2007 ram 1500 4wd - upper ball joints replaced and set to 40 ft. lbs. per torque specs. Problems is one side there is about ½ - ¾" more stem showing after I set the nut. The "short" side only has about 2 threads showing and after 100 miles the nut had to be re-torqued and was starting to back off. I need to confirm the torque spec and figure out if i missed a step or somehow caused one stem to sit deeper than the other. My new ball joints do NOT have cotter-pin. Any advice would be appreciated.

 

Something must be wrong, the same part manufacturer wouldn't have one side different than the other. Is it possible that you have something between the taper joint of the ball joint and the knuckle causing it not to seat?

 

Once you figure out the torque issue, put Loctite blue on the threads.