Question about 14mm vs 16mm Lower Ft Ball Joints

[jgscott]

Can you Guys please help? I have a low miles 06 LS and a 02 LS V8 Sport that has 214k miles and is my daily driver. I put some cheap ebay front suspension parts on the 02 and now the Lower outer Ball Joint are shot again.

I went to look for new ones, and found that there was a 14mm & 16mm option? The Ebay kit I bought had the complete arm with Ball Joint installed already and I am unsure which size I have.

Here are my two questions:
1. Can I measure the outside bolt on the car to tell if I need 14mm or 16mm replacements? Im just buying the ball Joints only. Not a complete arm.

2. I have to buy them local to me from NAPA, CARQUEST, Auto Zone, or Advanced Auto. Is there a less expensive brand that would last at least a few years, on a LS with 214k miles? I know about the Moog ones. Any other?

Thanks

 

[FDR]

I believe the bases are supposed to have 14mm and 16mm on the Sports for Gen 1, and I believe they eventually went to 16mm for all. But measuring your own is really the only positive way to tell.

At www.fordparts.com I put in year/make/model/engine and it returned both sizes (select steering > look for the lower control arm or steering knuckle). However, when I put my 02 Sport's VIN, it only returned the 16mm size. I haven't measured mine though

 

[oddball]

Lower balljoints aren't installed in the arm. Lower balljoints are installed in the spindle, then bolted to the lower arm. The upper balljoint is in the upper arm and bolts to the spindle.

'02 Sport *should* have 16mm. However, if you swapped arms and balljoints (with or without spindle), then you may have swapped down to 14mm.
Get a 14mm and a 16mm nut from the hardware store, take off the nut on the balljoint, see which one fits. Note that the nylock nut on the ball joint is ONE TIME USE. It will loosen after being used once. So if you're swapping new balljoints (with nuts) right away then it's fine. If you need to drive the car, then use blue locktite.

Moog is pretty much the only high reliability choice that I've seen. Do note that removing and replacing the balljoints on the spindle can be a little interesting, and many shops don't willingly do that anymore. Some folks have had success using the parts store balljoint tools with the spindle still on the car. I had difficulty using a 20 ton press with the spindle stripped down. YMMV.

 

[milehighmikey]

I thought the 16 mm came with the 2003 changes. These cars are a beast on lower ball joints, and you will quickly find out if you have installed inferior replacements. I used a pair of mevotech $75 new steering knuckles with new ball joints installed and they died inside of 6 months, and their death was a horrible one! Torqued to 111 lb/ft with new nylock nuts, they seized so badly internally that steering the car was able to break the nylock nut free and unscrew them several turns just by driving! Talk about a scary ride, these things while loose would make the car change a half lane going over a bridge seam at highway speed! I replaced with Moog and got a whole 2 years out of them (50K miles maybe).