Page 2 of 2

Posted: Mon Jul 05, 2004 7:56 pm
by buddha440ex
yea but the lowest set of aftermarket used a-arms ive found were $325 not including tie rods

Posted: Mon Jul 05, 2004 8:25 pm
by JeffQuadShop
QUOTE
Originally posted by cdrookie
you don't want stock dale arms. they have the worst lower ball joints ever invented. they are known to break and most of them have a good bit of slop in them after minimal usage. a good set of 400ex aftermarket arms are reasonably cheap and plentiful and you can still use your spindles and shocks.
Weird.....myself nor anyone on my team have had 1 single balljoint failure. :confused:

Posted: Mon Jul 05, 2004 10:18 pm
by cdrookie
jeff, mine had about 4 months on them before they started to have play in them. and from reading that big thread on here about lower ball joint failurers, i'd say i'm not the only one:( at least mine didn't break!

buddha, i've seen a stock set of dale arms with good ball joints go for $125. which didn't seem like a bad deal. but your gonna need the spindles and such also. might need tie rods and ends to. this all will add up $$$. and how would it affect suspension and handling? i've never heard of any one putting a dale front end on an ex before. if jeff says the ex front will work on a dale but not very well, my guess is that applies to the dale on an ex also. it's your money, and just my $.02. if you do it, let us know how it works out. good luck.

Posted: Mon Jul 05, 2004 10:22 pm
by JeffQuadShop
One thing that we do that may extend the life of our ball joints is grease them with a needle on the grease gun every couple races.

Posted: Mon Jul 05, 2004 11:04 pm
by cannondale27
Jeff is right grease them and they do last especially the newest ones with the clip on the boot which keeps the grease in and crud out.The joints without the clip I have been putting a really small ziptie around the boot.This needs to be done to brand new ones to work.Just pull boot towards the threads put plenty of grease in there ziptie it and push it back.The grease will then be slightly pressurized by the boot and will nicely go all over inside joint.I was never able to locate proper clips but zipties seem to work.

Posted: Mon Jul 05, 2004 11:43 pm
by buddha440ex
so if i buy a-arms...they wont work with my spindles i will have to get dale spindles???i need as much info as possible b/c i am thinking about getting dale arms instead of ex arms....

Posted: Tue Jul 06, 2004 12:04 am
by cdrookie
the ex and dale ball joints have different taper. so yes.

Posted: Tue Jul 06, 2004 12:55 am
by JeffQuadShop
The next problem that you will run into even after getting dale spindles and calipers is tierod angles. They will be at a different angle than stock and will hurt the handling. This is not a good idea, buy arms that are built for the 400ex or leave it stock.