I have a 1995 Ram 1500 that a bolt broke on the lower ball joint. I went to replace all the ball joints, but the lower ball joints I got from Autozone and O'Reilly would not make it thru the knuckle. I even went to the local Dodge dealer, who checked for me, and had no idea. There is not enough room to put the newer ball joint thru (taperwise) into the knuckle. What is up?


Just on the same topic..the factory are pressed in from the bottom, but the new ones press in from above....with a little clip to hold them there. Was there a change?

 

First and for most, you should explain it a little more clearly in order for us to understand what your saying. If you can't press it in to place, then take the A arm off and have it done at a machine shop.

 

2 wheel or 4 wheel drive

 

i don't know the answer, but you might want to remove an upper and lower, label them clearly and clean them up. then take them with you to the parts store for comparison to new parts. its possible that either someone's computer is wrong on the replacements, or maybe your truck has had a front end swap somewhere in its past life.... either way, you're going to need need parts that match the old ones.

 

On my 96 put the b joint under the lower arm & press up. Then put the c clips (spring clips) on. If the b joint were to come loose the clip would stop the b joint from coming out (down).

 

Sorry about the vagueness here, newbie doing this. The A-arm will probably not be an issue, as one of the guys at the parts shops said that with the press I rented it would be no problem. I guess on the A-arm once i press it thru the clip will do just fine. The issue is the bolt that goes into the knuckle. There is a certain taper to it. The one that didn't break slides easily so the bolt fits. Any new ones will not make it thru the knuckle, and be able to bolt down enough to stick the cotter pin thru. Am I making any sense?

 

I have them off (even took the knuckle off) with the original ball joints. Going to one of the people in town that is an expert in alignment (and fixing things like this). Even the Dodge parts man was baffled. We checked from the 70's up to '99 for compatibility at the parts store. Getting too cold to dink around with this.

 

Your'e saying that the tapered stud wont fit through the steering knuckle.
Dealers as well as parts stores do better at giving you the correct parts with the VIN #
I picked up mine at a local dealer and was told these are the ones that fit all 2500's, which was not the case. ( I just stopped by on a whim and didn't have my VIN on me) . I specificly said are you sure this is for the 2001 V10 8800lb etc.

Mine didn't fit in the axle yoke they were too small.

 

I found some receipts that the previous owner kept....it was a K6117, which fits Chevy trucks. I talked to the previous owner, who had put a lowering kit on it back in the day, (from AIM?) with a new spindle, and did not get the lower control arms. He modified them and it was working. Of course I went to get the K6117 parts, which do the trick but the new ones are not press fit in the lower control arms....no snug fit, just slide in. Replacing the control arms wouldn't do any good, since they are modified..Have had suggestions from machining the hole in the spindle to welding in the ball joints. Any ideas?

 

I would run the situation your having by the new owner again and have him suggest what he would do. That's just me though.