[Guest]

OK, Here's The Deal. Doing a Frontend Rebuild On My Sons 95 Caprice And He Bought a Set Of Lower Control Arms What GM Calls "Special Handling". We Are At The Point Of Torqueing Down The Lower Conrol Arm Ball Joints And These Things Just Dont Want To Seat In The Spindle! I Know The Torque Is Around 80-90 FT LBS But The Castle Nut Isn't Even Close To Being Down Far Enough To Put a Cotter Pin Thru It And The Torque Wrench Is Clicking At 85 FT LBS. Is It Possible That The "Special Handling" LCA's As GM Calls Them Have The 5/8 Ball Joint Instead Of a 9/16? How Do I Tell? Sorry Guys But My 95 Went Together...No Problem, But were Stuck Here And I Dont Want To Crank Them Down Anymore Till I Find Out How To Properly Check The Balljoint Size (His Old Balljoints Were 9/16 I Believe For a Caprice CIVI?)BTW, Did The Search And Couldn't Find Anything Specific Addressing This Issue! Thanks........Mike

 

[Guest]

BBB,

Do you still have to old ball joint nut? if so, try it on the new ball stud and see if it fits, or compare the old and new nuts for thread size.
I have extra 5/8 nuts in the garage and could try to measure the diameter of the hole.
IIRC the Chevrolet 5/8-inch nut is 1 and 1/16 across the flats, but that may not help you much since the Moog ball joints come with a nut that is smaller across the flats. Not knowing if the old ball joint is a Chevrolet original or not, the measurement across the flats is of little use.

 

[Guest]

Terry, Old Ball Joint Nuts Fit Perfectly On New Ball Joint (Both Old Ball Joint And New Ball Joints And Nuts Were GM). The Ball Stud Goes Thru The Spindle And The Nut Screws On, But It Doesn't Want To "Pull Down" Into The Spindle Hole All The Way And Im Afraid To Apply To Much Force Because The Torque Wrench Clicked At 80 ft lbs Allready! The Nut And Ball Stud ARE Not Fully Seated Yet And I Cant Get a Cotter Pin Thru The Castle Nut Yet Either!......Mike

 

[Guest]

Mike,

The taper is the same on both ball joints. The 5/8" ball joint will not normally fit up through the top end of the lower hole on a 9/16" knuckle. Terry has given you the best response on this--the bottom line sounds like you need the correct knuckles (spindles) if you want to stay with the bigger ball joints.

Even though I just posted this, I see your response, and I now have to ask what the ball joint studs looked like on the arms you removed from the car(?). If there is any damage indicated, oblonging of the hole(s) etc, the knuckle is toast--it won't take much eye-ballin' to see if a knuckle is damaged--look for displaced metal on the lower end, and look for the nut seat on top to be all chewed up.

 

[Guest]

Allright Bill, So What Your Saying Is: If I Did Have 5/8" Balljoints, They Wouldn't Even Go Thru The Taper Hole In The Spindle To Begin With! Then They Must Be the 9/16 Because They Are Thru The Hole And The Nut Is Half Way On. When I Did My 95 Caprice, I Didn't Have To Apply So Much "Elbow Grease" In Order To Get The Ballstud To Set All the Way Down. So It Appears I'll Just "Keep On Tightening" Unitl It Seats! Anyone Else Have This Problem? Thanks Bill And Terry!.......Mike

 

[Guest]

Hey Bill, Replied Then Saw Your Update! The Holes Dont Look "Oblonged" Or Out Of Round And The Seats For The Nuts Are Not Chewed Up. What Does a Set Of 5/8 Spindles Run Anyhow? If Were At This Stage In The Game, This May Be a Consideration? Do You Know The Part#'s Of The 5/8 Spindles Or Are You Still Reworking Them? Let Me Know And Thanks! To Sum This Up: I Assumed The The 9/16 and 5/8 Were "Taper Sizes" And What You And Terry Are Saying Is That It's The Size Of The Threaded Stud Itself Correct?.....Mike

 

[Guest]

BBB, please post GM PN of those Special Handling Arms you bought. Something doesn't sound kosher, here !

 

[Guest]

Larry, I'll Do It Tommorow! I Still Got The Tags In The Trunk Of The Car!......Mike

 

[Guest]

Yes, Mike, the 5/8 and 9/16 are the diameter of the threaded stud. The taper is larger for the 5/8, as one would expect, but the dimensions are for the threaded part.
Be sure you don’t have a piece of dirt or cotter pin in the hole.

 

[Guest]

Allright, Here's The Part #'s Of The New LCA's. 10232819 and 10232820. After Doing Some Checking On The GM "Parts CD", It Says These Arms Are Indeed 9/16 Balljoints. My Son Got The Part #'s Out Of a "Vehicle Collision" Book That They Use at a Body Shop, That's Appears Where The "Special Handling" Note Came From Because I Can See NO Note Of It In The FSM Or On The GM Parts CD!(Lesson Learned Here!). Im Gonna Take The LCA Loose And Check The Taper Hole For Any Obstructions? To Be Cont.....Mike