Ball Joint Position on Upper Control Arms

Hello every one I would like to start with my apologies for my absence I had a little mishap/fall in the garage and took a bicycle handle bar to the chest 1 inch from my throat so I have been immobile for a little while. Good NEWS story I finally got that gosh darn bolt out of the cross member and pulled the entire front end apart little bit at a time until I,m sore again. Now fully apart ( getting the bushings out was a joy as well :no: )
I want to thank all of you who participated in my venture thus far with your kind words and advise that was of excellent help.
I noticed that the passenger side ball joint was on backwards I'm replacing them so no biggy are the upper control arms reversible? Meaning could the left be the right and vise versa or are they side specific . I KNOW silly question to the experienced opelers but I have seen so many mirrored parts on the gt that I assumed the uca would be the same. If i lay one on top of the other they are identical.
Thank You in advanced and I'm sure glad to be back tinkering or even typing to say hello to you all.

Terry glad to hear your okay and back at it with your Opel :yup: What a bummer for an injury. Hopefully no long term affects.

Gotta watch your step in the Garage these days,,, Glad that your Okay,, and back working on your GT again. :veryhappy

The Upper Control Arms are prone to warping or bending,, make sure you have a good set,, Some add Gussetts to make them stronger..

The reason why you found the Upper Ball Joint Reversed ... I think as stated in the factory Manual that the way to Increase Caster
to the Alignment, flip upper ball joint around ... In my Blue GT have both Upper Ball Joints Reversed :yup:

Seems more like it's the camber that is changed by flipping the upper ball joint.

Thank you for the kind words I'm still very soar which is expected with bone injuries I didn't bother going for ex-rays or doctor instead went to chiropractor as the other route would only confirm cracks or fractures which there isn't anything that can be done, that I'm not already doing. He said 1 inch higher would have been devastating if not deadly. Kinda funny all the chances one takes in there life and something so innocent and freakish ( for lack of a better term) could be so potentially life threatening. Any hoo one day at a time till it hurts and tomorrows another day.
I understand the flipping of the upper ball joints and the affect. my worry was if the UCA is side specific and are mirrors of each other like the LCA are then I have 2 right or left side uca which in my mind would explain one side being cambered opposite of the other to compensate. I'm hoping I'm wrong and both UCA are interchangeable from one side to the other. I hope this clarifies my question a little better

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Originally Posted by terrylewisac

Thank you for the kind words I'm still very soar which is expected with bone injuries I didn't bother going for ex-rays or doctor instead went to chiropractor as the other route would only confirm cracks or fractures which there isn't anything that can be done, that I'm not already doing. He said 1 inch higher would have been devastating if not deadly. Kinda funny all the chances one takes in there life and something so innocent and freakish ( for lack of a better term) could be so potentially life threatening. Any hoo one day at a time till it hurts and tomorrows another day.
I understand the flipping of the upper ball joints and the affect. my worry was if the UCA is side specific and are mirrors of each other like the LCA are then I have 2 right or left side uca which in my mind would explain one side being cambered opposite of the other to compensate. I'm hoping I'm wrong and both UCA are interchangeable from one side to the other. I hope this clarifies my question a little better

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Someone probably turned that UBJ around at sometime in the past to compensate for uneven individual tire wear on one side . Just a guess.
Sorry to hear of your mishap and wish you a speedy recovery. I just had a retinal tear repaired on Thursday, so I have to sit or lay with my face parallel to the floor for several weeks.

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Originally Posted by SpringGT

Someone probably turned that UBJ around at sometime in the past to compensate for uneven individual tire wear on one side . Just a guess.
Sorry to hear of your mishap and wish you a speedy recovery. I just had a retinal tear repaired on Thursday, so I have to sit or lay with my face parallel to the floor for several weeks.

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YIKES Springgt that doesn't sound fun at all how in the world does someone achieve that? If you were looking that hard/fast I would think whiplash first. I hope you can manage the recovery well. Sitting or laying around Is not my cup a tea as I'm sure isn't anyone's (you can only watch so much tv or movies before stir crazy settles in and takes over you mind, RIGHT?). I wish you the best and what ever you did lets try not to let it happen again (recovery stinks):ugh:

So my son says it is important to share the end of my fall guy story so here it is

After the fall was over and we (meaning the wife and son) picked up all the bikes I managed to knock over in 2 falls. My son looked to me and said Dad are you OK?
I replied with this one is going to hurt tomorrow. He asked can I move all my limbs? I replied yes. He then turned and walked 5 feet away from me and picked up my Opeler birthday celebration cup and walked it back to me and said (and I quote)
Good Job dad you didn't spill a drop. You are probably gonna need the rest of this. My wife on the other hand said ( and I quote) Amazing your hands never hit the ground but your cup stayed upright. You are no longer allowed to celebrate your Opelers birthdays in the garage until you fix the night light and straighten up in here. You wouldn't have fell if you had light and a clearer space to walk through! This is where I replied you are right and yes dear.

Now my space is clear and a light at night for me after I turn off the bright shop lights. I am now allowed to tinker and celebrate again with all my Opel family. I look forward to the next Birthday celebration and cheers to you all in advanced.:cool3::haha:

I have a video on replacing ball joints here.

https://youtu.be/d79lGmgNiKc

Go to 16:20 and watch until about 17:30 and I explain what direction the ball joints go and what the adjustment does.

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Originally Posted by Knorm65

I have a video on replacing ball joints here.

https://youtu.be/d79lGmgNiKc

Go to 16:20 and watch until about 17:30 and I explain what direction the ball joints go and what the adjustment does.

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Fantastic Thank you :haha:

Thats funny as can be I watched your video just before my mishap GREAT JOB I enjoyed it very much

Safety should always be NUMBER 1 priority. Good you survived and glad to hear you free'd the bolt.

Thank you Mr Chuck, That bolt was a bugger for sure. I finally heated it up with the cutty torch and had my son get on the bolt simultaneously with the impact, nothing else was working until then. I did hose the rubber plate under spring with thermo gel to protect it.Worked well, thank goodness as ogts is out of stock to replace it if I burn't it.