@HeyYou @1990B150318
Alright so my lower ball joint finally came in and I tried to press one in and it would not go in straight and then I started looking at it a little more closely and I'm having a hard time believing this is the right ball joint.

The one on the right is the old one (obviously I've chopped part of the threads off for reasons already mentioned) but do you guys think this is the wrong part? No matter how hard I was trying to press it in evenly it just always ended up cockeyed. I thought some slight variation in design might be normal from manufacturer to manufacturer but now I'm not sure....

 

Ok here's another confusing thing.

On autozone its showing this guy (second photo) for 3300 or 3600 front axle? according to my doorjam I have a 4000lb front? Im confused though because I don't have a front axle so I'm wondering if I am reading this wrong.

The part below more closely resembles what I pulled out of the control arm compared to the new part that Im trying to put in.








Also also

This is what my control arm looks like....looks like someone beat the **** out of it. Is it possible I had the wrong balljoint in there to begin with? I have so many questions (facepalm)

 

I think the one you have is indeed the wrong part. 4000 lb front axle weight rating. Yep. There isn't an axle, but, the number still applies. The joint in the second pic looks a LOT more like the one you removed. I think that one is indeed the correct part.

 

So is it safe to assume that AutoZone had their **** wrong? And that balljoint that is labeled for everything but the 4000lb rating IS actually in fact the 4000lb one that I need?

 

Wouldn't be the first time.

Take your old one in with you, and compare to what they have on the shelf. See what shakes out.

 

When I look into it, they show the 4k axle ball joint as looking like the one that you just got.
It's duralast fa680 for press in front axle 4k - search that part at autozone and see what you think.

 

@1990B150318 yep thats the one I have and tried to press in. She wouldn't go.

Went to NAPA and brought everything with me. The one they brought out much more closely resembled what I took out and the dimensions were identical. The one from Autozone that I had with me and failed to press in (fa680) was the outlier with a different diameter. I think autozone is wrong. About to go try and press in the one from napa, ill let you guys know how it goes.

Odd thing is that the one I took out has a larger diameter than the one Im trying to put in. We looked with a micrometer. Must be a shape thing. Stay tuned!

 

Dudes @1990B150318 @HeyYou its so effing close but i have literally nothing left in the tank. I gave it everything I got on this massive breaker bar setup. Do I just need to go grab the biggest dude I can find to put their weight into this thing???

 

Looks like the flange it pushes up to isn't exactly perfectly flat. That may be as far as it goes.....

 

@HeyYou I really do think its just ever so slightly crooked, but is it the end of the world?