ball joints quick question

[onebadmopar]

hi everyone im removing the old ball joints to replace them and im wondering .... if i install the new ball joints and down the road and  i decide to do upper and lower contraol arm bushings wiil the ball joints be reusable? reason im asking is the dont look terribly bad right now and its simply not in my budget to do them at this point but i do know  the ball joints are shot just hate to do them now and then have to buy new ones say 4-5 months from now .. they arnt cheap lol

[beedees]

Shouldn't be any reason the ball joints wouldn't be o.k. a little later on. I'd take a closer look at the C.A. bushings, though. Not that much more money to do them at same time....probalbly less than another front- end alignment which you will need after switching bushings.

[onebadmopar]

i went ahead and installed the upper joints right one went in no problem however the left one doesnt seem to want to seat all the way down against the control arm its leaving about a 32nd of an inch should i worry about this .. if so how do i fix it i tried backing it out and going back in but it stops dead at the same spot

[beedees]

If it's no more than a 32 " , I wouldn't worry about it. Chance are, the top of the mounting hole is not square.. At any rate , it's not going anywhere.

[oldkimmer]

Its better to be safe than sorry, get er seated properly........kim......

[onebadmopar]

i went and put a measurement on it turns out its between 1/16 and a 32nd it looks like the control arm isnt letting it seat all  the way in and closer look at passenger side shows it did the same thingalso is the pitman arm suppose to have a boot on it ? there isnt one on the idler arm or the pitman arm wich i found strange..and how do i tell if pitman arm is no good? thanks for the info