Ball Joints?

N

Nick Hacking

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When I'm not working, or gardening, or messing around in the workshop with lathes and mills, I'm often to be found lying under an old Land Rover getting a good soaking in oil while rust falls into my eyes and ears. What fun.

One job that's a real pig is removal and refitting of the gearbox and I've had an idea for building a jig to make the task less difficult. Essentially, I envisage four bottle jacks, one at each corner, acting through ball joints to lift the frame that will hold the gearbox. This arrangement should allow not only height adjustment but also alteration of pitch and roll. Yaw would be adjusted by simply turning the lower end on casters.

But: where to get ball joints? I haven't a clue, I've never seen them advertised for sale anywhere. If they are not the sorts of things that can be bought off the shelf, should I get busy with my ball-turning attachment and if so: (1) What's the best material to use? I thought bronze might be a good choice but it's only a guess and (2) is it worth fitting grease nipples? The device is only going to used once every couple of years, the ball joints will disarticulate and can be greased up prior to each use.

Please keep in mind that I'm in the UK.

Many thanks,

Nick
 
I *think* I have an idea of what you are building, sounds like threaded heim joints would potentially work well for your application....

Just do a Google search, should give you an idea as to whether they would work or not. I assume you are referring to the transmission and transfer case assemblies, weight shouldn't be a problem so they wouldn't have to be overly large.
 
no content, misunderstood your need.
 
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Would the swivel portion of the threaded end of a "C" clamp work?
 
Seriously, I love making tools but this one's dead simple. I've changed a few transmissions in British cars so I know what the OP is talking about. By the time you've engineered and built this contraption you could have changed the tranny a couple of times. Notice the chains on the Sealey unit. If you build something make sure you have positive means of keeping the unit in place while lifting it, they are heavy enough to break your hand if it slips.

JMHO,

John
 
In my younger days, I would just lay on my back with the transmission on my stomach and lift it into place. Later on, I used a floor jack to lift the transmission.

As to your idea to use four hydraulic jacks, I would think that it would be cumbersome trying to adjust four jacks to get the proper orientation. I lijke the security of using them though. If using something like the Sealey platform, I would fasten the base of the jack to a large enough platform so the assembly couldn't topple over. A scissors jack would be easier to control, especially on downward movement.

Your pitch and roll adjustment could be accomplished using two pairs of butt hinges and three plates. The first plate fastened to your jack connected to the second plate via a pair of hinges. The second plate connected to the third via the second pair of hinges at right angle to the first. A set of adjustment screws to adjust the angles and safety chains would complete the jack.
 
rust rescue said:
Four points would never be even with out stress on the lifting rig. I would go with three points.
Click to expand...
While it is true that three points determine a stable plane, in this case, I would go with four points. With three point suspension and a heavy load some distance above the base, it is possible that the center of gravity could fall outside a triangle defined by the three points. With four points, it is very likely that only three points will be in contact at any given time. A slight change in position or sideways force could shift the balance point so the remaining point is now the one in contact. but the danger of having the load tip would be greatly reduced.
 
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