A-body Frame Side Ball Studs- Not All the Same?

Posted By: In_The_Pink

A-body Frame Side Ball Studs- Not All the Same? - 07/02/08 07:52 PM

I bought a frame side ball stud from Brewers which is for up to '76 A-bodies, but it doesn't have the flats on the threaded shaft to keep it from rotating when installed. The original ball stud I removed from a '76 Duster has the flats, and F-bodies also use the same ball stud.

When did the frame side ball stud shaft change in A-bodies?

Here are some pics of the two ball studs:

...and a detail shot of the old stud, showing the flats:

Posted By: JohnRR

Re: A-body Frame Side Ball Studs- Not All the Same? - 07/02/08 08:35 PM

edit ...

i never remember seeing one like that , is the hole it goes in on the inner fender got double flats or a flat instead of a round hole ?

otherwise you use a wrench on the 2 machined flats to hold it while tightening it .

Posted By: 68HemiB

Re: A-body Frame Side Ball Studs- Not All the Same? - 07/02/08 09:16 PM

Quote:

otherwise you use a wrench on the 2 machined flats to hold it while tightening it .

The torque of the stud through the nut is what keeps things in place, once properly tightened. "Properly tightening" it involves an open-end wrench on the machined flats of the newer style stud.

Posted By: Sixpak

Re: A-body Frame Side Ball Studs- Not All the Same? - 07/02/08 09:27 PM

I think the flats are there to keep from chewing up the sheet metal of the fender well it goes through and for centering purposes, not to keep the stud from spinning. Maybe a little extra engineering on the part of Chrysler when they first designed the part, which later was found not to be necessary.

Posted By: mopowergtx

Re: A-body Frame Side Ball Studs- Not All the Same? - 07/02/08 09:53 PM

Careful work with a 4 1/2" grinder on two sides and presto you got two flat spots.

Casey did you get my email about borrowing my z-bar for fab purposes? Or did you get one already.

Posted By: In_The_Pink

Re: A-body Frame Side Ball Studs- Not All the Same? - 07/02/08 11:44 PM

Quote:

edit ...

i never remember seeing one like that , is the hole it goes in on the inner fender got double flats or a flat instead of a round hole ?

otherwise you use a wrench on the 2 machined flats to hold it while tightening it .

Here's the hole in the bracket through which the threaded shaft of the ball stud passes and is retained on the outside by the nut:

And a view from inside the engine compartment, with the bracket sitting in postion on top of the framerail:

Here's the pic of the original ball stud in the '76 Duster before I removed it:

The flats do keep the ball stud from rotating and I supect they were added because ball studs tend to freeze in place after many years. I removed the ball stud above with a socket and ratchet from inside the fender well, even though it is clearly very rusty. Seems like good engineering to me.

Maybe in '76 they used the F-body style stud on A-bodies, since they were at the end of their lifespan.

Posted By: JohnRR

Re: A-body Frame Side Ball Studs- Not All the Same? - 07/03/08 01:53 AM

Quote:

Quote:

edit ...

i never remember seeing one like that , is the hole it goes in on the inner fender got double flats or a flat instead of a round hole ?

otherwise you use a wrench on the 2 machined flats to hold it while tightening it .

Here's the hole in the bracket through which the threaded shaft of the ball stud passes and is retained on the outside by the nut:

And a view from inside the engine compartment, with the bracket sitting in postion on top of the framerail:

Here's the pic of the original ball stud in the '76 Duster before I removed it:

The flats do keep the ball stud from rotating and I supect they were added because ball studs tend to freeze in place after many years. I removed the ball stud above with a socket and ratchet from inside the fender well, even though it is clearly very rusty. Seems like good engineering to me.

Maybe in '76 they used the F-body style stud on A-bodies, since they were at the end of their lifespan.

what year is this car you are working on ?

the one you got out of the 76 a body , i'll bet that hole is round and not square looking like the one in your first pic ?

i can't remember seeing a hole like that in an 67 or newer a body , the ball stud is in my 69 so i can't confirm that .

but as stated you can make the flats on real easy

Posted By: Rhinodart

Re: A-body Frame Side Ball Studs- Not All the Same? - 07/03/08 02:34 AM

Exactly, what year A-Body are you working on? I have never seen one like that and I have owned literally 100's of A-Bodies! All mine just have round holes through the frame and bracket...

All my ballstuds have the two flats on them and you just hold the ballstud with an open-end wrench while turning the nut on.

Posted By: In_The_Pink

Re: A-body Frame Side Ball Studs- Not All the Same? - 07/03/08 02:55 AM

I'm not saying the ball stud I removed from the '76 is the factory installed part, but it looks to me like it is. Here's the door jamb sticker, just for kicks:

I know they didn't make a ton of A-bodies in '76 since the F-body was rushed out to replace it, but maybe the 'with flats' ball stud was the new replacement for the old 'without flats' ball stud and this car got one of 'em.

The 'with flats' ball stud appears to fit either style of hole (round or square) so it doesn't really matter if all A-bodies had round ball stud mounting holes, but I will check out the hole on the '76 and see what it has. I'm only interested in finding out if other '76 A-bodies came with the later type of frame rail ball stud.

Posted By: JohnRR

Re: A-body Frame Side Ball Studs- Not All the Same? - 07/03/08 05:50 PM

Quote:

I'm not saying the ball stud I removed from the '76 is the factory installed part, but it looks to me like it is. Here's the door jamb sticker, just for kicks:

I know they didn't make a ton of A-bodies in '76 since the F-body was rushed out to replace it, but maybe the 'with flats' ball stud was the new replacement for the old 'without flats' ball stud and this car got one of 'em.

The 'with flats' ball stud appears to fit either style of hole (round or square) so it doesn't really matter if all A-bodies had round ball stud mounting holes, but I will check out the hole on the '76 and see what it has. I'm only interested in finding out if other '76 A-bodies came with the later type of frame rail ball stud.

hello , Bueller ... is this on ???

what year car are you working on ???

and of course the squre stud will fit in the round hole , but not vise versa .