I might as well start here now, today UPS guy came like Santa Clause and delivered my 8 rod ends, 8 jam nuts and 12 rod end seals, not related to this project he also delivered my lift kit for my 72 GMC...

This thread is A new A Arm upgraded for my Pilot.
Not the first time I have modified my front suspension start reading here http://pilotodyssey.com/LTfront.htm

More discussion on Extending Pilot A Arms viewtopic.php?t=3256&highlight=arms

Rod end seals.

you are such a tease??? What's this for???

The YODA arms came late yesterday, I didnt even know they were here until after 7pm the wife found them on the stoop , I took them out of the to see what they were, they were ice cold so I didnt do anything with them until today.


The look almost identical to my current redrider arms.

Close up of my old arms and the hiems

To remove the ball joints I just used a punch and a hammer, when I installed these I applied a coat of never seize to the tapers, one hit with the hammer and they were out.

New on top of the old arms, almost identical I hope the ball joint angles are corrected on these, that was the only problem I had with the redrider arms but I am pretty sure he corrected this on the set after mine, my set was pretty much experimental, I was the test dummy, they have served me real well.

Their is some difference in the shock mount reinforcement I don't see this as an issue.

You gonna keep Reds old arms for spares Hoser?

Yes, am going to use the spacers from my old arms on these, I will later make new spacers so I can install the old arms on the wifes Pilot, I am waiting for feedback from Stoneman on how the +2" arms worked with the stock shocks.

OK

I called Ricky stator to see where my order is!

Their answering machine says they are closed from December 22nd to January 2nd!

They took my order and CHARGED MY CREDIT CARD on December 22nd!

NOT ONE WORD telling me they would be gone until the 22nd!

What a MUTT this guys is, no make that ASSHOLE!

sorry to hear that

when i placed a order it arrived in a timely manner

LMAO

I guess all it took was a rant and letting off a little steam, the ball joints arrived TODAY about 10 min ago

They look good and look beefy pics and review to come later.

FYI I ordered them the 21st I assume they were lost in shipping ?

Go look at your Ricky Stator setup did YODA crank the ball joints all the way in then put the jamb nut on the back side?

Quick update...

Here are the Ricky Stator balljoints and YODA arm they were $87.74 shipped for the 4.

They feel like they have no grease in the boots, easy fix.

Here is the Ricky Stator ball joint next to my old joint, I don't remember where Redrider bought these but they are all still like new even after many years of use.

I actually bent one of the old ball joints the first trip out, I don't remember exactly what I did to bend it but its been the same for 4 years of hard use and abuse.

I washed all the rod ends (hiem joints) with carb cleaner to remove the oil they put on them for shipping then once dry I coated them with COMET clutch lube, this is great stuff!, I let them dry then rotated the balls and gave them a second coat.

I did this to my first set http://pilotodyssey.com/LTfront2.htm that with use of the seals and 4 years later the hiems are still like new.

It adds an hour to the install but IMO its well worth the effort, I am in this for the long haul I need the new hiems to last at least 4 years like the last set.

Ran into a little snag on one of the arms, not really a problem but I thought I would document so others know what to look for. their was a little interference with the weld and the lock nut, a hand file made quick work of removing the weld that was hitting on the nut.

I used a round file so it created a radius and not a sharp corner that will be a stress riser and crack in the future.

To grease the ball joints I use a needle grease attachment.

It has a needle point on the end but that does not mean you poke a hole in the rubber boot, you rather slip it down between the stud and the boot, move it around and grease it up.

Once greased you move the stud around to distribute the grease.

You don't want to over grease, you don't WANT the boot to be under pressure or bulging once you install the ball joint, you need to watch the boot as you tighten the nut, if its building pressure you need to remove the ball joint and squeeze the boot to let some grease out then try again.

You also have to allow for expansion when things heat up.


You want to make sure you purge out any air in the boot, burp it before installing so only grease is left inside.

You must properly adjust the grease in the boot or it will create problems in the future.


http://pilotodyssey.com/grease.htm

There is a guy here in the uk who does extended A arms using the standard frame mounts but they also move the front wheels 4 inches forwards with steering linkages, and the rear wheels 4 inches backwards, not sure what that does for the limits of the cv joints as the shaft will come out of the cv cup towards the rear.
The extra wheel base would be welcome, less chance of endo,s

What machine is he doing the mods to?

Longer wheel base also helps in the whoops, it hurts the turning radius so like everything else its a trade off, you have to decide if you want to do trails or wide open spaces, the slowest trail rides I ever been on was when a LT Pilot was with us....