Upper BJ tightness ('moog)

[1969383S]

Any new ball joint will be loose. Lemmie splain why. When the control arms were factory new, they had no threads. The original ball joints are self threading and cut their own threads, just like aftermarket replacements. So, they will never be as tight as the originals. I would tighten them as tight as I was comfortable with and then buzz 4 spot welds in a cross pattern and call it done.

While I mostly disagree with this reply! It certainly helps to spot weld in 1 place!

I was able to achieve very good torque on used arms sourced here on this site.

My originals had been tacked in one spot! and the force required to remove them was ludicrous! Only then did I notice the tack weld!

 

[Mopar Momzee]

I welded some in no problem, it’s good practice.

 

[harrisonm]

Im shocked how many of you guys are welding these. Seems like moog could make them 1/64 fatter if this is a known issue. I will prob weld them but just saying

You gotta do what you gotta do!

You're assuming this is the second set of ball joints those arms have ever seen. They might be on the tenth set if a previous owner had Chinese trash with a lifetime warranty.

Mine torqued up fine but the only reason I didn't weld em was a lack of welder. I'd weld em no matter what.

Totally true. Plus, someone might have tried to press them in at one time.

The ball joint you bought says it presses in?

When I got out of the Air Force in 93, I worked at a car parts/tires/service store called Western Auto for 5 years while I went back to school. I was at work one night and a guy came in complaining that we sold him some bad ball joints that ruined his control arms, and he wanted a refund AND for us to pay for having a mechanic fix his car. I overheard it all. The new/young assistant manager was just about to agree to this when I stepped in. He had a Dart; I don't remember the year. I told him I was the manager on duty and asked him what the problem was. He proceeded to tell me that he paid to have the new ball joints pressed into his UCAs, they were both loose and the UCAs were destroyed. You should have seen the look on his face when I told him they screwed in with very find threads. He didn't believe me, so I got one off the shelf and showed him. To his credit, he took it like a man and left peacefully. I suggested he have them tack welded in, and he thanked me.

 

[brian6pac]

What is the difference in the one you took out vs the new moog, is it .22", that is almost a 1/4". 54mm = 2.125, so yea 2.125 - 1.900 = .225" so that ball joint should fall through the hole in the control arm.

 

[cookietruck]

What is the difference in the one you took out vs the new moog, is it .22", that is almost a 1/4". 54mm = 2.125, so yea 2.125 - 1.900 = .225" so that ball joint should fall through the hole in the control arm.

he wasn't comparing the same application for ball joints, one was thread-in while the other was press-in...

on installing the new balljoints, the threads are already cut from the originals, thread in the new ones until they are as tight as makes you comfortable. if you need peace of mind then do the tack weld thing. done.

 

[brian6pac]

While I mostly disagree with this reply! It certainly helps to spot weld in 1 place!

I was able to achieve very good torque on used arms sourced here on this site.

My originals had been tacked in one spot! and the force required to remove them was ludicrous! Only then did I notice the tack weld!

Back in the 70's and 80's when I worked in the front end shop I had changes 100's of ball joints, we had a short 1" impact wrench that would fit in the fender well and we would not have to cut the weld first, it just ripped a small piece out of the control arm lip for the ball joint, that is when you knew it was welded.

We would just put a new joint back in and reweld it, never had a problem.

 

[cudamark]

Do the ball joints spin in the control arm, or, just thread in easier than you like? Will they hold the torque spec? If neither new ball joint will hold torque, I'd just tack weld them too, like the others have mentioned. I've dealt with hundreds of control arm over the years and haven't seen a problem with ones tack welded.....usually needed because of the joint being pressed in by the ignorant.