what's up with my ball joints?!

[iniviate]

i'm running the solid steel a-arm k member with 88 knuckles.

there is about 1/8" of slop between the a-arm and the knuckle. the pinch bolts are the factory 88 bolts.

are my balljoints just worn? (the shaft that goes into the knuckle doesn't appear to be worn and they're still tight)

i guess what i'm asking is.... before i go out and buy new ball joints, the 88 knuckle is compatable with the 89+ k-member, right?

Thanks. :D

[MiniMopar]

By solid steel do you mean stamped steel or cast? In any case, I've had '92 ball joints in 86 and 89 knuckles.

[iniviate]

if i remember correctly.... there's stamped steel, cast steel, and cast aluminum?

if that's the options... i have the cast steel.

either way, thanks... look like i'm doing ball joints.

[MiniMopar]

For K-based cars, it's:

<=1988 = stamped stub/strut control arms.
1989 = stamped dual pivot control arms.
>=1990 = cast dual pivot control arms.

[iniviate]

doh... my bad. mine are 90+ then... as they're not stamped.

[turbovanman]

91 and up are cast as in solid and there heavy lol!

Lift up the car and grab the wheel top to botto, give it a shake and look at the ball joint, if it moves, junk. Also move it side to side, any movement-junk. Sometimes you will have to put a jack stand under the CA's to simulate ride height.

Buy only Napa Gold or Spicer, Moog are junk.

[iniviate]

you can shake the tires all you want, they won't move. jacked up, under pressure, etc. the "stud" on the balljoint is tight and hard to move by hand.

if you stand on the bumper and jump, you will notice the LCA move up just slightly at full compression, then drop back just slightly as it comes up from full compression. both times making a loud clunk.

it's more like the half moon on the stud of the ball joint is too big, or the pinch bolt diameter isn't big enough. even though a larger bolt couldn't fit in the knuckle.

[turbovanman]

you can shake the tires all you want, they won't move. jacked up, under pressure, etc. the "stud" on the balljoint is tight and hard to move by hand.

if you stand on the bumper and jump, you will notice the LCA move up just slightly at full compression, then drop back just slightly as it comes up from full compression. both times making a loud clunk.

it's more like the half moon on the stud of the ball joint is too big, or the pinch bolt diameter isn't big enough. even though a larger bolt couldn't fit in the knuckle.


The ball joints are different from cast to stamped so be wary of that.

[MiniMopar]

Yeah, are you sure the ball joints aren't sliding in the arm itself?

[iniviate]

yes... that's exactly what it looks to be doing.

what do i do to correct that? .... i need to switch to 91+ knuckles?

[MiniMopar]

No, it's the seat for the ball joint in the arm, not the knuckle. The depth of the hole that the joint presses into is deeper on the stamped arms and it is also tacked-in. The new joints come with a snap ring to hold it in. The ring groove is supposed to be positioned so that the tapered ring sort of wedges in there. I have done a few of them and sometimes there is a gap and sometimes I can't quite get the snap ring in. I think the cast arms are a more inconsistent this way, since they are cast.

If you were to put a stamped arm joint into a cast arm, it would have a lot of room to move. I'm not sure if the joint's OD is the same, so I don't know if it is possible to make that mistake.

[turbovanman]

I haven't checked this but apparently, the cutout for the pinch bolt is larger on the 91 and up ones. This does make sense as the bolt is larger in diameter than the 90 and older bolts.