Hello all!
My name is Zack Kanter and I own Power Performance Motorsports. I've been in touch with Mark quite a bit about our new ball joints. I wanted to share the same information that I've shared with Mark with all of you. I also posted this over on pro-touring.com.
Moderators: I won't be posting up any pricing or links to our website, I just want to put some information out there before the rumor mill gets going. I hope that this is within the rules of the forum.
We've been working on these "tall" ball joints for 7 months and we have finally finished the first production run.I wanted to share some of the R&D that has gone into them - we're pretty proud of the finished product!
Our ball joints are made using forged SAE4130 ball studs with high-polished ball heads. The studs are situated inside a forged, SAE1045 greasable housing. The housing are e-coated black - the coating is virtually impermeable to rust and is capable of passing a 240 hour salt spray test. We seal the unit with our signature, ring-retained, accordion-style boot. The boot design is crucial for the longevity of the ball joint - the traditional, clamp-on style boot is prone to tearing or pulling out of the clamp, which causes rapid wear once the joint is exposed to the elements.
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We're no stranger to heavy duty applications. While we're relatively new to the musclecar market, we have a fairly big following in the offroad as well as lowered truck market. We also supply ball joints, idler arms, tie rod ends, and center links to many of the "big name" musclecar suspension companies out there. Here is an example of one of our customers "exercising" our ball joints (note: I don't recommend anyone doing this. It voids the warranty for sure
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After listening to the demands out there, we were told that a 0.5" extended length upper and lower ball joint for the Chevelles/Camaros/Novas would be optimal, so we started investigating some designs. Now, we've made the standard size A/F/X upper and lower ball joints for many years and sold many thousands of them with no problem, so I have a lot of confidence in the housing design. We use a forged housing for maximum stud pullout strength. Power Performance focused most of the effort on validating the stud design - whenever you're going to add length into a stud, you want to make sure that the stud is still going to be strong enough.
As a benchmark, we went out and purchased a set of boxed Moog® Problem Solver® ball joints and a set of what we call the "GS" (gold standard) 0.5" extended length ball joints that are popular on this forum. We performed two tests - stud pullout and stud impact. A stud pullout test measures the amount of force required to pull the stud out of the housing (higher number is better). A stud impact test is performed by screwing the stud into a wall and dropping a 110 lb weight from 5 feet onto the ball head. The angle of deviation is then measured (a lower number is better, as it means the stud is stronger).
A note about the tests - these are not independent, 3rd party tests. While I am very confident in the results, I am going to avoid naming the competitor's parts because they aren't independently verified. That being said, I would be happy to submit samples of our products for independent testing if any other manufacturer wants to go head to head.
The results are as follows:
Stud Pullout Testing - Peak Force
Upper
Moog®: 18,284 lbs
GS brand: 16,812 lbs* <---this test was performed on a second-gen Camaro version, as we didn't have a first-gen version available at the time of test
PPM: 18,481 lbs
NOTE: Each of these 3 ball joints VASTLY exceed the ~10,000 lb stud pullout rating of the original GM stamped upper ball joint
Lower
Moog®: 19,686 lbs
GS brand: 16,929 lbs
PPM: 19,649 lbs
(the "GS" ball joint is shown, post-pullout test. It failed in the expected area - a crack in the housing)
Stud Impact Testing - Degrees of Deviation
Upper
Moog®: 36 degrees
GS brand: 23 degrees
PPM: 23 degrees
Lower
Moog®: 20 degrees
GS brand: 13 degrees
PPM: 15 degrees
(the Stud Impact Test machine)
(studs are shown post-impact test)
As you can see, the Power Performance and the "GS" ball stud are quite a bit stronger than the Moog® part. The really interesting thing is that the Moog® part is standard length - if it were 0.5" longer, it would be even weaker! We accomplish the massive additional strength through special heat treat processes, higher quality steel, and a fundamentally better stud design.
The final thing we focused on was a low friction design. We investigated several designs out there and found that "low friction" designs on the market use a reduced rate spring in the ball joint to reduce friction. Well, you're essentially buying a half-worn ball joint because a weak spring will take half the time to wear out of spec.
Instead, we polished the ball stud after machining for smooth, low-friction operation. A before-and-after photo can be seen below.
I hope that this addresses some questions about our products. After 7 months of investigating the "other" designs out there, I have a lot of respect for the "gold standard" ball joint. It is a very nice piece - the only bad thing I can say about it is the price!
The main advantage of the "GS" ball joint is the ability to easily swap in different length ball studs. If you plan on playing around with many different length combinations, our ball joints are not for you. If you want to use a 0.5" extended length upper or lower ball joint, then our's are exactly what you need.
Power Performance has a 1,000,000 mile warranty against manufacturer's defects - and we receiving virtually 0 warranty claims each year.
We look forward to answering any questions or concerns that you all may have. Below are some product photos for you to review:
