john510 Posted January 18, 2012 Report Share Posted January 18, 2012 Im replacing the ball joints on my 510,not sure which ones ive got,the manufacture date is January 1970.Is the size for the threads or the tapered shaft ? this ball joint is very difficult to move around,i have to hit it with a piece of wood to get it to move.Should it rotate around easily or is it shot ? thanks,John Quote Link to comment
tycot1 Posted January 18, 2012 Report Share Posted January 18, 2012 it should be quite tight, for the price replace it while its out. Quote Link to comment
lil89ram50 Posted January 18, 2012 Report Share Posted January 18, 2012 its junk, thers no boot. and generally new balljoints dont move to great. old ball joints are verry sloppy. but im sure that one is just all rusted and not greased often Quote Link to comment
thisismatt Posted January 18, 2012 Report Share Posted January 18, 2012 Should be a 14mm. Even if not, get the 14mm and source a set of 14mm steering knuckles and never worry about it again. Even new joints should be fairly stiff to move, but given that your boots are shot and the balls are rusty, might as well replace them for peace of mind. Or not - you could run them until they actually start to have play. Quote Link to comment
ggzilla Posted January 18, 2012 Report Share Posted January 18, 2012 A good ball joint will not be loose, but will move smoothly in all directions under firm movement. If it is loose, binding, or not smooth, junk it. Quote Link to comment
john510 Posted January 18, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 18, 2012 Thanks guys,im still not sure which size this is.Threads measure close to 11 mm,shaft is close to 14 mm.I read somewhere on here or the Realm about the earlier models having the smaller one,but i cant find that post.I would just get the new one in 14 mm but in San Diego we dont have junkyards with 510's to grab steering knuckles off of.Thanks Quote Link to comment
ggzilla Posted January 19, 2012 Report Share Posted January 19, 2012 The thread are M12 (which is less than 12mm diameter). The taper is 14mm. So they are both. Quote Link to comment
ggzilla Posted January 19, 2012 Report Share Posted January 19, 2012 The 14mm threaded ones weren't supposed to be used until August 1970. But at the same time they continued to use 12mm threaded ones. So remove one of the nuts and see what you have. Ball joints 40160-A8600 M14 threads 40160-A3405 M12 threads formerly 40160-21000 formerly 40160-78500 Quote Link to comment
Boaty Posted February 21, 2012 Report Share Posted February 21, 2012 John, I assume that you figured this out by now? For kicks, if you have the smaller ball joints - find a set of knuckles off of another parts 510 and buy the larger (upgraded) ball joints. The smaller ones aren't used in the later years for a reason. Besides, there is never too much upgrading in a Datsun. Especially if it's an upgrade done by Datsun themselves. Upgrading to larger balljoints was one of the first mods I did to my 510. 2 Quote Link to comment
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