I'm not bashing anything. I'm just trying to explain a problem with design I see and give you possible solution.
Here is the simple illustration (Sorry don't have any CAD on my PC at work so MS-Paint will do.
a) - regular spacer. All surfaces are parallel. You can tighten bolt nut properly.
b) - your design. top of the arm is not parallel with bottom of the spacer. Not by much about 2.3 degrees, but this still creates a wedge-shaped gap (I exacerbated the angle) under the nut. Yes you can tighten that joint shut but it will only happen via deformation of the bolt. You will have to tighten it enough so it will start stretching on the right side and askew to the left. This is plain no-no for bolt joint.
c) - one possible solution is to cut another retaining ring to go on the bottom of the ball-joint to offset that angle.
I would suggest cutting it from steel though. Another option is what Kevin suggested. Spherical washers. Their working angle askew limit is 3 degrees, your design calls for about 2.3. They will work. It will be probably cheaper solution than cutting new set of retaining rings. Although with tooling already set up for spacers that is just a mirror image. Albeit a thinner one.

Forgive me if I'm an idiot, but this isn't a bolt and nut clamping metal together, right? Isn't the ball joint threaded shaft itself tapered (if that's the right term), and the nut just pulls the tapered bolt into a consistently sized hole where friction does the work? I think the deal is recentering the "neutral" position of the threaded shaft on the ball joint once the truck is lifted via torsion bar crank. The spacer simply positions the hole so that the shaft is perpendicular to the joint.

I'm probably wrong, but I don't think that stretching the bolt in a friction fit situation is going to happen here...

Please educate me.

We are not talking about ball joint shaft (stud). We are talking about 3 bolts that attach ball joint body to upper a-arm. Gen1s have different design.

I know the Gen I and Gen II are different, but I wasn't aware which fastener we were talking about. The mounting bolts...got it. Thanks.

Jon, Its the 3 bolts that mount the ball joint assembly to the upper A arm that are in question here not the shaft.

By removing the ball joint assembly from the captive position on the top of the upper a-arm and placing it under the arm mounted to an aluminum spacer, your placing all your money (and lives maybe?) that the 3 bolts are gonna hold when placed at a considerable leverage diadvantage from the stock location. Add the taper of the mounting surface to the mix and this could possibly be a problem. I'm not an expert by any means, but I can see where there would be considerable concern.


I'll let toasy test em out..Good luck Toast <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/kewl.gif" alt="" />

I'd suggest take bolts out and inspect threads and body for possible deformation.

I've done that on both monty's since we've had them installed.

Threads are normal with no crushing or abbrasion. No bending or deformation.

The taper is so minimal that it does not affect the threads, nor the holes.

This is not a shear/side-load application.

It's a clamp-force application.

I'm getting repetitive and it's somewhat annoying.

This is not MY design.

These work. They are on who knows how many Montero's/Pajero's outside of the US. Maybe some people even bought them overseas and had them shipped here.

I'm done arguing over something I've been using for the past 3 years.

If you would like to pick up a set, by all means, do so. If not, no sweat off my sack. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/butwiggle.gif" alt="" />

Just machine a recess where the bolts sit so that they sit flat. Its that easy.

aluminum right? hardened bolts? i think tightening them down will do the job or at least thats my plan. I was going over my IFS and these won't benifit me much on the '99 unless i do more lift and i COULD do that but then i would NEED 37's.

I am buying new tires soon...

I could also run IFS on the truggy for a while since my SAS frame had a bunch of cracks, this would help clear the 38's or bigger <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />. I read the writeup on 4crawler and it seems pretty simple to install the spacers without binding the CVs and tierods. As long as the travel doesn't change i'll be fine, i saw they spaced out the bumpstops with washers on a 4runner to prevent overtravel. I won't have to drive down the road like this / \ <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/kewl.gif" alt="" />

Toasty- toyota BJ spacers provide lift since the the torsion bars are on the top and all so the geometry could be different. It should give you more down travel(and the ability to crank more without cutting the bumps stops <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />)

Couldn't you flip the tierods to the top of the knuckle? The Gen1 mounts under, couldn't you flip it on top? It give you a good 1/2"-1" raise in the tierod angle...


And it does NEED 37s! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/evil.gif" alt="" /> Super swamper SX!