Please please help, ball joints...

[kyman]

Ok so I asked about what ball joints I had in an earlier post. I was just now able to get time to get them out. I have a 67 c10. 8t has 5 lug discs on the front. Now here's the problem, it has the 67 control arms on it (best I can tell), but also has the 67 upper ball joints on it. They are a perfect match for the pics that Napa has on its in store computer. But that's not possible is it? I have zero idea what spindles are on the truck. Here's where I'm also stumped. Went to have front aligned, guy said uppers were toast, be careful driving home as he was afraid they would pop out of the socket. Well I get them apart, besides a blown boot, don't look too bad. Could the movement he was seeing be because the ball joints didn't fit correctly? What am I supposed to do now? Thank you guys for the help!

[ChevLoRay]

I have Early Classic Enterprises 6-lug disc conversion on my '69. I could have had 5-lug rotors, but didn't want to haul two spares. There are others who make the conversion kids and ECE designed their spindles to work with OEM control arms and ball joints. The upper ball joints are a bolt-in. The lowers have to be pressed out/in. Hopefully, they haven't been replaced and then tacked in place because the seat had wallowed out. My vote is to just get the OEM type parts and put them in.

[kyman]

I have the uppers out. They are bolt in and look to be exact replicas of the pic napa has of the 67....I have to order whatever i get, so I don't wanna keep getting g the wrong parts..lol

[PGSigns]

Cant really go by the pictures. The ball joints from all these trucks look very much the same but the taper on the shaft is not the same. From the pictures you would never be able to tell. Post some pictures of your spindles. That may help ID them. You may find you need the 73 to 87 upper ball joint with the bigger taper so it will seat correctly in the spindle.
Jimmy

[chevy_mike]

Are the spindles stock height or dropped? If stock height, likely a 99% chance they are factory '73-'87 spindles and you need ball joints to match them. If dropped, you likely will need to take the spindles into the store and test fit the different years to find the right ones.

To tell if stock height, the axle pin will be near the bottom of the spindle casting. If dropped, the pin will be close to center in the casting.

[kyman]

I'm not positive, but fairly certain they are stock height. I'm gonna pull the rotor to see if I can find any markings. Only problem is, I have an 85 truck and these ball joints don't look like those. This is so aggrivating, I'm about to.go buy some stock 73-87 spindles and just be done with it. If I go that route, I just need both ball joints right?

[chevy_mike]

If you are using stock '67 steering, you'll have to mess with the inner and outer tie rods and get a conversion tie rod connector as well.

In this day and age, you can buy stock height and dropped spindles for the correct year of your truck. No need to piece all these different years together. You can buy '67 correct spindles and then buy all your other parts for a '67. It makes it a lot easier when you (or a future owner) has to buy parts.

Also, your '85 truck could be a Light Duty model, which has different spindles and brakes. They could be using different ball joints too.

[kyman]

If I point the gun, would u pull the trigger?...haha First thing I'm gonna do is go home and remove the rotor and look for part numbers. I have a feeling someone put 85ish spindles on here and reused the stock ball joints. I know it's not right, but it bolted up so they went with it. I have a race car and a ton of other toys, I don't need anything that's gonna cost me a ton of money. I just need it to be reliable and not be stuck on my lift for a few more weeks....lol

[raggedjim]

Unless you have a really jerry-rigged setup it is going to be one of these at Autozone

71-72 - FA683 - $23 (would have to be ordered or transferred from another store)
73-85 - FA903 - $28 (in stock at Murray store, you can pickup there or have transferred to a Paducah store)

buy one of each, return the one that doesn't fit and trade it for the right one.

Or buy the FA903 (since they have it in Murray) and try it. If it fits, great! If not return and order the FA683.

Easy.

Rg

[kyman]

Thanks man. I will actually be in murray tomorrow. I'll take the old one with me. What part of the ball joint am I measuring? My b-i-l works at napa and snapped a pic of a 85 bj today and it looks nothing like mine. I'm gonna go bother the hell out of someone. I can see that now...lol

[chevy_mike]

Sounds like your truck suffers from POS... Previous Owners Syndrome

[kyman]

Man it does! I redid a large portion of the truck 9 years ago and just now got it back. I just hope all the slop is from the ball joints and not from wrong parts.