Ball Joint Help Needed

Hi All,
Late last fall I replaced an upper ball joint on the driver's side of my van. It was the original at 54000 miles. The replacement ball joint was a moog which came with a life time warranty. After replacing the ball joint I got a wheel alignment. The guy who did the alignment had a lot of trouble with that side. He loosened, pried and retightened the table on that side many times. I started noticing a single thud sound on heavy braking. At first I though it must have something to do with the table possibly being loose. The thud noise started to happen more often-- speed bumps, backing out of the driveway. Yesterday, I jack up the beast and was surprised to see the upper ball joint that I had recently replaced had lifted out of the table. The rubber seal had also ruptured. Before compressing the new ball joint into place, I spread some grease on the ribs. Should I have done that? What could have caused this problem? What should I check to rule out another problem that may have caused this?

Thanks,

I'm no expert when it comes to ball-joints. I usually just grease them when needed. I take it that your van is a B1500 since it only has the five lugs.

From the time you had the alignment until the thud sound, how long was that? a few months or days? Maybe it could be related, maybe not.

stev said : I'm no expert when it comes to ball-joints. I usually just grease them when needed. I take it that your van is a B1500 since it only has the five lugs.

My van is a 1500. I was surprised they would put the 5.9 in a light duty truck.

I put the ball joint in and got the alignment soon after. I noticed the thud about a week later. Has a ball joint lifted like this for anybody else? It was the first ball joint I had ever changed; although, my brother helped and he has done several. I need to go through my basement and find the box that the ball joint came in. When I picked it up, my local parts guy said he had two sizes listed for my truck. I can remember the difference in the two sizes as being very small, of course with a compression fitting it wouldn't take much. My parts guy was sure he had the correct size for my van, but it turned out that it was the only size he carried. I will post the size of the ball joint when I find the box. Meanwhile, my van is out of commission in the driveway. I have to run..Taking the kids to a show, by public transit.
Thanks,

How was this ball joint installed? I ask because the upper ball joints are threaded in, not press-fit. If this ball joint was forced in, it may have stripped the threads and now the ball joint is coming out. If this is the case, you'll need to replace the upper control arm and get a new ball joint.

Thanks for responding.
We used a compression tool. I am including a picture of the original ball joint. Maybe someone can identify if it is a compression fit or threaded. I have never seen the two for comparison. If it is threaded, I've got some work ahead of me. The replacement part that I used was Moog K778. Can anybody tell me if that was the correct one. How much am I looking at if I have to change the upper control arm and what would the difficulty level be. If it is threaded, what kind of tool do you use?
Thanks again,

Yep that is threaded, not press-fit. It looks like you have some work ahead of you. This only goes for the upper ball joints, the lowers are pressed in. That's the correct ball joint too..K778

There is a special socket available to do just this job which should be available to rent or buy at your local parts store

The actual removal of the upper control arm isn't that hard, but just remember that coil spring is under tension so you want to keep a jack under the lower control arm. Once you finish, you will need an alignment.

Thank You for getting back to me!
I will be busy this weekend. I will keep you posted on how it is going and post a couple of pictures along the way.

Randy

Yes pictures.. thanks!

I got a job ahead me on my van in a few weeks. I gotta pull the intake to fix some oil leaks and a blown plenum gasket. Ack!!

Would you believe the dealership wants 620$ plus tax for an upper control arm. A piece of metal!$#@% I bought a used one over the phone from Iowa. The part including shipping to NY state = 35$. My brother brought it up to me in Montreal and I am ready to go. Hopefully it goes smoothly. I have allready taken the old control arm off. The hard part is going to be getting the ball joint out of the used control arm. I will keep you posted.

Randy

I would just buy an new ball joint. The threads on that could be damaged as well.

$620??? Geez! Check the bushings in the used arm and make sure they are in good shape.

Hi
I am replacing the ball joint at the same time. I put on a moog. A lot of people have endorsed that brand. I had a terrible time getting the ball joint out of the scrap-yard control arm. Finally, I had to grind the top lip off and pop out the insides. This allowed me to use a hack saw. I made a few cuts to the inside of the ball joint and peeled it out. Nobody said it would be easy. Tonight I will torque everything to specs and finish with a wheel alignment.

