Front ball joints

[Ecode70D]

  I read somewhere that later Ford ball joints are almost a bolt in on our 57's  with just a slight modification.  Does anyone know what years  fit the upper and lower and what has to be altered?
Thanks in advance.  Jay

[clusterbuster]

I have never heard of any ball joints from later models that fit the 57, but I will say that the PST brand lowers that I put in recently are super heavy duty. They cost $108.00 with free shipping on EBay. I used Moog for the uppers which of course usually last longer than the lowers. I did the front end over with upper and lower control arm bushings as well. The new ball joints make it a really stiff steer now- really tight.

[KYBlueOval]

Hoosier Hurricance had a post where he said he used a Moog Lower Ball Joint for a '65 to '74 Ford. He had to trim the flange to fit the '57 Control Arm.
Following his lead, I bought Moog   K 8059 and yes you need to grind off a good bit of the flange and slot the holes just a little to get them to fit. But you can do it. The only real difference that I could see once installed is the stud on the    Moog K 8059 is about 1/8 of an inch taller.
If you are going to try this , please check that the Moog number I've quoted is correct. I believe it is and it's in my notes as such, but double check me .
John

[Ecode70D]

   Thanks guys.    I'm going to try to do a search and if I can find that post by Hoosier Hurricane to see what he did.  Jay

[djfordmanjack]

Jay, my search came up with these

http://57fordsforever.com/smf/index.php?topic=5949.msg47408#msg47408

Alos there is some related information in John's Chrysler replacement thread.
http://57fordsforever.com/smf/index.php?topic=5627.msg44487#msg44487

Well. I ran into some ball joint trouble just a month ago when I wanted to put new 57 replacement balljoints in my fresh powder coated A arms. Well - what would you expect....they don't fit.....
bolt pattern and taper seem to be correct, but the diameter of the ball joint housing is too big to clear my a arms, or better to say, they have the forged rounded cove on the wrong side, facing the mounting surface of the a arms ( both upper and lower). There is no way I will be going to cut my fresh og 57 A arms open for that 'AC' junk....(yes, AC. How were they to be supposed to build a 57 Ford replacement ball joint anyways). Maybe AC means acid china or what. It seems I will be using my old ball joints that came in the car.

[djfordmanjack]

This is my situation. Can anybody confirm if my A arms are 100% 57 and not something later or different ? my car has been hit in the front before and maybe they replaced suspension parts

[gasman826]

There's a Rare Parts one on eBay now.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/McFadden-Rare-Parts-RP10112-Suspension-Ball-Joint-Front-Lower-1957-64-Ford-/131672380096?fits=Year%3A1957%7CMake%3AFord&hash=item1ea84912c0:g:SHkAAOSw7FRWaKd6&vxp=mtr

[gasman826]

Powder coating looks really nice.  I've had several things powder coated with no fitment issues.  I've asked the powder coater about NOT coating tight fit parts like threads and header slip joints.  I was told to coat it and it has never been a problem.

[djfordmanjack]

The problem is not the coating which is maybe 1/64th to 1/32nd thick. The ball joints are about 1/8 or even more too large.
I have been hesitating to try powder coating before but since I got directed to the right company, they do a great, reasonable and wear resistant job on those suspension parts. I am totally pleased with how everything came out and have since even had spindles and stuff coated . They are really careful with protecting machined areas aso.

[hiball3985]

From the pictures they appear to be the correct upper and lower 57 arms. Where did you get the ball joints and what brand?

[djfordmanjack]

Jim, I bought everything as a specific 57 FORD wagon front suspension kit on ebay 3 yrs ago. the upper ball joints say AC. I have heard a rumor that with GM products the balljoints mount from the other side than Fords. I somehow doubt that, since how Fords mount, it is the correct way to take the spindle/spring load from the right side. I think when and wherever these replacement ball joints were produced they simply forgot to specify a sharp corner where now there is a 1/8 radius. They can't be bolted in from the other side in Ford A arms, since Ford stamped prohibitive dimples on the other side. I am thinking about machining the ball joints, but don't like the thought of doing so (especially cutting a sharp corner in an area where the factory placed a huge radius. I have no idea of how the inner chambers of the ball joint are designed). I don't want to buy further expensive replacement stuff from the big vendors, since they most probably are the same junk. those 65 ball joints don't sound so bad, since I would not be afraid of cutting around the perimeter or slightly enlarging holes.
My old ones in the car were still good before disassambling and I will clean them thoroughly and see whah I have. They were a correct fit.

[hiball3985]

Unfortunately some sellers on Ebay don't really know what they have or make claims they are for a certain car and are wrong many times. More then likely they sent you the wrong ball joints.
I use Moog parts that I bought back in 1980 and the top ones fit correctly but the bottoms needed a little grinding on the ball joint flange to fit the curvature of the A arm.

[djfordmanjack]

Sometimes I get the impressions that stuff is being sold by just checking some dimensions and never ever fitting them to the actual car.
They might have the correct bolt pattern, but...
I'd take old Moogs anytime. A little grinding on the perimeter doesn't worry me at all, but cutting a sharp corner into an area that takes the most stress is not something I'd usually do. It would be the same like cutting 1/8 deep grooves on the thick end of a pitman or steering arms.

[hiball3985]

It's a sad state when we can't get decent replacement parts. I don't know what I would have done if I didn't already have some old stock ones and was surprised when even those needed a little work to fit properly.

[djfordmanjack]

Jim, just got back from epay and the upper Moogs #K8212 are easily available and reasonably priced. they are stamped steel with obviously a slim shank, so they should fit the A arm openings. I will get a set of those. I will further investigate the lower ones and inspect how much trimming my new ones will need.