14 or 16mm front lower ball joitn bolt? + other questions

FDR

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I went to get an alignment and was told it wasn't worth it before replacing some parts first. I need front upper control arms and rear lateral links/stabilizer links/Deeza JAL607's because the bushings/boots are torn up. The front right creaks a lot, too. I replaced the sway bar bushings with the Reins a few months ago so it shouldn't be that, although I have been meaning to unbolt the end links and drive around to make sure.

Is it worth it to replace the front lower ball joints while I'm in there? If so, does the bolt diameter matter? RockAuto lists both 14mm ($22) and 16mm($33). Is it a sport/non-sport thing, or just "because racecar"? The bushings are cheap enough, but there's quite a bit of added labor.


RockAuto lists Motorcraft Uppers as not having bushings, and since bushings aren't sold separately for the uppers, MC is out of the question (doesn't ma. So Moog is next best from Advance for $133/ea, correct?


You guys seem to say avoid Deeza usually, except for the rear links in which case they're alright, but you lose the rear steering. I'm not to keen on the loss, but is the only reliable option to keep it is Motorcraft? I don't think the links are actually bad yet, but the boots are torn up badly.
 
'Passive' rear steering and it's minimal, not enough race car to really notice, so I read.
Although mine is currently still on stands, it's had near the entire suspension replaced all around, along with brakes.
I'm anxious to get it out and see how the DEEZA's in the rears feel, will be hard to tell as I replaced so much in the rear alone, including Eibach springs. Only had front Eibach's last year, too many fat chick jokes prompted the rears going in this year ~ just kidding, I actually came to the conclusion, it didn't look good after all, too much forward rake made the rear look lifted.


When I get it out into the twisties, I'll let you know. For now, I'll hold my peace and state that it's over rated. Many do not agree of course!
 
just did mine and this is what was on my car,

BTW here is my ball joint experience. I have an 02 Sport, build date 7/2001. Now by catalog says 14mm ball joint. Reading on the board there is conflicting stories saying if it is a sport it has the 16mm. Well I have the 14mm, so by build date in the catalog mine was correct. I ordered both moog ball joints in case. The 16mm one had finer threads and the 14mm one had course threads. Hope that helps someone.
 
Interesting. Thanks. FPN lists 16mm for my car (built 5/17/2002). I just measured it with calipers at 15.9mm. If you turn the wheel all the way out, you can just barely see the stud. It also sticks out past the rotor a tiny bit. You can't measure from there, but it might help you locate the part if you're unfamiliar with the suspension.

I hope that helps someone, too. When I searched "14mm 16mm LS" nothing conclusive come up in the results. "14 16 LS" may have been more helpful. At least now there's a few more variations in here to help future searches.

How do you guys feel about renting a ball joint press to put the lowers in? Any tips besides "slow way, way down"
 
Looks like I'm out of luck for the Moog Uppers. RockAuto says unavailable, Advance has them on the site but won't let you pick a shipping option. I went to the store and they said no one has them, but to call tomorrow so they can call the suppliers. Any ideas?
 
I was also wondering about DIY installation of lower ball joints. Have seen a lot of people on here getting it done at shops, but I'm wondering if a 1-ton arbor press with a 4" throat would do the trick.
 
I think the biggest issue is taking your time and making sure it goes in straight. Aluminum won't just flex like steel if it's crooked. It might just crack
 
I was also wondering about DIY installation of lower ball joints. Have seen a lot of people on here getting it done at shops, but I'm wondering if a 1-ton arbor press with a 4" throat would do the trick.

Because their labour charge was well worth my time. Let alone the possibility of me getting it wrong. Peace of mind is priceless!!!

I think the biggest issue is taking your time and making sure it goes in straight. Aluminum won't just flex like steel if it's crooked. It might just crack

And crack it will! IMHO some things are best left to the professionals!
 
I used a press to get my ball joint out, it was not budging with a air chisel, then I used a vise to press it in with adapters supporting the spindle area it presses into to help prevent it from cracking.
 
My car was built April 02 and it had 16mm stud. Mid March (3/11/02 to be exact) was the change date.
A Lincoln dealer, of all places, pressed in my supplied Moog lower ball joint a few months back. They ripped the boot and had to do it over. No issues so far; we'll see how long that continues.
 
I ordered upper control arms from a dealer and it had bushings and ball joint- it should be the same part. Call RA and ask someone to verify what it has.
Rock auto does have complete Moog units: RK621665 and RK621666
 
Click add to cart on RockAuto for the Moogs and you get this message "Unfortunately MOOG Part # RK621665 is not currently available and has been removed from your shopping cart". Advance won't let you pick a shipping method online, so you can't complete your order. No Advance stores have them in stock around here.
 
The uppers aren't even listed in the newest Moog printed catalog that I have dated July 2013. So unless it's a miss-print of this catalog, appears that Moog has discontinued the uppers all together. :confused:

EDIT:
According to the Federal-Mogul website, they list it as "New Part - Check For Availability"

I called and they said that they "should" be available to ship in a "few weeks".
 
Oh no. Just realized the left UCA I ordered is for an Explorer. Apparently, there are no Upper lefts on eBay. I must have not noticed "0 results found but here's other related items" at the top of the results when I searched "Lincoln LS upper left control arm ball joint motorcraft". It would have helped if the picture was the part and not the Motorcraft logo. At least my current left one is fine (in that it doesn't make noise yet) so I guess it's not the end of the world... Maybe I can wait for the Moogs if they ever make it to stores

As for the Moogs, it seems a bit late to make a new LS/S-type part, no?

Good news though, got the toe links today. I was going to do all 6 pieces in one shot, but now I'm tempted to skip the toe links, test the car with the old ones, swap in the news one, and test again to compare the steering feel.
 
Stupid question. There's no difference in the UCAs between trims, right? Rockauto has a Lemforder Upper left, but it lists it for "LSE". I don't see LSE listed under any other items and I'd like to know for sure. The mix up on the Explorer arm has got me all worried now.
 
Stupid question. There's no difference in the UCAs between trims, right? Rockauto has a Lemforder Upper left, but it lists it for "LSE". I don't see LSE listed under any other items and I'd like to know for sure. The mix up on the Explorer arm has got me all worried now.

They're all the same..
 
Once again, just a little side note, I ordered two brand new rear OEM Upper Control Arms from Tasca and was send one OEM with Jaguar stamped in it and one other that looks like a Fn knock off, The OEM Jaguar stamped UCA was loose in the main shipping box, the knock off was in a re-stapled FORD P/N box.

Not impressed!
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They're all the same..

I figured. I just don't want to throw more money around and waste more time. Thanks.

Rig, I'm keeping my fingers crossed. What made it look like a knock off?
 
I started jacking up the back and the pinch weld folded over and the body looks to have caved in a little. Now I'm discouraged
 


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Note the re-stapled OEM box which contained the non OEM UCA.
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Could it just be a regular Motorcraft piece and the Jag one is the unusual one?

I got the toe links installed... it looks like I have major toe-in. I hope it's just a visual thing with the body or something that I just never noticed, because the Deezas don't even have a full rotation left to shorten them. I'll get an alignment after the UCAs come in, but I did match the lengths to the original links.

I don't know why they're so long. I measured the depth of the inner nut to be the length of the outer's threads. They should have another inch to go, but something was stopping both links. This picture has: unassembled, assembled at shortest, original

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I also snapped a 3/8"-1/4" drive adapter on the inner stud. I was a big fan of Pittsburgh tools up until 2 hours ago

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