: Awhile back we were advising people on frt
: suspension rebuilds. It ocurred to me while
: doing my '79 300's frt end, we had neglected
: to mention some important things to look at
: regarding ball joint studs and the female
: tapers they fit with.
: The best time to begin this is when you are
: disassembling the control arms , steering
: knuckles, etc. Look closely at the tapers,
: internal and external. There are the obvious
: signs of poor fit: gouged tapers, rusty
: patches indicating non-contact, cotter pins
: up above the castellated nuts, etc. To help
: to visually see the fit you can use
: machinist's 'Prussian Blue'( I know Permatex
: makes it). Smear a thin coat on the male
: taper and then insert the male end into the
: female receiving taper hole. Draw it up a
: little with the nut and then tear it back
: apart. The bluing will transfer by contact
: to the female taper and you'll be able to
: more easily see the fit or lack thereof. If
: it is a severe misfit, the part should be
: replaced. But I know there are only so many
: of these parts out there anymore, so here's
: what you can do: the internal taper can be
: re reamed with an appropriately tapered
: reamer(a little hard to find); or you can
: use a die grinder and a 'bee-hive' sanding
: scroll to LIGHTLY grind down the 'high'
: spots of the female taper(cut & try)
: until you get a good fit all around and full
: length. It's not going to be perfect, try
: for 70-80% contact. Be advised that the more
: you grind out of the female taper hole, the
: further the taper stud drops into the hole.
: If it drops in enough, all the thread will
: be exposed, which can mean the nut will
: bottom out on the thread without fully
: drawing in and locking the tapers together.
: That is not adviseable. You can get around
: that by adding some good quality(GR8) stud
: washers beneath the nut to 'restore' thread
: exposure, for proper torque and locating the
: cotter pin within the castellations of the
: lock nut.
: You have to use some judgement here, don't
: stack up a 3/8" of washers, and if the
: taper is too far gone let it go, and replace
: the part. If one of these ball joints lets
: go, it could be catastrophic. I've never
: personally witnessed a Mopar break a ball
: joint, but I would guess it would be worse
: than a tire blowout.