368:. Additionally, the act of adding new lubricant pushes out old and dry lubricant, extending the life of the joint. This was supposed to be done at intervals of 1000 to 2000 miles on many vehicles, which is incompatible with the service interval on modern cars, often 12000 miles or more, and in any case was rarely attended to by owners, resulting in severe wear and possible ball joint failure, which can result in serious accidents. For this reason, almost all ball joints on modern European or Far Eastern cars are the sealed for life type. New technology especially applied to the internal bearing design has allowed ball joints to meet these longer service intervals. The special designs incorporate sintered metal bearings which replace OEM sealed polymer/plastic version and improved dust boot seals that work much better at retaining the grease.
296:
and drag add at the bottom joint, and partly cancel at the top joint.) Also, lateral cornering loads are higher at the bottom joint. Depending on the suspension design, the vertical load from the suspension spring may be handled entirely by the top ball joint, or entirely by the bottom ball joint. The damper load, (which is low in normal conditions, zero when stationary, but in peak bump or rebound rate may be almost as large as the spring load) is usually, but not always, taken on the same ball joint as the spring load. The anti-roll bar loading is often, but not always, taken on the bottom ball joint. It may be taken by the top ball joint, or directly from the steering knuckle by ball-jointed drop links.
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32:
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keeps on with clicking, popping or snapping sound when the wheel is turned and eventually turn into a squeaking sound at the end of a stop, when the gas pedal is used and/or also when hitting bumps. Another symptom could be 'thud' noises coming from front suspension when going over bumps. Dry ball joints have dramatically increased friction and can cause the steering to stick or be more difficult.
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in controlled amounts at the control arm inner pivots without compromising the integrity of the steering axis pivots, which are now ball joints instead of a king pin and trunnions. The smoother ride may also increase tire tread life, since the ball-joint suspension allows better control of suspension geometry and so can provide better tire-to-road contact.
187:. The bearing stud is tapered and threaded, and fits into a tapered hole in the steering knuckle. A protective encasing prevents dirt from getting into the joint assembly. Usually, this is a rubber-like boot that allows movement and expansion of lubricant. Motion-control ball joints tend to be retained with an internal spring, which helps to prevent
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suspension requires that the upper and lower control arms (wishbones) have pivot axes that are parallel, and in strict geometric relationship to the kingpin, or the top and bottom trunnions, which connect the kingpin to the control arms, would be severely stressed and the bearings would suffer severe
453:
While in automotive parlance the term "ball joint" usually refers to the primary ball joint connections at the ends of the control arms, this type of joint is used in other parts as well, including tie rod ends. In these other applications, they are typically called tie rod ends or, when they are an
436:
If a ball joint fails, the results can be dangerous as the wheel's angle becomes unconstrained, causing loss of control. Because the tire will be at an unintended angle, the vehicle will come to an abrupt halt, damaging the tires. Also, during failure, debris can damage other parts of the vehicle.
295:
In non-MacPherson strut automobile suspension, the two ball joints are called the "upper ball joint" and "lower ball joint". Lower ball joints are sometimes larger and may wear out faster, because the fore and aft loads, primarily due to braking, are higher at the bottom ball joint. (Torque reaction
235:
angle could generally be adjusted by moving both inner pivots of either the upper or lower control arm inwards or outwards by an exactly equal amount. But compliance of the control arm inner pivots, typically due to the use of elastomeric bearings, would again cause the trunnions to be stressed. The
251:
This ability to fine-tune ball-jointed suspension allows manufacturers to make the automobile more stable and easier to steer, compared to the older kingpin style suspension. It may also be quieter and more comfortable, because lateral and fore and aft compliance in the suspension can be introduced
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angle are not changed by introducing ball joints in the suspension, although the steering linkage itself must use 4 or more pivots, also usually ball joints, and in almost every vehicle ever made, some of these have been adjustable by having a threaded end and locknut, to enable the toe to be set
432:
While there is no exact lifespan that can be put on sealed ball joints, they can fail as early as 80,000 miles (130,000 km) in modern vehicles, and much sooner in older vehicles. Signs of a failing ball joint may start with a sudden burst sound as a result of ball joint dismantling. Then it
384:
A spherical rolling joint is a high-precision ball joint consisting of a spherical outer and inner race separated by ball bearings. The ball bearings are housed in a spherical retainer and roll along both the inner and outer surfaces. This design allows the joint to have very low friction while
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The introduction of ball joints top and bottom allowed 3-axis articulation and so removed all the constraints on the control arm axes being exactly parallel, so caster could be freely adjusted, typically by asymmetric adjustment of the position of the control arm inner pivots, while camber was
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suspension, which utilises one ball joint per side, between the lower end of the strut and the control arm, with the necessary small amount of articulation at the top of the strut being usually provided by an elastomeric bearing, within which is a ball bearing to allow free rotation about the
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of 1959 and its many derivatives, where the lower control arm carried no vertical loading, so the joint needed an anti-rattle spring, while the top joint, comprising identical parts, was always in compression due to spring (rubber cone) and damper loads, and so was not fitted with a spring.
