Hi, this is my first time posting here in a while, but last week I decided to change out all of my ball joints on my 1996 Dakota 4WD, because one of them was starting to squeak and I figured why not do all of them. I ordered all four Mevotech brand ball joints from RockAuto, and the lower ball joints pressed in just fine, but the upper ones wouldn't thread in. The old ball joints threaded in and out just fine. I even swapped both of the old ones and they threaded in fine, too. Neither of the new ball joints fit in either of the control arms. I figured it was just a manufacturing defect, and returned just the upper ones and got two Moog ball joints instead. Same story. Am I just getting really unlucky? Or is it possible that my upper control arms are bad? But if that's the case, why do the old ones fit fine? And what are the odds that both control arms have the same issue? Does anyone know what might be the case, or if there's a certain brand I should get? Thanks.

 

What are the part numbers on the ones you got? Could they be for the wrong year?

 

The Mevotech ones had a part number of MK778, and the Moog ones were K778. I didn't notice that they had the same numbers like that, maybe there's some relationship there? I got the mevotech ones from RockAuto, and the moogs from my local auto parts store, so I'd hope that the year wouldn't be wrong twice.

 

Ok, that's the same part number I come up with..... (for the moog anyway.) Are they too big? Too small? Wrong threads?

 

Alright. They're too small, and essentially slide right into the control arm with the threads hardly engaging. Old ones fit tight and thread in just fine.

 

Well that's really bizarre..... Have a micrometer large enough to measure the diameter, and compare the new with the old?

 

Ok, dug a little deeper. The 778 seems to be for 2wd. I come up with K772 for a 4x4?

 

Where do you come up with that K772?

The official parts list shows a Mopar 2808394 for both uppers.

This may also explain why some are having to weld their upper ball joints in ...

To cc.5 - Maybe try a Proforged? Moog ain't what it used to be; could be that you've run into a bad part design for current production.

Proforged number is 10110127 , and they're about $28.79 each as I type this on RockAuto. Mine seemed to be good ones when I put them on my 1988 earlier this year.

RwP

 

I don't have a micrometer, but that gave me an idea. I used a C-clamp and opened it so the new ball joint just barely fit in it, and then put it on the old one, and it didn't fit. Fairly un-scientific, but shows that the new one is slightly smaller. I'll try the proforged, and if that doesn't work, I'll get creative. Thanks for the help you two!

 

Found the information on another forum....