Wishbone modification

[Dhopper]

Afternoon all,

I'm having a bit of a headache with my wishbones.
I've swapped in a complete set of K11 wishbones, hubs, brakes, roll bars etc. with Poly-bushes everywhere.

Fits fine, steering is much improved & all that but the lower arms are a full inch shorter than the K10 version.
Even by eye you can see massive positive camber.

So I intend to fit a K10 lower arm with a larger balljoint to suit the hubs.
But I can't seem to find a balljoint that matches the K10 arm with a larger diameter taper.

Can anybody point me in the direction of either:
1. A longer K11 lower arm or
2. A balljoint with a larger taper to fit K10 arms & K11 hubs.

Car is standard ride-height, new shocks & springs, K11 wheels, K11 roll bars front & rear.
Everything else is 1990 old-lady-spec.

Cheers.


Edit:
While I'm on here, have any of you guys seam-welded the lower arms?
I noticed the K11 ones flexing while I was fighting with the hubs.

 

[frank]

you can smack the k11 balljoints out eh, cant you use the k10 wishbone with a k11 balljoint ?

 

[Dhopper]

Afternoon Frank,

I'm not 100% sure about the K11 balljoints in the K10 arms. That was my plan until I looked at the part in the auto factors this morning.
The K10 ones are shrink fitted from the top of the LCA & the K11 ones are press fitted & circlipped from the bottom of the LCA.
I'll be taking a shot at getting the K10 arms separated from the balljoints this evening & I'll take measurements.

If the K11 item won't fit I may be back to standing in the Auto factor trying every one on the shelf for a fit.

Any opinions on welding up the arms?

 

[frank]

i drifted my k11 balljoint downwards mate (i,ll take a pic later) and one of the rally guy,s on here has snapped a couple of copy wishbones recently iirc (i think i would weld some tube all around the edge personally)

 

[frank]

pic

 

[Dhopper]

Cheers Frank,

I've taken a few rough measurements & settled on removing the old Ball-joints from my K10 arms. I hope to replace them with K11 ones.
I have stitch welded the K10 arms & drilled them to accept a K11 anti-roll bar.
I have cut out the K10 ball joints & am going to have a shot at smushing in some K11 ones this evening.

Just as a side note, ball-joints are not to be removed with heat!
I hoped that heating the lca around the balljoint would free it up a bit but instead the bugger exploded.

 

[whipit]

Eibach camber adjustable bolts would surely be the easiest solution?

 

[Dhopper]

Hi-ya whipit,

I did think about using camber bolts but ruled it out because even if I could correct the camber, I would be left with a 2" reduction in track width. Seemed counter productive.

In the end I finished up with K10 arms, had to cut the old balljoints out & polish away their retaining lip using one of these.

Then pressed in K11 balljoints.
While I was at it I stitch welded all the way round the lower arms & drilled them for a K11 anti-roll bar.
Roll bar is bolted to plates that are welded to the floor of the car.
The whole front end is Poly bushed.

There are K11 brakes & hubs fitted. Seem to improve braking across the board even on whatever old pads came on the donor car.
Though I do have one quibble, the new callipers have made the brakes bite with the pedal further from the floor so it's not as handy for heel-toe roundabouts..

The rear anti-roll bar is fitted behind the axle with Corolla drop-links. I spotted this notion in a build thread belonging to a member on here. Works very well & made for an easy installation.
I also stuck on a set of standard nissan 13" alloys from the same donor Micra with 165/70R13 tyres. They're a lower offset & wider rim so the wheels fill the arches a wee bit better.

Had the tracking done yesterday.
Altogether it's made a monstrous difference to the car. It corners almost flat & fairly level. Grip in the dry is up so I can't get it to slide.
I'll report back again after it rains.

Steering is a lot more direct, I caught myself tipping in for corners too early until I got a few more miles under me.
The car has become remarkably easy to place on the road.

I thoroughly recommend the above setup to anyone looking to sort the handling of their K10.

Anybody got an old 1.2 in the Wesht of Ireland for a bike carb conversion??

 

[whipit]

Good work, might do this on my ST wishbones, Are the fron bushes the same as the K11?

 

[Dhopper]

Good work, might do this on my ST wishbones, Are the fron bushes the same as the K11?

Yeah man, it was the K11 kit I ordered but had to do a little cutting & drilling to make them fit just right.
It's only the front bush that needs modification and it only took a few minutes.
The alternative would be to visit your local machinist who will do a far superior job & won't charge more than a couple of quid for cutting down some plastic bushes. Quick cuts & zero tool wear.

 

[nexussteve]

Sounds great! I've been thinking about converting over to K11 wishbones for the ARB advantages! Was worried that they would be considerably larger than the K10 ones!
I'm just installing a K11 power steering rack atm and I noticed it's 1" wider either side in it's original position! (Of course, this is over-come by screwing in the rods!)

 

[whipit]

Yeah man, it was the K11 kit I ordered but had to do a little cutting & drilling to make them fit just right.
It's only the front bush that needs modification and it only took a few minutes.
The alternative would be to visit your local machinist who will do a far superior job & won't charge more than a couple of quid for cutting down some plastic bushes. Quick cuts & zero tool wear.

Oh okay, only a slight size difference.

Ta very much

 

[Dhopper]

Alright, can't have this........

There are a few bits that will technically fit but they don't all work.

The K11 rack will go but is a couple of inches wider.
This can be made up using either of the following methods:
- K11 rack, K10 wishbones, K10 hubs & balljoints, K10 Track rod ends (screwed in a bit).
- K11 rack, K10 wishbones, K11 hubs & balljoints, K11 Track rod ends.

The K11 wishbones will bolt on but are a full inch shorter each side, this gives huge positive camber & could only be useable on a car very heavily lowered.
The K11 hubs will fit the K10 but need some supporting modifications, the ball-joint taper is larger than the K10 item & the steering arms sit about an inch further out each side.
K11 track rod ends are longer & make up the difference nicely.

The way I went about my changes was to use the K10 arms adapted to take K11 ball-joints & roll-bars. This is not a big modification & not at all difficult.
You will need a hole-saw, some drill bits and a sandpaper flap wheel for a drill. You will also need to use a grinder to remove the old K10 balljoints. See above.
All of the wishbone mounting points are the same size, shape & orientation as the K11 parts so you can use K11 bushes, I had to modify my bushes slightly for a good fit.
I used the original K10 rack with K11 track rod ends.

Steering is remarkably direct with this configuration & along with the roll bars from a K11 have really shaped up the handling of this K10.

I did use K11 lower arms for about a week before changing the K10 ones to suit. The turn in in the dry was good but the car was extremely skitish & became completely un-drivable in the wet.
I do not recommend anyone use K11 lower arms on a K10 ever!

 

[nexussteve]

K11 rack, K10 wishbones, K11 hubs & balljoints, K11 Track rod ends.

This is my current setup, but I haven't connected all together yet! (No point to the engine is ready)
Good info here, many thanks!

 

[whipit]

Drifted out the old k10ST ball joints and ordered some new front poly bushes. Whiteline caster adjustables will be at the rear

Does anyone know if Nissan can still supply k10 ball joints?