Steering drop arm ball joint

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DiscoDavis

Well-known member
Got the defender model PAS steering box drop arm with the ball joint IN the arm vs the disco one where its in the rod side. That joint and the other one at the end of the rod where it connects to the swivel housing have play and ripped boots. The disco one would work to make the ball joint on the rod side vs the steering arm BUT needs to relocate the dampener to the track rod side (behind the front axle).

There are also these:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/172002636151

Is Gwyn Lewis stuff good? Heard the name more than a few times. Otherwise was just going to buy another defender drop arm with new joint inside, rebuild the old one as a spare and keep a lock washer for it. Would rather not relocate the dampener and all that.
 
The Dro

The Dro

Illustrious
Buy the drop arm ball joint kit ($25) and save the money from the new one ($90) for beer or more parts. :)

The Defender drag link and the Disco drag link are not the same length. The Defender is shorter, to include the eye cross rod.

To convert from a Defender to Disco you'll need a new drag link ($100) and new drop arm ($90). I've done it in the past and I'll say it's not worth the effort.
 
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Viton

Well-known member
The flat plate on the bottom of the ball joint, drill it in the center & install a zirk fitting on it & grease it regularly.
 
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DiscoDavis

Well-known member
how much of a pain is it to rebuild the joint though? I also have to replace the opposite joint on the other end of the rod so this is why I ask, versus changing the setup to a more field expedient one.

My steering guard is literally rusted in place so access is a bit limited if I have to keep rebuilding the dang joint every few years.
 
Napalm00

Napalm00

Technical Excellence Contributor
Even with the right tools it's a tedious bitch of a job. The gwyn Lewis stuff is top-notch. I have a set of their stainless steel bars and they are amazing.

In retrospect when I redid all of my steering I think I would have preferred to move to the Disco Style drop arm. At the time I didn't want to give up the defender built-in steering stabilizer mount but, in hindsight the discovery style tie rod end is just much easier to service and less of a hassle.

There's a couple guys here in the Bay Area with the tools, I just did mine last month and Chris did his last month as well. I have a post either on here or on D Source about adding a zerk. A metric 6 zerk will fit if directly centered in the support disc on the bottom of the joint. Because the way that the spring inside the joint is located and that the bottom cup of the ball joint already has a hole drilled in it for Grease to pass through it's a no-brainer modification.

The biggest bitch by far even with the right tools is getting the bottom plate in place so that the circlip fits. Also the newer ball joint kits do not come with a garter Springs style rubber boot but a metal retainer clip style boot which is much harder to put on.

If you have the money to spend and you don't want to ever service this piece of shit again I'd say move to Disco parts. Within an hour of our houses there are multiple disco 1 at the pick and pulls that would make this a really inexpensive job. If you just want to get back on the road by the ball joint kit and the removal tool from Land Rover Direct and schedule about two hours of cursing time. The hardest part of the modification to Disco is pulling the drop arm off both steering boxes. You need a serious very strong no joke balls out puller to get that thing off

You're also welcome to come down to my house and we can do it together if you get the tool. I borrowed the tool from Chris last time it's on the few Land Rover specific tools I don't own.

Also if your steering guard is really rusted in place you need to be able to get that thing off if you ever want to actually off-road your truck. I've got impact that would make it really easy we should rip that thing off clean it up and then reinstall a greased or anti seize
 
jymmiejamz

jymmiejamz

Founding Member
Callsign: KN4JHI
I didn't even know there was a tool for this. IIRC a Craftsman 11/16" is the perfect size to knock out the inner metal cup. The c-clip is kind of a pain, but not too bad if you have a second set of hands to line it all up in a vice with some sockets as spacers.
 
The Dro

The Dro

Illustrious
I don't think it's that bad... I've done it before on my Disco... The key is to soak it up with PB.

I was lucky enough that mine came right out... I used the socket and C clamp method.

jymmiejamz said:
I didn't even know there was a tool for this. IIRC a Craftsman 11/16" is the perfect size to knock out the inner metal cup. The c-clip is kind of a pain, but not too bad if you have a second set of hands to line it all up in a vice with some sockets as spacers.
Click to expand...
Yeah... Britpart makes it. DA1125. For $25... I'll recommend the socket method. :)
 
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DiscoDavis

Well-known member
Matthew this is exactly the feedback I was looking for. I will have to look at yours. You say Solis has the tool or another Chris?

Otherwise the part I am dreading is not the pulling of the joint itself but getting the arm off the steering box... several writeups I've seen picture people cutting them up to get them off the rusted splines.

As for the guard... If I had to I could get the whole frame and plate off, but its the old old style mantec steel alloy one where the heads are tiny 8mm recessed allen bolts. Snapped every tool I used on them, used hammers, penetrating oil. I could get to everything behind it, just a pain.

If I can get Gwyn to send me a LHD bracket, I may just get a disco steering setup either genuine or one of their HD ones, can keep my defender steering dampener where it is and use a disco drop arm. His site says they sell full kits for around 150GBP.

If I was able to pull the old u joints out of the driveshaft I should be able to get a ball joint out of the arm...
 
Napalm00

Napalm00

Technical Excellence Contributor
Chris / lithium has the tool .

If you use the Disco arm you need to use a steering stabilizer relocation kit so you can clamp it to the upper steering rod .

You also don't need to get anything from gywn. If you have a lhd truck you can pull it all from a lhd disco 1. There is one at the Oakland pick and pull .

The puller set listed should be able to remove it from the Disco in the junkyard. But, I would just cut the shaft (not the arm) with a cordless grinder ,then press out the remaining stub on a real shopnpress. This way you know you are going to get it off and then you can worry about using a puller only on your truck at home.

Or you can order a whole kit from gywn new and just pull your arm from your box.

Option one is super cheap but takes more time . Option two is easier but more expensiv.
 
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