Ball Joint on Berrien

Gary1719 · Post by **Gary1719** » Fri Oct 16, 2009 1:36 am

Here is a side bar just recieved my beam back from the sand blaster it seems you have to plug the grease fittings and retap them and take off the bracket that the steering stop hits so it will fit in the frame horn brackets. I did not now this. Thought i had done something wrong . Thought i would pass this along for others. Gary

mel hubbard · Post by **mel hubbard** » Fri Oct 16, 2009 12:16 pm

[QUOTE="gary1719;14957"]Here is a side bar just recieved my beam back from the sand blaster it seems you have to plug the grease fittings and retap them and take off the bracket that the steering stop hits so it will fit in the frame horn brackets. I did not now this. Thought i had done something wrong . Thought i would pass this along for others. Gary[/QUOTE] Thanks Gary, I just had to do the same thing with the BJ beam on my veep, so looks like I'll have to do it again. Whist on the subject, has anyone on here ever mounted a stock box in the center? only I had thought about doing that on the veep and use UJ's to the (LHD) column, but not sure if it would be worth all the bother of chopping the pitman arm & tie rods about.

CairoManx · Post by **CairoManx** » Fri Oct 16, 2009 3:48 pm

If there's no fuel tank to clear and the frame head doesn't interfere with mounting the box, then I think mounting the steering box in the center would allow better wheel travel without the tie rods hitting the frame. But, if there's that much space, you'd probably be even better off with rack and pinion.

newmanx59 · Post by **newmanx59** » Fri Oct 16, 2009 11:24 pm

I just machined a notch in the clamp to clear the grease zerk.

Gary1719 · Post by **Gary1719** » Sat Oct 17, 2009 1:32 am

Really i didnt pay attention how close the grease zerks were, probably because the bracket wont allow me to fit the beam in all the way. Do you need the bracket for the steering stop? Gary

Tom-Kathleen · Post by **Tom-Kathleen** » Sat Oct 17, 2009 3:30 am

Formula Vee race cars mount the steering box in the center of the (link pin) beam. Equal length tie rods, tie rods use Heim joints in place of tie rod ends, less bump steer. Tom

mel hubbard · Post by **mel hubbard** » Sat Oct 17, 2009 10:55 am

[QUOTE="gary1719;14965"]Really i didnt pay attention how close the grease zerks were, probably because the bracket wont allow me to fit the beam in all the way. Do you need the bracket for the steering stop? Gary[/QUOTE] This is the same problem I had on the veep the other day, I managed to cut and adapt the original steering stop, but no way would that beam ever have fitted without alteration. We need the steering stops here, because if the tires touch any part of the body or frame whilst having the annual MOT test, they can fail the test on that alone. Zerks is a new one on me,,, I've learnt lots from you guys,, we call them nipples over here, but I have noticed that many AM beams have the grease nipple holes drilled in different places, some I've even had to remove whist towing with an A frame, but others will clear.

tim morgan · Post by **tim morgan** » Sat Oct 17, 2009 2:06 pm

After reading this,,I went out to the shop to see where my Zert holes were,,Dead center under the clamps,,Dam,,,,,( Barrett Chassis ) So That goes on the to do list ,,Man the list just keeps getting longer,,,Not shorter,,,,,In the Pix,,,A is where they are now,,,B is where I was going to move them to,,,Any body see a problem ????? Thanks for the heads up,,,

mel hubbard · Post by **mel hubbard** » Sat Oct 17, 2009 2:43 pm

[QUOTE="tim morgan;14977"]After reading this,,I went out to the shop to see where my Zert holes were,,Dead center under the clamps,,Dam,,,,,( Barrett Chassis ) So That goes on the to do list ,,Man the list just keeps getting longer,,,Not shorter,,,,,In the Pix,,,A is where they are now,,,B is where I was going to move them to,,,Any body see a problem ????? Thanks for the heads up,,,[/QUOTE] Mine were the same, I did think about drilling a hole in the clamps for the grease fittings to pass through, or even just remove the clamp and screw in a grease fitting whenever it comes time to grease, which is how I've left it for now, but possibly will do something else with it. As long as the inner & outer bearings get well greased I guess it don't matter where they go,, as long as its within the two bearing faces which you can check by holding the torsion arm up to the beam.. Another way would be to fit the long urethane torsion arm bushings, but I've heard some bad reports lately about urethane stuff,,, although never had a problem with it myself.

TMc2548 · Post by **TMc2548** » Sun Oct 18, 2009 2:52 am

You may also run into interferrence issues if you flat tow. I had to modify my tow bar to clear the zerk fittings.

1856 · Post by **1856** » Sun Oct 18, 2009 3:40 am

I did drill a hole in the Clamp ... but I don't nave a Berrien

newmanx59 · Post by **newmanx59** » Sun Oct 18, 2009 12:22 pm

With the proper offset wheels, you will not need the steering stop bracket. I have also seen bars welded on the beam to act as steering stops by limiting the travel of the pitman arm. Mel: You actually tow a vehicle with an "A" Frame? We use a "Tow Bar". "A" Frames in the States usually look like this:

Gary1719 · Post by **Gary1719** » Tue Oct 20, 2009 12:45 am

Okay who has a manx front bumper? If i move my fittings inboard are they going to be in the way later for the manx front bumper.

TMc2548 · Post by **TMc2548** » Wed Oct 21, 2009 4:40 am

Maybe. The instructions for mounting the front bumper are written with the location of the zerk fittings in mind. On a ball joint beam you will need to mount the bumper brackets inboard of the bumper. I'll throw a pic up here as soon as I can.

Gary1719 · Post by **Gary1719** » Fri Oct 23, 2009 1:08 am

Thanks tom that will help. Gary