72 Bilstein struts to ball joint - wedge bolt question

[mac73s]

Can anyone tell me if the wedge bolt is designed to fit through the strut/ball joint in one direction, i.e. should the head (with the orientation 'punch' mark) face towards the front of the car or rear? I installed them with the 'head' facing forward and can't get them to fully seat flush to the strut...a few millimeters remain sticking out. I just looked through some restoration photos of the 73 I did, and the before and after photos show that the wedge bolt head is indeed facing towards the rear (tie rod end side)...so perhaps I simply need to reverse them but wanted to check first if there is indeed a correct/incorrect installation direction. Thank you.

[mac73s]

I looked in the service manual and it says to install the wedge pin with the securing nut facing the front/direction of travel. I reversed the pins, torqued the securing nuts at 17 ft. pounds. It seems to make sense that the end of the pin does not seat flush with the strut, i.e. it seemingly tapers out (barely visible) and therefore provides this secure 'wedge' on one end, and the nut secures the other. Having said this, the photos I took of the 73 I restored show the pins seated very close to flush with the strut - and the same for this 72. What has changed is I've installed new Bilstein struts on the 72...and for neither love or money will the pins seats flush...one side leaves 3mm protruding, the other 2mm protruding. I'm hopefully stressing over nothing here...but that's what I do . Thoughts still welcome.

[davep]

Do your bolt threads come all the way through the nuts? I agree that you seem to have a lot of protrusion on the heads.

[mac73s]

Do your bolt threads come all the way through the nuts? I agree that you seem to have a lot of protrusion on the heads.

Thank you...one side has l.5 threads through the nut, the other is about half a thread through so enough that the nyloc nut has fully captured the bolt threads. Just wondering if the protrusion is unique to the Bilstein struts?

[gled49]

Your ok, sometimes they are flush and sometimes not. I tap them with a hammer just to check they have bottomed out. Have seen many on the same car, one side flush, the other not.

[mac73s]

Your ok, sometimes they are flush and sometimes not. I tap them with a hammer just to check they have bottomed out. Have seen many on the same car, one side flush, the other not.

Thank you..yes, they have been tapped firmly and certainly seem bottomed out. When I removed the pins, I checked to see if they would insert head first..not possible, so the pins are certainly flared a bit at the end for the wedge function....would make no sense for the pin to be able to drive entirely through the hole. I appreciate the reassurance.

[ZombieBranz]

I’m a noob but I had an issue where my ball joint bolts also wouldn’t pull thru flush because I had pre 72 ball joints and post 72 struts and ball joint bolts.

[mepstein]

I’m a noob but I had an issue where my ball joint bolts also wouldn’t pull thru flush because I had pre 72 ball joints and post 72 struts and ball joint bolts.

You have to use the proper ball joint for the strut. Your combo is not proper and will not tighten up. The early ball joints are made for a strut with a split end that uses a nut and bolt to clamp onto the ball joint. You need to get the proper late taper ball joints that use a wedge bolt and nut to tighten/wedge the ball joint to the strut. The wedge bolt looks like a cotter pin and the ball joint has a wedge vs a semi circle.

[mac73s]

You have to use the proper ball joint for the strut. Your combo is not proper and will not tighten up. The early ball joints are made for a strut with a split end that uses a nut and bolt to clamp onto the ball joint. You need to get the proper late taper ball joints that use a wedge bolt and nut to tighten/wedge the ball joint to the strut. The wedge bolt looks like a cotter pin and the ball joint has a wedge vs a semi circle.

Thank you - the ball joints I am using are the later wedge (a V cut) type which use the corresponding wedge pin which is installed. The Bilstein struts are new and are correct for 72 - 88 which would therefore use this later style ball joint. With that, what do you see 'incorrect' in this installation?

[Frank Beck]

Gordon is correct. Sometimes they're flush, sometimes they're not. Whack with a brass punch a few times to seat, torque the nut, and move on. (Don't forget to re-torque after 500-1k miles.)

Nothing to see here.