One of my upper ball joints won't torque

[bull]

One of the ball joints torqued fine at 125 ft. lbs. but the other wouldn't. I couldn't tell if it was mashing the flange down or starting to spin but experience told me not to push it so I stopped. Anyway, it's nice and tight but not 125 ft. lbs. tight like it should be. Should it be a concern or is it good enough? I'm not planning on doing any road racing but it will be driven and pushed hard from time to time.

[tan top]

   hmmm FSM says a minim of  125 ft    could do a couple of mig spots ! have read that  its a good idea even when torqued up to 125 
............... .
think if it was me i would looking  to get another upper control arm ...... they repop , OEM type   now also   

[Charger RT]

i spot weld all of them. usually 2 small spots 180 apart. I have done that since the mid 80's when i had one push up out of the threads and cock. We got it back in the hole and tacked it never had another issue with it.
Tim

[b5blue]

I got a new set off fleabay for 120 plus shipping and they are really nice, ready to bolt on. Why risk it? 

[bull]

Why risk it?  

Because like a dumba$$ I had them powder coated before testing them.

I got a new set off fleabay for 120 plus shipping and they are really nice, ready to bolt on.

You mean these: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Mopar-66-67-68-69-70-Charger-Upper-Control-Arms-NEW-_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQhashZitem53e2103e75QQitemZ360275000949QQptZMotorsQ5fCarQ5fTruckQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories

[Highbanked Hauler]

One of the ball joints torqued fine at 125 ft. lbs. but the other wouldn't. I couldn't tell if it was mashing the flange down or starting to spin but experience told me not to push it so I stopped. Anyway, it's nice and tight but not 125 ft. lbs. tight like it should be. Should it be a concern or is it good enough? I'm not planning on doing any road racing but it will be driven and pushed hard from time to time.

Run them in with an air wrench. I had a set of new OEM upper control arms and  Moog ball joints and that was the only way I could get them to go in all the way.

[bull]

One of the ball joints torqued fine at 125 ft. lbs. but the other wouldn't. I couldn't tell if it was mashing the flange down or starting to spin but experience told me not to push it so I stopped. Anyway, it's nice and tight but not 125 ft. lbs. tight like it should be. Should it be a concern or is it good enough? I'm not planning on doing any road racing but it will be driven and pushed hard from time to time.

Run them in with an air wrench. I had a set of new OEM upper control arms and  Moog ball joints and that was the only way I could get them to go in all the way.

It goes in all the way but it just spins instead of tightening up. I tried it again today and it won't even torque at 100 ft. lbs. It's screwed up so I'm going to have to get a replacement or a new pair. I think it's only an extra $20 to get two instead of one.

[ACUDANUT]

 You gotta use a socket and air impact. 3/4 inch I believe.

[b5blue]

Bull, that's the ones I got. (different company though) They look powder coated, nice and shiny what ever it is. That price is for both L and R

Why risk it? 

Because like a dumba$$ I had them powder coated before testing them.

I got a new set off fleabay for 120 plus shipping and they are really nice, ready to bolt on.

You mean these: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Mopar-66-67-68-69-70-Charger-Upper-Control-Arms-NEW-_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQhashZitem53e2103e75QQitemZ360275000949QQptZMotorsQ5fCarQ5fTruckQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories

side.

[bull]

Now I'm thinking about getting tubular uppers. Just Suspension has a pair on Ebay for only $5 more than those stock repros.

[charger2fast4u]

if it comes down to having to buy new arms why not pay the extra to get tubular? you'll be glad you did in the end who knows you might want them 2 years from now and coulda got them for just alittle more. i'd try a impact wrench see if that works at all.

[bull]

if it comes down to having to buy new arms why not pay the extra to get tubular? you'll be glad you did in the end who knows you might want them 2 years from now and coulda got them for just alittle more.

See the post above yours.

i'd try a impact wrench see if that works at all.

I'm not having problems getting the ball joint to go in, I'm having problems getting it to torque. Rattling on it with a 1/2-inch impact gun isn't going to fix the threads so it will torque properly.

[b5blue]

I thought about tube uppers but A: didn't want to modify lower stops B: wasn't fully trusting of small weld area around ball joint with no gussets C: figured stock type has known alignment perimeters D: Too lazy/cheap to get into it deeper because of all the other stuff I need to do first.   

[bull]

I thought about tube uppers but A: didn't want to modify lower stops B: wasn't fully trusting of small weld area around ball joint with no gussets C: figured stock type has known alignment perimeters D: Too lazy/cheap to get into it deeper because of all the other stuff I need to do first.    

Modify lower stops? What do you mean? 

The tubular arms offered by Just Suspension do have gussets and I wonder how many people these days could figure out the "known" alignment perameters even if you handed them a cheat sheet.

[b5blue]

Maybe things have changed but when I looked into it the bumper under the UCA (lower stop) had to be moved as the arms shape no longer matched the mounting point. My Goodyear dealer here in town has an excellent reputation for setting up these old cars nicely. He did a fantastic job on mine and went over my settings with me. That's why I'll put off set bushings in the new UCA's, and put them on with the disk brake spindles then drop the front end height some then bring it back (alignment is recommended after a spindle swap) and I know it will be spot on. Just check around before alignment time you'll find someone by you that knows and loves these old cars with good equipment. 

[bull]

Thanks. I know of a shop that frequently works on the old stuff so they should be able to take care of it one way or another. They're the ones that let me use the ball joint socket when everyone else was trying to figure out what I was talking about.

I'll call Firm Feel tomorrow and see if they have a good used drivers side UCA for a decent price and if they do I'll buy it and start over. The passengers side looks real nice and torqued down fine so it's very usable. If FF doesn't have one then I'll have to decide between tubular and a reproduction pair like what you got. I'm not convinced the tubular UCAs are worth $300 but since the Just Suspension tubular UCAs are only $150 it's got me thinking...

[b5blue]

WELL? What did you find out?  I wish I could remember where I read the Tech on this. 

[bull]

WELL? What did you find out?  I wish I could remember where I read the Tech on this. 

Sorry, forgot to update. I went to Firm Feel and Dick had a barrel out back with about six B-body UCAs to choose from so I grabbed the best driver's side piece I could find. Of course the ball joint and bushings were still rusted in place so I'm starting all over again with that business...

[b5blue]

 

[bull]

I got the ball joint out and one of the bushings is about 90% out but the other one decided to mushroom instead of slide when I put it in the press. I swear, nothing can be easy.

[b5blue]

 

[Charger-Bodie]

Curtis,

This is a link to the ones I used on my car...... They seem to be VERY nice to me.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1969-DODGE-PLYMOUTH-DAYTONA-B-BODY-UPPER-CONTROL-ARMS-/380241192676?cmd=ViewItem&pt=Vintage_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item58882426e4

[b5blue]

That is who I got mine from. 

[bull]

Just to update, I got the used UCA from FF as stated above for $40 I think it was. First thing I did was test it to see if the ball joint would torque and it did, so I took it down and had it sandblasted and powder coated and then installed the bushings and new ball joint and torqued it to 130 ft. lbs. All is well.

[tan top]

  look good