Dana 44 camber correction

strange1

strange1

Well-Known Member
Joined
Mar 31, 2005
Location
Elkin
Which is better, the shim behind the spindle or the offset ball-joint nut thingy? Does the spindle shim require longer spindle bolts? If so, where do I acquire them?

I'm also wondering if the spindle needs to be installed in a certain position to get the desired camber and I have it clocked into an incorrect position. Any thoughts or experience?
 
Let me guess, late 70s Ford HP 44? I never got around to purchasing them but I was looking into an offset spacer install in the upper ball joint hole in the inner C. My philosophy was to keep stock knuckle-out configuration the way it was it was to keep any unnecisary stress off the five spindle bolts.
 
This one is/was a wide track J-10 front. I narrowed and set the inner C using measurement taken from the short side, which wasn't messed with. It's far enough off to need fixing, but not so far that a shim won't do it. I'm just not sure which type to use.
 
What would worry me about using the spindle spacer is, because its got a taper to it, you're changing the load on the spindle bolts. Not by much just a little. On something light weight it may not be an issue. At the same time, when you tighten the spindle nuts down they're not going to seat completely flush against the spindle surface anymore.
 
Those are good points.
 
Most of the time, they have ball joint adjusters in them anyway...don't they? Either way, that's the better way to do it.
 
I've been running the spindle shims for 2 years now. They are thin enough to not cause any extra stress on the bolts. I'm running 37 x 13.5 Toyos and I drive my jeep on the interstate to work 28 miles one way a couple times a week. I've also wheeled Windrock, Gulches and Uwharrie with no issues.
 
Croatan_Kid said:
Most of the time, they have ball joint adjusters in them anyway...don't they? Either way, that's the better way to do it.
Click to expand...

The "adjuster" that is factory installed is there to set the proper amount of pre-load on the upper balljoint taper. There may be a few factory installed offset spacers, but the few that I have run across have not been.

jscrayto said:
I've been running the spindle shims for 2 years now. They are thin enough to not cause any extra stress on the bolts. I'm running 37 x 13.5 Toyos and I drive my jeep on the interstate to work 28 miles one way a couple times a week. I've also wheeled Windrock, Gulches and Uwharrie with no issues.
Click to expand...

That's kinda what I was wanting to hear as I do not want to mess with the ball-joints. To me it seems like the ball-joint shims would be much harder to get set at the proper angle and have the correct amount of preload at the same time.
 
XJsavage said:
What would worry me about using the spindle spacer is, because its got a taper to it, you're changing the load on the spindle bolts. Not by much just a little. On something light weight it may not be an issue. At the same time, when you tighten the spindle nuts down they're not going to seat completely flush against the spindle surface anymore.
Click to expand...

This is how I feel also. It may be a small amount of shim, but the nuts will not seat correctly. It may never give any trouble, but I don't like it when mating surfaces are tampered with.
 
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