1993 F150 4WD. Mevotech lower ball joint, AC Delco upper. Just their low-end versions since this truck will be lucky to get 500 miles year.
I did the recommended torque procedure, 40 ft-lbs on lower, then 100 on upper, and then 110 on lower. Made sure everything was lining up well and camber bushing stayed in place. Greased them.
Knuckle seems way too tight. My first time trying to do ball joints on anything, so I don’t have a good frame of reference for normal. It does move, but requires a lot of effort (maybe 40-50lbs push/pull, two hands) to work through range of motion. Nut on lower ball joint is backing off as I turn move the knuckle back and forth like a built in ratchet despite being torqued to 110. I’m hoping it won’t do that with load and after theadlock sets up. So I guess my question is how tight is too tight?
It’s definitely the lower one that is causing the tightness, and I’m worried I damaged it during installation. The rubber boot on that one (mevotech) seemed permanently attached so I pressed it with the boot in place, which seemed to work but broke the boot loose in the process. The pressing cup was close but a little small to fit cleanly around the boot, so it may have put pressure in the wrong place.
I don’t know whether yank the lower mevotechs and order a different brand with a removable boot that allows the cup to fit right during the press or leave it and expect it to loosen up. Advice would be appreciated.
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If the nut is backing off because of house stuff it is, something is wrong. They can be tight when new but not that tight. Get some moog (problem solver) ball joints and go from there.