I'm ready to replace the driver side control arms..
I took them to the machinist, and for $120.oo he pressed out the old bushings and pressed in the new ones. And the lower ball joint also..(The upper threads in and out, so I will do that one, once it's back on the van.
The van- 97 b2500 ram van. The book I copied from the library says 210 lbs for the Upper.and 175 lbs. for the Lower ..

Dose that sound right to you????

 

I tightened the Upper control arm on drivers side, to 210 ft. lbs. ..Fine-
Then I screw in the ball joint get ready to torque it to 75 ft lbs ,,and
It just keeps spinning....I must be striped!!!

SOoo now what do I do??? Of course I guess I'll have to buy another upper control arm,,,Moog has one for like $80.oo after taxes...
As soon as I'm sure that's what I need to do...I'll be calling them tomorrow..

Thanks for any help on this....I'm so tired of this van throwing me all these curves = I mean I go to use a trox 40 to adjust the transmission band on the drivers side out side the case,,and it's not a trox at all..It's a square drive...Had to use a 3/8's little open end wrench...and that made it impossible to use the inch lb torque wrench I bough just for this job!! Same on the inside band adjustment.....what a surprise...Oh well You got'a roll with it..

Thanks again...

 

Yes I believe that is correct.

 

The top ball joints should not spin since they are screwed in and when tightening the bolt it is the opposite direction of the ball joint threads.

 

Thanks people,,,I called Moog tech line...and they said the same...I ordered new control arms from Rock Auto,,I got two for the passenger side and one for the Upper driver side.
Rock Auto only changed me $13.oo for shipping, fed ex, 2 days...cause they all came form the same place..So I went for it...Now things are looking Up...

Anyone know where I can get money back form the moog parts I will not be using now?
I will end Up with ball joints and bushings for two control arm on the passenger side..

 

Doing what you're doing now is probably the better choice and you'll have the satisfaction of doing the work, minus the head ache fighting the ball joints.

When I did mine my plan was to do the ball joint replacement myself but found out quickly not having all the knowledge, experience and tools that it was less complicated and wiser to pay for the upper control arms with the pre-installed bj and bushing. the lowers I managed to get through except for the bushings, that'll be another day.

Originally bought my parts local in case I had to return them... which I did for the upper bjs , so was able get get a refund. truth be told I had returned the lowers ones too since the first one was no good after pressing it in... I upgraded those to the best napa had, not the lesser quality ones I had originally bought. Then bought the two problem solver upper control arms from rockauto ready to install and set up. I paid a bit more than originally anticipated and lost a few days waiting for parts but man what better choice!
You might put an ad on craigslist and hopefully get a chunk of your money back is about all I could suggest

 

JFloors- thanks for the reply, I finally found a ph/# for amazon customer ser. - talked with a cool dude from down in s. carolina, he took my infor. and he even sent me an e-mail postage for ups, Which the nice lade there taped to a box I put the 5 items into. And it was pre'paid .. Now I like that, amzon will only credit like 80% yet hey it's been a long time and I'm ok with that...
Actually I looking forward to installing the upper's myself, because I bought the 'expensive very large socket' 2- 9/64'' - I used it with a long piece of pipe(cheater bar) to get the old one out, and spin the new on till- hell freeze's over--
Hey does anyone want an Upper control arm with new bushing's ' AND A STRIPED OUT' ball joint threads???? free just pay for the shipping- more that it worth. Hell I could'nt even give this away..Which I will try to do, maybe I'll give it back to the machine shop, they might have some use for it-(scrap metal_)...
Well I've spent the extra $13.oo for a 5/8'' inside diameter clear tubing..and a couple hose clamps, And I disconnected the return line right next to the adjuster for the band- And tightened it put the other end in a bucket poured one gallon +one qt. into the fill/check tube...started the engine in Neutral and Walla'- out came about two quarts of ATF..and I shut it off..(cause it was expensive stuff, and it wasn't 'that' dark in the first place, ... I ended Up making a big mess, when I took off the atf' pan..and again when I did this, cause the tube wasn't tight enough, )(hell there's no room up in there..)..
SOoo after cleaning it Up as well as I can with rags..I will stand as a testament to my
Great mechanical skill's..(and the driveway has big long cracks in it anyway)... YOU KNOW,,all this seems SOOooo easy when your looking at someone else do it on U-TUBE....thanks for all your help people.....your the glue that holds humanity.
Hang'in by a thread....be well,, and be good, (an if you can't be good---BE CAREFUL))))