The 1947 - Present Chevrolet & GMC Truck Message Board Network







Register or Log In To remove these advertisements.

Go Back   The 1947 - Present Chevrolet & GMC Truck Message Board Network > 47 - Current classic GM Trucks > The 1967 - 1972 Chevrolet & GMC Pickups Message Board

Web 67-72chevytrucks.com


Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 07-16-2023, 10:27 PM   #1
brandster
Registered User
 
Join Date: Feb 2016
Location: Texas
Posts: 52
Castle nut on upper ball joint

I bought a cheap-o upper ball joint (for 72 C10 suspension K6124 ball joint) and the castle nut has way to much solid part before you get to the gaps in the nut, so could not get the cotter pin in before nut was to far in. Does anyone happen to have a picture of the castle nut that comes with a better brand (Moog K6124 upper)? Thanks.
Attached Images
 

Last edited by brandster; 07-17-2023 at 10:04 AM.
brandster is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-16-2023, 11:34 PM   #2
Chevy nutcase
Registered User
 
Chevy nutcase's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2021
Location: Hershey Pennsylvania
Posts: 330
Re: Castle nut on upper ball joint

Quote:
Originally Posted by brandster View Post
I bought a cheap-o upper ball joint (for 72 C10 suspension K6124 ball joint) and the castle nut has way to much solid part before you get to the gaps in the nut, so could not get the cotter pin in before nut was to far in. Does anyone happen to have a picture of the castle nut that comes with a better brand (Moog K6124 upper)? Thanks.
Is the new ball joint fully seated? Most ball joints I've used, if not all have had threads extending well past the end of the nut much like the lower ball joint I see I'm the pic
Chevy nutcase is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-17-2023, 09:42 AM   #3
brandster
Registered User
 
Join Date: Feb 2016
Location: Texas
Posts: 52
Re: Castle nut on upper ball joint

Quote:
Originally Posted by Chevy nutcase View Post
Is the new ball joint fully seated? Most ball joints I've used, if not all have had threads extending well past the end of the nut much like the lower ball joint I see I'm the pic
Yes, it is fully seated. It just seems like the castle nut is taller (at least by an 8th of an inch) than other upper ball joint castle nuts, but I don't have my original ball joints/castle nuts to compare too, so I was curious to see the size of other upper ball joint castle nuts.

Last edited by brandster; 07-17-2023 at 09:55 AM.
brandster is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-17-2023, 10:44 AM   #4
Sheepdip
Senior Member
 
Sheepdip's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2018
Location: Waterford California
Posts: 2,422
Re: Castle nut on upper ball joint

https://www.mcmaster.com/products/ca.../nut-type~hex/
Sheepdip is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-17-2023, 10:58 AM   #5
Ironangel
Senior Member
 
Ironangel's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Falls City, Nebraska "100 Miles From Nowhere"
Posts: 2,219
Re: Castle nut on upper ball joint

This is the Moog-K6124 It appears to have a thinner nut but you really cant rely on these pics. I have ran into this problem before and simply ran a drill bit through the semi-open hole once tightened. Orient the hole where you can ream it and install the cotter pin. It should be fine...
Attached Images
 
__________________
Michael of the clan Hill,
"Two Seventy Two's"
71 1-ton Dually 350 4-Speed
71 C/50 Grain Truck, 350 Split-Axle 4-Speed
02 3/4 ton Express
14 Indian Chief Vintage
1952 Ford 8N, "Only Ford Allowed On The Property"
"Be American, Buy American"
Ironangel is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-17-2023, 11:04 AM   #6
Accelo
Senior Member
 
Accelo's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2015
Location: washington
Posts: 2,198
Re: Castle nut on upper ball joint

Grind or file some metal off the bottom of the nut. (May to too hard for a file) Then run a tap through the nut. If you don't have a tap start the nut upside down and the ball joint stud should repair the thread start enough to get it started.
Accelo is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-17-2023, 11:04 AM   #7
brandster
Registered User
 
Join Date: Feb 2016
Location: Texas
Posts: 52
Re: Castle nut on upper ball joint

Ok, thanks for the info guys. It is hard to tell by illustration pictures (if its the actual model number show) in product pictures, so thats why I was curious if anyone had an actual picture of their upper ball joint castle nut on a 72 C10. I went ahead and ordered moog upper ball joints like I should have to begin with, hopefully that fixes the issue. The cheap route isn't always the cheap route!
brandster is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-17-2023, 02:26 PM   #8
Rust_never_sleeps
Senior Member
 
Rust_never_sleeps's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2022
Location: San Ramon,CA
Posts: 449
Re: Castle nut on upper ball joint

Agree that ball joint don't look right, I fear you're solving the wrong problem here.
What did you mean by: "could not get the cotter pin in before nut was to far in"

Cheapy generics I got with CPP kit and I could put another nut on the open threads
Attached Images
 
Rust_never_sleeps is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-17-2023, 02:35 PM   #9
brandster
Registered User
 
