Lower Ball joint extender?

[rmicroys]

Just wondering if anybody has seen VW ball joint extenders? I'm looking to be able to lower my car more with a new suspension - and I need to be able to level the lower A-arm and then drill out the spindle so I can flip the steering rod (using a rod end) to the other side to keep the LCA and the steering arms level. Anybody know who has made them... Are these available commerically or do most people make these one-off?

[JamesB]

You might be barking up the wrong tree here, thats not legal in IT. Try asking around at VWVortex.com.

[Bildon]

Originally posted by JamesB@Jan 19 2006, 11:53 AM
You might be barking up the wrong tree here, thats not legal in IT. Try asking around at VWVortex.com.

[snapback]71252[/snapback]

Not everyone here is racing IT all the time. He's from Canada I see.



Try these guys. 'taint cheap!
http://www.pmwltd.com

[JamesB]

I know he is. And I said he would likely get a more imformative answer from people there then here since I have seen threads about this on that site.

[rmicroys]

Originally posted by Bildon@Jan 19 2006, 04:49 PM
Not everyone here is racing IT all the time. He's from Canada I see.

Thanks! Every region in Canada is different too... no IT in Ontario.

All basically GT classes for the sprint races (all laptime based braket racing for 5 classes)

Or in the Ontario Touring GT series in which it's also a pretty much very open rulebook. How fast do you want to go? is usually the question in Ontario... the answer is... "How fast do you want to spend."

Try these guys. 'taint cheap!
http://www.pmwltd.com

[snapback]71265[/snapback]

Thanks Bill... That's perfect - just what the doctor ordered! Now here's where I have a bit of part ignorance. The 17mm joint is which, the larger or smaller of the G/J joints? I run Corrado spindles and 11" brakes on my '86 Jetta. Would these 17mm extenders be the ones that would fit?

Didn't expect the reply this fast... wow.

[Bill Miller]

Rob,

I believe the 17mm is the smaller of the joints, and will work on the R/J I cars as well.

While I have not seen the units that Bill posted, they look to be adequate, from the info on the website. Be careful of 'home made' ones, as I've seen them fail (not pretty!)

[rmicroys]

Originally posted by Bill Miller@Jan 19 2006, 06:04 PM
Rob,

I believe the 17mm is the smaller of the joints, and will work on the R/J I cars as well.

While I have not seen the units that Bill posted, they look to be adequate, from the info on the website. Be careful of 'home made' ones, as I've seen them fail (not pretty!)

[snapback]71279[/snapback]

If the 17mm unit is the smaller kind, then it won't work in my spindle... but considering they'll custom make the length, I suppose they can also make it fit the larger spindle too - it's not like it takes more work - just getting the measurement right. The G/J up to 88 used 191 407 365 and after 89 used 357 407 365. I'm not sure which is which. Maybe I'll have to go home and measure some of the spares in the kit.

[RSTPerformance]

Are those legal in IT? That is a good question... Can you use the reasoning that you are using them for camber adjustment?

Raymond

[rmicroys]

Originally posted by RSTPerformance@Jan 19 2006, 06:58 PM
Are those legal in IT?

Doesn't matter to me. Our classes in Ontario are timed brackets. My laptime at Mosport cannot be lower than 1m41.000s - if I do go faster in Qualifying, I start from the back of the pack. If I do it in a race, I get a DSQ, and start the next race (3 race weekends for my series generally) from the back of the pack.

Kept my nose clean this year with a bunch of fast laps near 1m41.2... But these are a couple of things I'm looking to improve. Get the car a bit lower, and because of that, I'll need some items to correct the geometery.

[RSTPerformance]

hummm... that is an interesting way of classifications... I like that!!! You "Canadians" never stop amaizing me (In a good way)... First it was Tremblant ski area and the nearby race track, then it was Vantage Motorsports crew, now "braket" road racing classifications...

I guess I am the "Blooming idiot" but I had never herd of or thought of this for classifications... I really like it!!!

Raymond

[rmicroys]

Originally posted by RSTPerformance@Jan 19 2006, 07:30 PM
hummm... that is an interesting way of classifications... I like that!!! You "Canadians" never stop amaizing me (In a good way)... First it was Tremblant ski area and the nearby race track, then it was Vantage Motorsports crew, now "braket" road racing classifications...

I guess I am the "Blooming idiot" but I had never herd of or thought of this for classifications... I really like it!!!

