try & push the wheelbase a bit by pushing the beams forward. This is where your inside plating for reinforcing the mounting bolt holes could come into play.

I don't have one of these trucks around anymore to measure, but a quick measurement of the inside distance for the beam mounts would clear things up as to sizes of cup & spacers to look for, etc.

[hobbyturnedobsession]

I had to take a little off the bottom side of the passenger beam mount. There's a lot of meat there so it didn't hurt anything.

[Rmc]

Call orw in temecula ca. Ask for Aaron. The way I did mine was a 1 inch uniball, and 4 3/4 weld washers. The shoulder on the weld washer is 1 inch and plugs into the uniball. You don't need to deal with an overpriced mis-allignment spacer due to the uniball articulating a very small amount through the cycle of the beams travel. You will need to drill out the factory hole to 3/4 or 5/8 what ever the next size up is over factory. The weld washer orw part number is 3/4rww

[Rmc]

I take that back... It's 5/8 weld washer, drill out from 9/16 to 5/8 and add 5/8 weld washers in place of misalignment spacers. Here's some pics:

[Rmc]

I'm guessing orw part number 5/8rww?

[tvoymang]

I take that back... It's 5/8 weld washer, drill out from 9/16 to 5/8 and add 5/8 weld washers in place of misalignment spacers. Here's some pics:

This is how our bronco was done.... im using the same cups the OP was talking about with a fk 1" bearing from orw.... I purchased 8 3/4 weld washers and drilled my pivots to accept a 3/4 bolt

[VintageIronFab]

Hello All,
Any of you all have a uniball part numbers that you've used all used lately? I hate paying too much for stuff like this! I would like to push the front end forward as much as possible (I think like 3/4"). Planning on using the hole-saw method. I think I need 2- uniballs in a 1" size, 2- coil cups - 2 5/8" o.d.---- the width not sure of, and 4- weld washers with the 3/4" hole that have a lip. My pivot bushings are totally dead and replacing them with stock just doesn't make sense.

Thanks for the help,
Matt

[ESHALLBETTER]

Kartek has a mini catalog that has all that stuff in it with their part numbers and dimensions. I tried to find it on their site and link it, but I couldn't find it. Send me your email address and I'll send you the .PDF version of it.

[VintageIronFab]

Its the dimensions that I really dont know-- my thoughts are that if you are someone that just bought say p/n xyz-123 -- those parts have a part number that would help source the parts. Thanks for the help!

[philofab]

I'll find the invoice for my last order from Kartek....