203:
652:
Otani, T.; Iizuka, A.; Takamoto, D.; Motohashi, H.; Kishi, T.; Kryczka, P.; Endo, N.; Jamone, L.; Hashimoto, K.; Takashima, T.; Lim, H.O.; Takanishi, A. (2013). "New shank mechanism for humanoid robot mimicking human-like walking in horizontal and frontal plane".
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in any direction, including rotating in those planes. Combining two such joints with control arms enables motion in all three planes, allowing the front end of an automobile to be steered and a spring and shock (damper) suspension to make the ride comfortable.
129:
307:
Other vehicles of the 1960s era, including some
Vauxhalls, had lower ball joints with considerable end float, because the joint was always in tension as the spring and damper loads were applied via the lower control arm and were always non-zero.
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Another example is the Ford Focus, which uses MacPherson struts, and the anti-roll bar is connected directly to the strut, so the lower ball joint is only carrying fore and aft traction/braking and lateral cornering loads.
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suspension designer's freedom was limited, it was necessary to have some compliance where it might not be wanted, and very little where more would have been useful in absorbing the fore and aft impact loading from bumps.
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Most SRJs are designed with an offset housing, allowing for higher compressive loads in a smaller space. Alternatively, the joint can be assembled backwards for higher tensile load capability but less range of motion.
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wear. In practice, many vehicles had elastomeric bearings in the horizontal pivots of the trunnions, which allowed some small amount of flexibility, however this was insufficient to allow much adjustment of
280:/link pin or kingpin/trunnion arrangement, but can also be found in the rear suspension of a few higher-performance autos. Ball joints play a critical role in the safe operation of an automobile's
299:
If one of the ball joints does not carry spring load, it may be fitted with an internal anti-rattle spring to keep the ball preferentially in contact with one seat. This was the case in the BMC
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inner tie rod end on a rack-and-pinion steering system, they are called inner socket assemblies. These joints are also used in a number of other non-automotive applications, from the joints of
356:) and were designed for periodic addition of a lubricant, however almost all modern cars use sealed ball joints to minimise maintenance requirements. The lubricant was usually a very high-
377:
194:
The "offset" ball joint provides means of movement in systems where thermal expansion and contraction, shock, seismic motion, and torsional motions, and forces are present.
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steering axis. So, there are commonly only two ball joints in the suspension, however there will be at least four (track rod ends and rack ends) in the steering linkage.
412:. By using spherical rolling joints instead of universal, designers can reduce the number of joints to achieve the same result. Using a spherical joint as opposed to a
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Unlike a kingpin, which requires an assembly in the center of the wheel in order to pivot, joints connect to the upper and lower end of the
231:
to be made, and also introduced compliance where the suspension designer may not have desired it in his quest for optimum handling.
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A ball joint failure no longer constrains the wheel's angle, causing the whole strut to sit outside of its intended position.
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to other mechanical linkages for a variety of devices, or any place where a degree of rotation in movement is desired.
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can be used in place of SRJs at the cost of increased friction, but offer an opportunity to preload the joint further.
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lubricant. It is commonly believed that standard ball joints will outlive sealed ones because eventually the
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of an automobile. They are today almost universally used in the front suspension, having replaced the
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A ball joint consists of a bearing stud and socket enclosed in a casing; all these parts are made of
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533:. California Dept. of Consumer Affairs, Bureau of Automotive Repair. 2010. Archived from
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This article is about automobile joints. For the anatomical structure, see
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Ball joints allow a limited range of smooth movement in all directions
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Spherical bearing most commonly used in automobile steering mechanisms
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On modern vehicles, joints are the pivot between the wheels and the
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maintaining a large range of motion and backlash as low as 1
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389:. SRJs are often used in parallel robotics applications like a
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2013 IEEE International
Conference on Robotics and Automation
486:(one of the earliest patented applications of the technology)
260:
184:
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604:"Still a long way to go on the road for parallel mechanisms"
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as they are "lubed for life". Formerly most ball joints had
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328:. This leaves the center section open to allow the use of
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adjusted by the symmetric adjustment of these same pivots.