Join Date: Feb 2016
Location: Texas
Posts: 52
Re: Castle nut on upper ball joint

Quote:
Originally Posted by Rust_never_sleeps View Post
Agree that ball joint don't look right, I fear you're solving the wrong problem here.
What did you mean by: "could not get the cotter pin in before nut was to far in"

Cheapy generics I got with CPP kit and I could put another nut on the open threads
My Castle nut is twice as tall as the castle nut you have on your upper ball joint. Thats the problem im referring to. Other upper ball joint castle nuts seem to be shorter.
brandster is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-17-2023, 03:02 PM   #10
Rust_never_sleeps
Senior Member
 
Rust_never_sleeps's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2022
Location: San Ramon,CA
Posts: 449
Re: Castle nut on upper ball joint

and all other ball joints come with longer studs too?
Rust_never_sleeps is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-17-2023, 04:48 PM   #11
Accelo
Senior Member
 
Accelo's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2015
Location: washington
Posts: 2,198
Re: Castle nut on upper ball joint

I have ran into this issue before. Sometimes the cotter sits on top the nut and sometimes it seems not to go on far enough. When it's to low I add washers. Too high and I grind the nut. In the old days they had standards. Now it's anything goes as long is it costs less. Of course it's possible you have a taper that doesn't match the spindle. It has to come apart to inspect for that scenario.
Accelo is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-19-2023, 03:38 PM   #12
TheRocket
Registered User
 
Join Date: Mar 2016
Location: Goodwell, OK
Posts: 63
Re: Castle nut on upper ball joint

You could do what my old mechanic did and weld that castle nut on there. Speaking to other mechanics, this guy is famous for welding all kinds of crap that shouldn't be welded.
TheRocket is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-19-2023, 04:55 PM   #13
Steeveedee
Who Changed This?
 
Steeveedee's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: Simi Valley, CA
Posts: 10,218
Re: Castle nut on upper ball joint

Quote:
Originally Posted by TheRocket View Post
You could do what my old mechanic did and weld that castle nut on there. Speaking to other mechanics, this guy is famous for welding all kinds of crap that shouldn't be welded.
I guess he didn't care if it came back for repeat business? Just making extra work for someone else. My ex- brother-in-law did stuff like that.
__________________
~Steven

'70 Chevy 3/4T Longhorn CST 402/400/3.56 Custom Camper

Simi Valley, CA
Steeveedee is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-19-2023, 10:08 PM   #14
Getter-Done
Senior Member
 
Getter-Done's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: TN.
Posts: 7,861
Re: Castle nut on upper ball joint

Quote:
Originally Posted by Steeveedee View Post
I guess he didn't care if it came back for repeat business? Just making extra work for someone else. My ex- brother-in-law did stuff like that.
Yes This

I work with a bunch of Hammer and Chisel (So Called Mechanics)
__________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________
84 Chevy K-20
63 Impala (my high school car)

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...Crew Cab Build
Getter-Done is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-20-2023, 12:27 AM   #15
Rust_never_sleeps
Senior Member
 
Rust_never_sleeps's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2022
Location: San Ramon,CA
Posts: 449
Re: Castle nut on upper ball joint

Quote:
Originally Posted by TheRocket View Post
You could do what my old mechanic did and weld that castle nut on there. Speaking to other mechanics, this guy is famous for welding all kinds of crap that shouldn't be welded.
Rivian uses threadlocker, and they only work loose some of the time ;-)
Rust_never_sleeps is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-20-2023, 07:03 AM   #16
hewittca
Registered User
 
hewittca's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2014
Location: Mocksville, NC
Posts: 1,741
Re: Castle nut on upper ball joint

For your reference, here is a picture of my ball joints installed. I used the Mevotech 6124 ball joint from Rock Auto. I do recall having a hard time getting the cotter pin in, but it did eventually go through without any modification. My thought at the time was that the drop spindle I had was thicker than the stock spindle, but I never actually measured it. It does appear that the stud is shorter on these than on some of the other photos posted here.

__________________
Builds: Green Gus the 68 C10 ; Sullii the 72 1500
-
Instagram: @dr.hewitt
-
C10 Concept/Development Photos: Master Thread
hewittca is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-20-2023, 09:09 AM   #17
jnewt
Registered User
 
Join Date: May 2022
Location: Muskogee, Ok
Posts: 17
Re: Castle nut on upper ball joint

Here s a pic of a Moog K6124 on my bench along with a pic of the upper current on my 72. The nut your new Moog K6124 will come with should be thinner than that nut you were working with originally.

Not sure why the pics will not display. They do on my phone. Im new lol. You should be set when you get the Moog though.




Last edited by jnewt; 07-20-2023 at 09:27 AM.
jnewt is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-20-2023, 09:27 AM   #18
brandster
Registered User
 
Join Date: Feb 2016
Location: Texas
Posts: 52
Re: Castle nut on upper ball joint

Thanks for all of the pictures. I did order and install the Moog K6124, worked out great with no issues.
brandster is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Bookmarks


Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -4. The time now is 01:42 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
Copyright 1997-2022 67-72chevytrucks.com