To anyone changing a ball joint. If the ball joint has a hexagonal head-- torque; do not press!thks,
Randy

Last night I finished putting it back together. A couple of things that I noticed. My brakes are dangerously soft. Much softer than before the repair. Also, I have a loud buzz/squeal sound at idol and gets louder with acceleration. The van hasn't been run in a month. Since it was late and dark I decided to call it a night. Hopefully, these things will turn out to be minor.

As far as the control arm replacement goes-- the vehicle is tracking strait (some good news).

While I was under the van, I decided to service all of the grease nipples. The nipple on the other upper ball joint would not except any grease. I am going to see if I can free up the pin in the nipple. Worst comes to worst, I will have to change the nipple.

I have a road trip to the East coast coming up with my two kids and pregnant wife. The last thing I want to do is question the health of my Dodge. I would rather concentrate on finding the best fishing spot.

Cheers!
Randy

The squeal could just be the belt or some rust build-up on the pulleys.

I know this is an old topic but it's only now that I am messin' with the ball joints on my '85 B350. I'd like to comment on the pic of the old BJ in post #5. When I first looked at it, I thought that since the BJ had been pressed out (instead of unscrewed) the threads were sheared away or flattened like that by the control arm....but that is not the case. The new ones I have bought also have the threads that are very flat and don't look quite right. I wonder why these threads are so shallow?

The threads are shallow since the thickness of the control-arm wouldn't allow deep threads.... The control-arm is stamped (pressed) from a sheet of steel and would need th be about twice as thick to support coventional threading.

Well, haven't done one yet...sure hope it's not easy to cross-thread.

Hi All, just found your site!

Those upper ball joints can be pipe wrenched in and out in a pinch. If you live in Canada as I do, you cannot just run down to the local parts store and borrow a socket for them (they say what, huh??). But, you can easily make one if you can weld. Take a new ball joint and hold it tightly in a vise then get a 1/4 X 1/2"(or 3/4") steel strip and bend it to the form of that modified hex. shape with the help of a hammer. Clamp it tightly in place and weld the butt ends of that strip. Next weld it to a 2" length of 2" pipe and weld a plate over the other end. Drill and file a 1/2" square hole in that strip and you have your socket. You can even paint if you like. After doing the pipe wrench act a few times I made sockets to fit my trucks and the Volares (smaller) that I once had. They may look a bit crude, but they definitely work..........never been let down by them yet. And, no it is not easy to cross thread, the first couple of turns can be done by hand if you clean everything thoroughly. It really is an easy job, don't be intimidated.

PS the picture of the threads in post #5 show the normal shallow threads.

Yeah, those large sockets are pricey. I ended up making one out of some 1/4" aluminum plate by stacking, drilling and filing. I was in the boonies out in Oregon and didn't have access to a welder (and going cheapo, of course)...

I still haven't replaced 'em yet 'cause I'm staying on the interstates and a smooth ride until I get home.

That must have been a lot of filing, but I bet you ended up with a really good product. We do what we have to do!

Originally Posted by lilredex

Hi All, just found your site!

Those upper ball joints can be pipe wrenched in and out in a pinch. If you live in Canada as I do, you cannot just run down to the local parts store and borrow a socket for them (they say what, huh??). But, you can easily make one if you can weld. Take a new ball joint and hold it tightly in a vise then get a 1/4 X 1/2"(or 3/4") steel strip and bend it to the form of that modified hex. shape with the help of a hammer. Clamp it tightly in place and weld the butt ends of that strip. Next weld it to a 2" length of 2" pipe and weld a plate over the other end. Drill and file a 1/2" square hole in that strip and you have your socket. You can even paint if you like. After doing the pipe wrench act a few times I made sockets to fit my trucks and the Volares (smaller) that I once had. They may look a bit crude, but they definitely work..........never been let down by them yet. And, no it is not easy to cross thread, the first couple of turns can be done by hand if you clean everything thoroughly. It really is an easy job, don't be intimidated.

PS the picture of the threads in post #5 show the normal shallow threads.

Photo added