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Hummer ball joint.

denata

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Got upper ball joints with ebay. With holes 5/16. But I need 3/8. I decided to drill.
I could not drill anything. Some kind of super durable case. Used 5 new cobalt drill. Drills checked with a metal analyzer "Oxford XMET8000"
Drills from steel R6M5K5 ( T11341). The analyzer did not determine the composition of the case joinball. Each time showed different values in the composition. 15-18% of titanium; 10-20% silicon; more than half of iron and other metals. He could not identify the alloy.
Blunted five new drills.
All that can be done is not a deep chamfer. What are they made of adamantium? Kryptonite?
How to drill them?
IMG_20200528_134129.jpgIMG_20200528_134155.jpgIMG-20200523-WA0006.jpeg".
 
Only thing I can think is a carbide cutter in a mill. Maybe a tapered carbide bur that has 3/8” maximum outside diameter and go through it SO SLOWLY with a lot of cutting fouid flowing nonstop.
 
I tried a tungsten carbide drill to drilling metal normally. Found a 10mm drill. But I need 9.5 mm (3/8). This is not the place where the clearance should be
 
That's weird. I do know that sometimes when a hole is already punched and a bit a few sizes bigger is used to enlarge the hole that it will take off the flutes as shown in the pic.
As suggested, a die grinder and a bit smaller than the hole and keep fitting until the right size is accomplished.
I done know what kind of material them things is made of. Might even be just a high grade of cast iron too ?
 
Are you aware the newer & stronger ball joints all use the 3/8” bolts? I had to drill my A-arms of my 95 to accept them.
What you have to have is some N.O.S. ball joints from pre 1997. They will work, But they are not going to last very long.
Buy MOOG problem solver next time.

Also do you have the reinforcement rings?
 
I thought everything military is very reliable.
Although Mercedes is more reliable than a Hummer.
 
The weight of the vehicle and it’s capabilities increased of the years. The 7k half shaft (cv axle assembly) from a 1984 hmmwv will not withstand the load of that from my 95 properly which is the 10.3k. It will work for a little while, but it will fail much sooner than the proper one will. When a half shaft fails, it doesn’t cause sudden loss of control or a crash.

If your ball joint fails while you are doing 50mph.... ??

I am guessing you bought them ebay or something where you can’t return them as the wrong part for your truck. If you can return them, do so. Otherwise you can try milling it open and running them, but there is no way I would expect to get 25,000 miles from them. They barely last that long with a stripped down hmmwv that weighs 3k less than your wagon. They upgraded them (used the larger bolts so people would not use them on heavier trucks like you are attempting) for a reason- the smaller ones just don’t hold up. I had one break while driving 20-25 mph.

I just want to make sure you know you are going to the outdated one. It will work a little while. Just dont push it or repairs to other components will get pricey.
 
Call to verify these are the “problem solver” ones from rock auto. Don’t bother with anything else. If not then Dave at hummerpartsguy.com is a good option. Also Kascar.com But do your price shopping because some things will be good and other stuff has gold weight pricing- aka hummertax.
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