Raymond

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Ya... we're certainly 'different' up here. Must be something they put in the beer.

It is an interesting idea. I guess what they've done is make Ontario Region most accepting of any cars. So, people who build any SCCA, FAQ (Quebec), WMCA (Western Canada), ARMS (Atlantic Canada) or have any pro-racing tin top car can come out and play. There are 5 sedan classes in the Ontario Challenge Cup, GT1, GTA, B, C and D. Mostly five second 'windows' for each class. GT1 obviously being 'unlimited'. The scary part is getting guys doing 1m25s laps at the same time when we're out on the track doing 1m41s laps. So bring anything you want and have fun... but some people in ontario then make their cars so that they can ONLY be raced in Ontario because of strange mods that they may do. So often Ontario racecars are generally not easily resold outside of Ontario because of what has to be done to get them to rules spec for other regions.

So... my car. '86 Jetta, 2.0 ABA, Mikuni 44PPH side drafts, all sorts of doo-dads, uber lightened, etc, etc... is pretty much tuned out of any comparable SCCA class. At least that lets me do novel things for reliability, etc. So as long as I don't race outside of Ontario I'll be okay with this car.

[Doc Bro]

Originally posted by RSTPerformance@Jan 19 2006, 07:30 PM
hummm... that is an interesting way of classifications... I like that!!! You "Canadians" never stop amaizing me (In a good way)... First it was Tremblant ski area and the nearby race track, then it was Vantage Motorsports crew, now "braket" road racing classifications...

I guess I am the "Blooming idiot" but I had never herd of or thought of this for classifications... I really like it!!!

Raymond

[snapback]71300[/snapback]

Ray,

You need to talk to Dave Gran and Jake Fisher....they've been talking about road racing brackets for a while....they probably have the whole thing figured out by now!!!

R

[rmicroys]

Originally posted by Doc Bro@Jan 19 2006, 07:45 PM
You need to talk to Dave Gran and Jake Fisher....they've been talking about road racing brackets for a while....they probably have the whole thing figured out by now!!!

[snapback]71302[/snapback]

It did take a couple of years to tune the brakets. If anybody is thinking of adopting a braket racing system, you will want to talk to the Ontario Regional race director, Gunter Schmidt. He came up with all the numbers, cranked it through endless Excel spreadsheets, etc, and made it work quite well in Ontario. You can reach him at : [email protected]

[rmicroys]

Well... just measured a spare ball joint. The largest diameter of the part that goes in to the spindle is more like 19mm, and the internal diameter (where the bolt keeps it in place) is more like 15-16mm. So I'm not sure, but these guys look like they make it for Rabbits/Early Golf/Jetta. I suppose I could always contact them and see what they measure as '17mm'.

[Bill Miller]

You could always go w/ a set of early A2 knuckles and ball joints!

[rmicroys]

Originally posted by Bill Miller@Jan 20 2006, 01:56 AM
You could always go w/ a set of early A2 knuckles and ball joints!

[snapback]71335[/snapback]

Somewhat challenging to bolt up my Corrado brakes to them I got an email back from them, they'll make 19mm units if requested, 2wk turn around. They just don't stock them right now. For race use, of course. etc.

[JamesB]

I thought A2 knuckes would bolt up to corrado brakes.

[JLawton]

I'm wondering if the Audi set up would work. I can't really remember how it looks, but it alows them to lower the car more than the VW set ups?

Ray? Is it in the control arm?

[rmicroys]

Originally posted by JLawton@Jan 20 2006, 12:00 PM
I'm wondering if the Audi set up would work. I can't really remember how it looks, but it alows them to lower the car more than the VW set ups?

Ray? Is it in the control arm?

[snapback]71364[/snapback]

Not sure... Are you thinking of TT spindles - say in a Mk4? There was a lot of talk on the 'tex about that. H2Sport makes Mk4 drop spindles as well, so for people racing Mk4s, that's certainly an opportunity if their rulebooks allow such things. Not too many people making drop spindles for Mk2/3 cars though.

[Bill Miller]

Originally posted by rmicroys@Jan 19 2006, 08:59 PM
Somewhat challenging to bolt up my Corrado brakes to them I got an email back from them, they'll make 19mm units if requested, 2wk turn around. They just don't stock them right now. For race use, of course. etc.

[snapback]71342[/snapback]

I'm not sure why, Corrados were A2 cars, and I have heard of guys putting them on early A2 Golfs/Jettas.