Ball Joints Too Tight

[Kilian]

In the process of rebuilding a 10-bolt front axle for my 4WD project and have the problem of the new ball joints being too tight on one side. Ball joints are new AC Delco professional or whatever the higher grade is called.

I've followed the instructions in the service manual to first partially tighten the lower ball joint nut (30 ft-lb), then tighten the adjusting ring for the upper (50 ft-lb), then tighten upper nut (100 ft-lb), followed by final torque on lower nut (70 ft-lb).

Right now it's pulling at around 36 lbs or more to move the knuckle. Any tricks to this that I'm missing? The pull effort was in spec of around 25 lb after I tightened the adjusting ring, but got way tighter by the end of the procedure. I'm wondering if I need to use a clamp to make sure that the upper ball joint is pulled into the axle hole completely before tightening the adjusting ring? Thanks for any help provided!

 

[fast 99]

Try loosening and reseat. Are the joints greased? Have run into that before on cheap joints but not AC.

 

[CalSgt]

I chain the axle housing to a floor jack and use it to put pressure on the lower joint when needed. It helps the tapered studs get seated, and is really helpful when the studs want to rotate during the torquing process.

If you’re building a daily I’d recommend driving down a washboarded dirt road, that’s what the Jeep guys do to break in stiff ball joints

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