Ball joint help.

[swamp rat]

Well i hope i didn't screw myself too bad here but..

Installing my knuckles on the yoke, here's the steps i took.

1)Tightened the top nut just enough to allow the bottom joint taper to seat so i could tighten the lower joint to 75 Ft lbs.
2)Backed off the upper nut and took it off.
3)Installed castle bushing and torqued it to 50 ft lbs.
4) Reinstall top ball joint nut and torque to 100 Ft lbs.

The knuckle turns smoothly but feels kinda tight, not a #25 pull with a fish scale for sure, so i decided to remove the top nut as i wanted to loosen and re seat the sleeve to see if that would loosen it up, unfortunately the sleeve castle head stripped on me, i think i wasn't fully seated on it when i tried to back it off.

so i have a couple choices:

1) leave it and try driving with it.
2) try and pickle fork it back off with the adjusting sleeve in place.

Sigh! What do you guys think i should do to fix this??

Did i torque the top nut too much?

I was following this PDF.
http://www2.dana.com/pdf/5310-3.pdf



EDIT: Hey i just found my fish scale, it pulls at 27# pulling pressure, that is pretty close but my old ball joints did pull way easier, will these ball joints loosen up a bit as i drive?

[swamp rat]

I did the other side, i got #26 pull on the fish scale.

Definitely way tighter than the old ones but they were real shot.

I'm sure i didn't have enough downward pressure on the spanner socket as i was sitting on the ground when i tried to loosen the first one.

Still wondering if i should pickle fork the first one off with the sleeve in place and reinstall with an old sleeve?

[kwmech]

Seeing as how you have stripped the top of the inside nut. I would personally pull it apart and replace now while you know that it can move before it gets rusted in place. You do not have to "pickle fork" it to remove. Loosen the bottom nut a few threads and leave it it connected, then lightly tap the top of the ball joint to break the taper. At that point, you should be able to unscrew the inside cone.


AND, do not worry about the 'fish scale' pull being a little different side to side. When you put the tires on and the weight of the vehicle it will change some and be ok

[swamp rat]

Originally Posted by kwmech

Seeing as how you have stripped the top of the inside nut. I would personally pull it apart and replace now while you know that it can move before it gets rusted in place. You do not have to "pickle fork" it to remove. Loosen the bottom nut a few threads and leave it it connected, then lightly tap the top of the ball joint to break the taper. At that point, you should be able to unscrew the inside cone.


AND, do not worry about the 'fish scale' pull being a little different side to side. When you put the tires on and the weight of the vehicle it will change some and be ok

Thanks for your reply!

When you say to loosen the bottom nut a couple threads and tap with a hammer are you referring to tapping the bottom one only? and in doing this the top one will free up as well?

I'm sure glad i save my old parts till the job is done!

[swamp rat]

Never mind my last post i got the knuckle off ok.

kwmech: I cant thank you enough for that reply as you probably saved me from having to buy new ball joints, i would have used the pickle fork for sure.

[swamp rat]

Just a thought, would it be advisable to use anti seize on the sleeve??

[argonaut]

Just be aware that torque torque values change for lubricated threads.
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[swamp rat]

Yea probably not a good idea.

My first time messing with ball joints so didn't know if using anti seize or grease was a norm or not. Thanks.

[kwmech]

I always put anti-seize on the internal sleeve threads.

[argonaut]

Yeah, lube is fine. it just usually drops the overall torque required, due to a decrease in friction on the threads. By no means am I saying not to do it, just to be aware.
I often use lubrication or anti-seize on threads as well.

[swamp rat]

Well, i'll keep that one in my knowledge base, but i went ahead and reinstalled the knuckle this morning without putting any anti seize in the threads. I just figured, if i ended up with a problem it would be within a year or so and any rust wouldn't be too bad by then, if no problem then the ball joints should last me till i croak. Thanks again

[swamp rat]

Oh, second time around took me about 5 minutes, once ya get past the first time concerns its pretty darned easy stuff.

[argonaut]

Glad it worked out.
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