diy 16mm ball joints in burgard 14mm arms

reagor

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May 23, 2012
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so i was waiting to do a complete front end rebuild thread but usps has shipped my hubs to denver dead mail depot (fml) with no delivery in sight so heres a lil teaser



first i did the factory threaded lowers, i had to drill out the existing threads and then i tapped them to m16x1.5...

i clamped a peice of wood to the table of my drillpress that overhung the side , it was tapered to fit in the arch of the arms and hold the ball joint mount level for drilling

i used a 9/16 bit (a little bigger than the 17/32 required) but its all i had and the loss of thread debth i believe to be negligable over the lengh of the tube

then i clamped it in the vice and started tapping the hole, it took some effort when i got to the welds on the back side (im assuming the act of welding hardened the steel at that portion of the tube)

the uppers were a smooth bore and didnt require the initial drilling, they tapped beautifully, again i took some liberties in that worst case they can be smooth bore again for the upper adjustment and only require a jam nut to function as stock

the ball joints are the rs3003 yamaha taper balljoints, these are the best joint on the market for us

here are the completed arms

rAdqr.jpg


if anyone has a donor set of stock honda 300ex/400ex arms(preferrably with blown ball joints) i would like to try modifing them to accept the rs3003 balljoints (if i remember correctly these joints fit honda hubs as well)

i think i can cut the stock joint off after the tube and tap the remaining peice, giving a servicable ball joint to a welded joint arm
 
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so i was waiting to do a complete front end rebuild thread but usps has shipped my hubs to denver dead mail depot (fml) with no delivery in sight so heres a lil teaser



first i did the factory threaded lowers, i had to drill out the existing threads and then i tapped them to m16x1.5...

i clamped a peice of wood to the table of my drillpress that overhung the side , it was tapered to fit in the arch of the arms and hold the ball joint mount level for drilling

i used a 9/16 bit (a little bigger than the 17/32 required) but its all i had and the loss of thread debth i believe to be negligable over the lengh of the tube

then i clamped it in the vice and started tapping the hole, it took some effort when i got to the welds on the back side (im assuming the act of welding hardened the steel at that portion of the tube)

the uppers were a smooth bore and didnt require the initial drilling, they tapped beautifully, again i took some liberties in that worst case they can be smooth bore again for the upper adjustment and only require a jam nut to function as stock

the ball joints are the rs3003 yamaha taper balljoints, and acording to sicivicdude(the man with all the answers) these are the best joint on the market for us

here are the completed arms

(pics removed for length)

if anyone has a donor set of stock honda 300ex/400ex arms(preferrably with blown ball joints) i would like to try modifing them to accept the rs3003 balljoints (if i remember correctly these joints fit honda hubs as well)

i think i can cut the stock joint off after the tube and tap the remaining peice, giving a servicable ball joint to a welded joint arm


Those look great man! Just what the doctor ordered and I think you'll be SUPER pleased with that setup....

What are you talking about doing with the 300ex/400ex a-arms?

Ricky Stator makes two different ball joint tapers. The yamaha is RS3003, the honda/everything else is RS3002. They look IDENTICAL to what you've already got but they have the correct taper and length for the honda stuff.
 
if you look at the honda arms there is a metal tube that the factory welded ball joint attaches to, i think i can cut the stock joint in half basically and retain the stock tube portion, then either ream it to accept a sleeve or drill/tap it to accept the m16 joint

$%28KGrHqZHJFUE91-s7eVEBPoifHUBw!~~60_35.JPG


basically lop off the joint and make the arm accept a replaceable joint, all without having to mess with alignment and jigs, im not cutting anything out of the triangle

the 400 arms are an upgrade for a 300, if you can make a set of 400 arms have servicable balljoints i think you could resell em for some extra $ as refurbished and still be cheaper than a aftermarket set of arms (btw i just got laid off so the gears are turning while on unemployment)
 
good stuff bro, have some greens for the diy