Gordie's MK1 GTI

[sports racer]

Ditto ^

Lots of talk about them on Club GTI forum and what happens when they break.

Only needed on very low cars.

[16v_kid]

Ball joint extenders really need to be welded in to be safe for road use, similar to the kit SCCH sells. I hope for your sake that you don't have a bolt in kit as they are known to snap due to the cracking that can occur at the transition into the extended post. They also required the use of flipped tie rods, otherwise bump steer will be horrendous.

Where does it need to be welded?

Yes - I will be flipping the tie rods this weekend. Not quite sure which ball joint extenders they are, got them a while back.

[Browneye]

They should be bolted into the hub where the old ball joint originally went, then welded to the hub itself. This will effectively moving the ball joint mount further down permanently. There is no going back once this is done however.

Although they are a massive improvement for extremely lowered cars, they will improve the handling to some degree on any mk1. This is because the change in angle of the control arms raises the roll centre closer to the centre of gravity, reducing body roll. For lowered cars, once the control arms are beyond parallel to the ground, the body roll is significantly worsened, hence why ball joint extenders have more of an impact for lowered mk1s

[roccodingo]

Would'nt recommend welding these extenders in place as they are usually manufactured from heat treated 4140 ( if they have any quality, and the images suggest this ) which unless you have access to a coded welder and specific weld procedure you will most certainly be creating weld stress cracks.

If you wish to pursue this then I would certainly advise you employ a metallurgist and have a proper and thorough procedure established to minimize the risk this can potentially expose you and any other individual to as well as possible law suites. That is why the sellers blatantly inform you "not for street use "'

Good luck.

[16v_kid]

Would'nt recommend welding these extenders in place as they are usually manufactured from heat treated 4140 ( if they have any quality, and the images suggest this ) which unless you have access to a coded welder and specific weld procedure you will most certainly be creating weld stress cracks.

If you wish to pursue this then I would certainly advise you employ a metallurgist and have a proper and thorough procedure established to minimize the risk this can potentially expose you and any other individual to as well as possible law suites. That is why the sellers blatantly inform you "not for street use "'

Good luck.

Exactly my thoughts, they are heat treated 4140. I think I'll just leave them

[sports racer]

How low is your car?

[Notso Swift]

More relevant is the camber (and camber change, be it bump or castor) The closer to vertical the better for transferring the force straight through.

Unless you are racing and hitting things they will be fine, the clubGTi failures (and it is not like thetre were 100's) were all on track cars, just inspect them as part of your normal (which in a Mk1 is regular!) service schedule

[Browneye]

More relevant is the camber (and camber change, be it bump or castor) The closer to vertical the better for transferring the force straight through.

Unless you are racing and hitting things they will be fine, the clubGTi failures (and it is not like thetre were 100's) were all on track cars, just inspect them as part of your normal (which in a Mk1 is regular!) service schedule

I thought the main problem was that failure was impossible to predict. Even upon inspection they can appear to be fine but really be on the verge of failure. I was under the impression that they required an X-ray to determine the extent of any microscopic cracking that can occur.

They are illegal for a reason, which is why I would never use them, and would avoid driving next to or in close proximity to someone who was using bolt in ball joint extenders.

[sports racer]

How low is your car?

Are the ball joint extenders needed on this car?

[roccodingo]

Biggest hassle is the basic design of the extender itself, the 17 mm spigot dia is what locates and carries the load, the larger dia is to incorporate the female socket for the 17mm ball joint shaft ( hence larger outside diameter on that section). So to machine it up you get the smaller spigot protruding from the round larger dia with a radius in the corner ( standard practice ) however once the 4140 is heat treated it creates an area of higher stress concentration in the radius for micro cracking to emanate from, add the stresses from use. With attempting to weld it there is first the issue with welding thru heat treatment, underbead cracking and residual stress from the welding op itself. Better option if you have to use them is to just bolt them up and perform a regular inspection as mentioned. Magnetic particle inspection is the procedure you need use for checking the extenders, or at the very least dye penetrant inspection.

[Peter Jones]

Biggest hassle is the basic design of the extender itself, the 17 mm spigot dia is what locates and carries the load, the larger dia is to incorporate the female socket for the 17mm ball joint shaft ( hence larger outside diameter on that section). So to machine it up you get the smaller spigot protruding from the round larger dia with a radius in the corner ( standard practice ) however once the 4140 is heat treated it creates an area of higher stress concentration in the radius for micro cracking to emanate from, add the stresses from use. With attempting to weld it there is first the issue with welding thru heat treatment, underbead cracking and residual stress from the welding op itself. Better option if you have to use them is to just bolt them up and perform a regular inspection as mentioned. Magnetic particle inspection is the procedure you need use for checking the extenders, or at the very least dye penetrant inspection.

Yep. I use them them on the racecar, but mine are 19mm and have a big radius. They were part of a batch done by one of the experts over at CGTI. No issues so far and I've jumped it off plenty of ripple strips.

Regular inspection is key. Mine get checked after every raceday, so every 50km or so. That's a bit of an overhead for a street car.

[16v_kid]

Thanks for all the info guys! Will keep an eye on them on a regular bases, so far so good! Front left top mount is making an annoying sound so think ill be installing a pair of Ground Control adjustable camber tops. These silver project top mounts didn't last long, I need 4000km on the car since I got it..not sure how many km ex owner did with the silver project top mounts.

Here's a pic of a few weeks ago with George's mk1 - fun night having a few runs on the hwy!

[GeorgeMK1]

I might have some hi res pics of that night, will have a look dude! When are we hwy'ing again haha.

[Juzzpc]

looks mint gordie!

[MozzGTI]

Beautiful!! I want one!!