509:"Ball Joints - How to Keep Your Front Suspension Together"
376:
136:
531:"Your Car's Ball Joints - The Pivotal Part of the System"
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with upper and lower ball joints and tie rod end shown.
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An inner tie rod end cut open to expose the ball joint.
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Many currently manufactured automobiles worldwide use
606:. ASME 2002 DETC Conference, Montréal. Archived from
56:. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
631:"Roller Pinion Gear Steps Up Rotopod Robot Motion"
416:also eliminates the problematic possibility of a
821:
693:
214:in two planes at the same time while preventing
332:. Older kingpin designs can only be used in a
132:A typical ball joint with cutaway view (right)
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364:will break, causing the joint to dry out and
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116:Learn how and when to remove this message
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210:A ball joint is used for allowing free
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54:adding citations to reliable sources
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380:A SRJ024C-P Spherical Rolling Joint
243:The arrangements for adjusting the
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344:Sealed ball joints do not require
164:, and are used on virtually every
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404:An alternative to the SRJ is the
629:Gorse, Joe (December 13, 2011).
264:Rear wheel drive vehicle, front
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41:needs additional citations for
687:
645:
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595:
579:Allen, Mike (March 29, 2006).
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393:, where high rigidity and low
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1:
697:Springer Handbook of Robotics
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557:"Ball Joints-Dannenbaum LLC"
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468:Head in pillow (metallurgy)
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324:(steering knuckle), to the
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266:double wishbone suspension
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694:Sciliano, Khatib (2008).
663:10.1109/ICRA.2013.6630644
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191:problems in the linkage.
700:. Springer. p. 22.
581:"Ball Joint Replacement"
422:Plain spherical bearings
408:, which consists of two
372:Spherical rolling joint
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174:ball-and-socket joints
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830:Bearings (mechanical)
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418:kinematic singularity
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21:Ball-and-socket joint
657:. pp. 667–672.
537:on September 1, 2012
484:Shaker tilting chair
352:(sometimes called a
50:improve this article
610:on 11 December 2008
583:. Popular Mechanics
473:List of auto parts
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382:
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154:spherical bearings
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672:978-1-4673-5643-5
330:front-wheel drive
316:Front-wheel drive
162:steering knuckles
156:that connect the
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334:rear-wheel-drive
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507:Bumbeck, Mike.
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414:universal joint
410:revolute joints
406:universal joint
397:are essential.
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633:. Design World
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106:November 2023
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67: –
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61:Find sources:
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39:This article
37:
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28:
27:
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797:Higher pairs
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696:
689:
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635:. Retrieved
624:
612:. Retrieved
608:the original
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585:. Retrieved
560:
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539:. Retrieved
535:the original
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513:. Retrieved
511:. Mobile Oil
480:(heim joint)
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326:control arms
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168:made. They
158:control arms
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65:"Ball joint"
60:
48:Please help
43:verification
40:
773:Cylindrical
756:Lower pairs
587:October 10,
541:October 10,
515:October 10,
354:grease zerk
346:lubrication
340:Lubrication
248:precisely.
216:translation
150:ball joints
491:References
449:Other uses
274:suspension
170:bionically
166:automobile
146:automobile
76:newspapers
768:Prismatic
637:August 9,
358:viscosity
222:A simple
189:vibration
180:animals.
824:Category
763:Revolute
681:17394569
462:See also
395:backlash
282:steering
212:rotation
178:tetrapod
614:10 June
428:Failure
322:spindle
278:kingpin
256:Purpose
224:kingpin
160:to the
90:scholar
783:Planar
704:
679:
669:
233:Camber
229:caster
198:Theory
144:In an
92:
85:
78:
71:
63:
809:Gears
778:Screw
677:S2CID
456:dolls
185:steel
97:JSTOR
83:books
702:ISBN
667:ISBN
639:2016
616:2013
589:2012
543:2012
517:2012
366:rust
362:seal
301:Mini
152:are
69:news
804:Cam
659:doi
245:toe
52:by
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
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