1969 Chevy C10 Stepside upper ball joint

[REDROCKER652002]

OK Guys, I feel like a fool because this should not be a difficult thing. My son, 18 yo, took his truck to get the front end aligned. Dude at the shop said the upper ball joints were bad and needed replacement. So, he decided he wanted to do it himself. Not a bad thing by any stretch. He goes, gets a pickle fork, gets the ball joints from a parts house local. He gets the old one off, no real issue. When he puts the new ball joint in, the castle nut will not screw down far enough to get the cotter key in the hole. He gets a box wrench and puts as much pressure as he can and the nut won't go any farther. So, my question is two fold. Number 1, the rubber boot, does it separate and go under the control arm? And my second question, do I need a impact wrench and socket to somewhat press the knuckle back onto the shaft of the ball joint? My thinking is that the darn thing needed to be pounded off, so maybe it needs a bit more torque to get back on than my son can provide himself.

And, I have searched this and I have not seen the answer, but maybe i am just a bit lame. LOL.

Anyway, I am going to try and let him figure it out, but if I can get some input I would appreciate it.

Thanks

RR

[Truckenrc]

Sounds like a sweet truck, i have a 69 c10 that i just replaced the upper ball joints in about 2 weeks ago. I had the same trouble you had and use a floor jack to raise the control arm up so that the ball joint would seed all the way into the upper control arm. And then i used a torq wrench to tighten the nut far enough down to get the pin in. This probably isnt the right way to do this but without a lift and doing this on my own at 17 it worked. Hope this helps, im sure that a impact would tighten it down.

[GASoline71]

Was the old ball joint original to the truck? The way you can tell is the upper ball joints are riveted in from the factory. To install a new one you have to grind the rivet heads off and punch them out. Replacement ball joints will come with a set of 4 bolts with washers and nuts to secure the new ball joint to the UCA.

Also, is the truck lowered with drop spindles or anything like that? Some drop spindles (and some aftermarket stock height) use a later model ball joint. A lot can be changed on these old trucks after 40+ years of different owners.

Gary

[REDROCKER652002]

Originally Posted by GASoline71

Was the old ball joint original to the truck? The way you can tell is the upper ball joints are riveted in from the factory. To install a new one you have to grind the rivet heads off and punch them out. Replacement ball joints will come with a set of 4 bolts with washers and nuts to secure the new ball joint to the UCA.

Also, is the truck lowered with drop spindles or anything like that? Some drop spindles (and some aftermarket stock height) use a later model ball joint. A lot can be changed on these old trucks after 40+ years of different owners.

Gary

The ball joint that was in it is a new ball joint, it was bolted to the control arm, not riveted. As far as the spindle, I have no idea. The truck looks to have been dropped, but not sure if that is the spindle or just lower springs. This truck came to us with no paperwork, so we have been trying to piece it together as we go. I will have my son look and see if there is a casting number on the spindle to see. But I seem to remember we found a GM number when we were fighting with the disc brakes and what I needed to replace them.

Thanks to all who replied. Appreciate the info RR

[Andy4639]

It's a 69 year truck right? It has disc brakes on it right? So it may have a 71-72 clip under it. What year did he get the ball joints for 69 are????

I would say you have the wrong ball joint. Go get one for a 71 and 72 model with disc brakes. They maybe the same part number I'm not sure. You may even have a 73 up ball joint depending on what brakes they used.

[REDROCKER652002]

Originally Posted by Andy4639

It's a 69 year truck right? It has disc brakes on it right? So it may have a 71-72 clip under it. What year did he get the ball joints for 69 are????

I would say you have the wrong ball joint. Go get one for a 71 and 72 model with disc brakes. They maybe the same part number I'm not sure. You may even have a 73 up ball joint depending on what brakes they used.

Thanks for the info. I know the rotor and caliper are off a 70's truck, i have it written down at home. Never thought to check. But for some reason, I think the spindle is original, but I will look.

But, since he had to pound it out to separate the A arm from the knuckle it would stand to reason that he would need to have some pressure to get it back together? Not trying to be an ass, just a question. I am at work, so I will check and have him go get a 70's ball joint and see if they are the same part.

Once again, thanks for the info, good stuff. RR

*Edit I went to the store website where he bought the ball joint, there are two different part numbers for 1969 and 1971 uppers. So, it may be that he has the wrong one. I will do a bit more when I am off work and can get into it. Stay tuned, nothing on this truck is easy. Thanks to all RR

[volksworld]

the design of the taper fit of the ball joint locks it into the taper of the spindle and therefore needs force to pop it out...but actually needs very little force to lock it in....if the ball joint isnt going in all the way you have the wrong ball joint...take it out and measure it compared to the old one...parts stores are far from perfect...you could have the wrong year ball joint in the correct year box...try a different store and different brand and bring the old one with you

[Ol Blue K20]

I think you have a wrong ball joint. It shouldn't take a lot of pressure to seat in the spindle.

[Andy4639]

Originally Posted by REDROCKER652002

Thanks for the info. I know the rotor and caliper are off a 70's truck, i have it written down at home. Thanks to all RR

If they are then it's very possible he got the wrong ball joint. Disc brakes didn't start until 71 on these trucks. If he got the ball joint for non disc brakes then it's not going to work.
Most people use 73 and up front clips to swap out for the disc brakes.

[ga-stepside]

I went through this a while back. Here are the specs for the early vs. late ball joints. I called Moog tech support (800-325-8886) to get dimensions on the upper ball joint shaft. The difference in the 67 and 71 is the small end of the taper on a 67 upper (6024) is .588 and the 71 (6124) is .551. The big ends are the same .702.

[REDROCKER652002]

Thanks guys. Going to try and get back into this over the weekend. I did something stupid, I got a breaker bar and tried to press the joint in using the castle nut and the breaker bar. Stripped the damn threads, so now I have to figure out how in the heck I am going to get that out. LOL.

I think the 71 to 72 may be the trick, as the rotor is off a 72. But I did find a casting number or two on the spindle. I did a quick google search and came up with nothing, but hoping one of you guys might help

The numbers I found are: RH32 6274204 or RH82 6274204 or RH52 6274204

Any help with these numbers would be awessome. I know RH means right hand lol

[REDROCKER652002]

A happy ending to this problem. After wrenching my back to grind off the old nut for the ball joint I stripped, my son went and got ones for a 71 and 72 (part number is the same for both years). They slipped in with no problem. We lined up the stud to the hole in the knuckle, raised the floor jack to raise the knuckle and bam, went right in. Plenty of room on the stud to tighten the castle nut and install the cotter key.

So, 20 bucks and a jacked up back, but now we know it is a 71 or 72 front end for the most part.

Next up, the Rag Joint. Eventually he is going to have to either reseal the steering box or get a new one. I am hopeful he will try and reseal his old one to get the experience, but we shall see.

He now starts a part time job at Oreilly's auto parts down the street. So, hopefully some of this stuff will start coming with discounts. LOL..

Thanks to all who added info to this thread. It was all very appreciated.

RR

[yuccales]

Originally Posted by REDROCKER652002

He now starts a part time job at Oreilly's auto parts down the street. So, hopefully some of this stuff will start coming with discounts. LOL..

So what you are saying is his paychecks are going to be small till the truck is done! Glad you two got the truck squared away. Tell your son good luck with the new job.

[REDROCKER652002]

Originally Posted by yuccales

So what you are saying is his paychecks are going to be small till the truck is done! Glad you two got the truck squared away. Tell your son good luck with the new job.

LOL. Means hopefully Dad is done paying for a while. But thanks, it has been fun so far. Learning as we go, but that is why we bought it in the first place.

RR