Upper ball joint fitment

[peeeot]

I have a pair of new upper balljoints which appear identical in design to the originals except that there is a smooth transition from the ball housing "bump" into the base whereas the originals have a 90* angle at the same point.  What this translates into is that the new ball joints will not quite seat to the control arm because the hole in the arm is too small.

I'm sure others have encountered this issue as this ball joint design appears to be very common.  Mac's sells it (not the heavy-duty one).  I found one post on here from a fellow in Sweden who said he enlarged the hole in his arm to accommodate the ball joint.  I would prefer not to, but am unsure of the safety of altering the joint itself.

How have others gotten around this problem?

[RICH MUISE]

Agreed....altering the ball joint is definetly something you don't want to do.

[peeeot]

In the end, I chose not to use the balljoints.  I found a different-style part that fit properly without modification and used it instead.

[Ford Blue blood]

Can you give us the source and part number?  This would be great info to help others (me) avoid the same problem.  Thanks much.

[peeeot]

Sure!  The part that fit properly with no modification was the Moog K8212.  I bought mine from Autozone as a Duralast part, but it's the Moog part.  The original joint that came with the kit was the Mevotech MK8212 (or an equivalent).  This joint is assembled exactly the same as the original equipment, with an upper plate having 4 tabs that wrap around the base.  The flange of this part did not fit flush with the control arm due to the smooth transition between the flange and ball casting.  I also tried the part Mac's sells listed as "heavy duty/cast base".  I bought this part from Autozone as well, but I'm sure it's the same part.  This one fit the control arm flush but the bolt holes didn't quite line up.  I elongated 1 of the bolt holes on the joint casting to make it work (this was before I had discovered the Moog part that fit without modification).

Moral of the story:  look for Moog K8212 or an equivalent.  This design appears to be constructed from two thick stamped plates sandwiched together.  It has a grease fitting.

Hope this helps!