Does this look right?

So I replaced my lower control arm with an Oreillys Import direct part and it looks like the ball joint went further down into the control arm squishing the boot a bit more, you can also tell because the cotter pin doesn’t go through the castle nut anymore. The ball joint is a moog part but I think its close to oem because of the 555 stamp and also it fit great in the oem control arm. My question is will this be fine? I also measured the hole in the control arm on the other side, oem vs. import direct and they measured the same, not sure why it tightened down more with the new control arm.

 

nope

 

What does the other side look like?

 

What did you torque it to?

Looks tightened way too much. The cotter pin should be in the cutouts of the nut.

 

This is justmy 2 cents...

I would not run that like that. That cotter pin should be way closer to those castle towers. That nut looks like it could back a couple full turns before catching on the cotter pin. And tou are right. The boot appears to be MUCH more collapsed than it should be.

Why did you buy new arms? Unless you've bashed the old ones on rocks, other than replacing bushings, the arms shouldn't "wear out."

If you replaced due to the bushings... take them back, get your money back, and get a set of Whiteline bushings to press in your old arms... and put the old ones back on the truck.

 

Over torque wouldn't sink the ball joint stud that far. Only way for the ball joint stud to go that far is the hole it's in is not to spec (too large diameter)

 

I didn’t get to finish the other side, I called it a day but tomorrow I will install the other control arm. I tightened to 100 ft lbs just as before with the old control arm.

 

I've seen aftermarket cotter pin holes not match up like that before, but it looks like its way out regardless. Are both sides like this?

 

Yup, I figured the extra cost to replace the entire thing was worth my time trying to press the bushings in and out.

 

I’ll finish the other side tomorrow and see how it sits

 

Pressing those bushings is not actually as hard as people make it out to be. A small bottle jack pressing them out from the inside towards the outside is not too bad. (there are a couple videos on youtube, I think, that show it)

 

Thanks for the input everyone, I may end up reusing my old control arm with new bushings in it then. But I’ll see how the other side goes first. Thanks again

 

That's the wrong ball joint or the wrong A arm. You need to measure your old ones.

I would compare the new parts to the old.

 

That hole is difficult to measure as it is tapered. Not sure what is wrong but it does not look right. It is remotely possible that the lower control arm was machined incorrectly.

 

That is definitely not right, and demonstrates why store brand parts are inferior. Those are not to spec.

Why did you replace the arm(s)?

If it's just because you need new bushings, this is a common scam that dealers and mechanics try to pull on people:

Their bushings are worn, but they tell the customer they need to control arms. They do this because they are too lazy to press in new bushings (which takes like 5 minutes). The new LCAs have preinstalled bushings, so they save themselves time by charging YOU more money for the easier-to-install part.

A couple ways you can easily do your own bushing replacements and save a bunch of money.

1) get energy suspension poly bushings. Burn out the old rubber and slide the poly into the existing steel sleeve (poly bushings make your steering and suspension more precise, but the ride might feel a bit more harsh)

2) Get yourself some new OEM style rubber bushings, and take the LCAs and bushings to a shop. Throw the mechanic a $20 and a 6 pack and he'll press them in for you.

3) Do the bottle jack press method, or use a vice, or if you know someone with a harbor freight press...

 

Aftermarket ball joints and tie rod end cotter pin holes always do this on every vehicle i have ever worked on and i have never had a problem.

 

Every ball joint you've done doesn't have the cotter pin engaging the castle nut???

 

90% of them and i use MOOG joints not the cheap stuff. It's not ideal but the nut is still not going to fall off and the castle nut eventually rusts it's self in place. I have never had one come loose or fall off.

 

The Moog unit I installed on my truck last year did not look like that.

 

The indents of the castle nut should always line up with a hole for the cotter pin. Parts like these are always tightened to the specified torque and then you are instructed to always slowly tighten the nut until you're able to install the cotter pin.

I installed Moog lower balljoints and tie rod ends a month or two ago and had no issues.