put in ball joints and steering is stiff??????

mkpecor · Feb 9, 2008

i just did my ball joints on both sides of my 88 4x4 ranger evey thing went nice and easy, buy now my steering is stiffer then be for i did them, it called for 90 pounds, did every thing to specs just dont now if its bad or not , i dont want it to blow my steering pump, any one have this prob to or should it be like this untill they get worked in????????????? thanks :yahoo:

mkpecor · Feb 9, 2008

Any One, Is This Normall When You Do Ball Joints?

mkpecor · Feb 9, 2008

never mind i over tightend the lower ball joints,[ ****]

MAKG · Feb 10, 2008

That would do it.

In general, you can expect binding on Dana 28 (no pinch bolt) balljoints if you don't follow the instructions to the letter. The reason is that you can permanently push the two balljoints together or apart. Dana 35s are much more forgiving due to the pinch bolt.

Joshs93four-oh · Feb 10, 2008

All said so far is possible...I've done preobably 200+ ball joint replacements on ford trucks in the past 3 years...about 50 percent of them have increased steering tightness, memory steer etc. after replacement. The ball joints will loosen up after some time. Make sure your camber/caster sleeves are in all the way. Also make sure that the new ball joints are pressed in all the way. You should have an alignment done at a shop that knows how to adjust the camber/caster with aftermarket sleeves-good luck on that. As far as overtightening the ball joint castle nuts my opinion I cant see that causing tight steering...It would gall the threads on the ball joint studs before pulling the stud into the taper farther than it should. I would say see a shop for an alignment and drive it and see if they loosen up. If you vehicle had excessive negative camber(inward lean at the top of the front wheels) and GOOD toe readings BEFORE you replaced the ball joints then it almost certainly has excessive toe-in now, which will also cause hard steering/memory steer easpecially in ford i-beam setups. Not trying to step on anyones toes here, just have nothing better to do than think and type and when you do 5 or more alignments a day you tend to see trends...Josh
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mkpecor · Feb 10, 2008

the lower ball joints were way to tight, they should have been at 40 puonds, i had them at 100, the same as the top, so this morning i tore it all back down and loosend evey thing back up and did the lowers at 40 pbs and uppers at 100pbs and its back to normal. i should have nown when i could barly turn the nuckle, any way its all fixed now, thanks for all your thoughts guys.

Sasquatch_Ryda · Feb 11, 2008

I replace balljoints daily on all sorts of makes and models at my shop and have never once used a torque wrench on a castle nut on a balljoint, I just run em up with the 1/2" impact and put the cotter pin in. Never had a come back for tight steering yet.

mkpecor · Feb 11, 2008

i dident think it would matter, the steering wheel would want to stay turned when i was comeing out of a corner, it sucked im glad i went back in there to put every thing at the right tork settins.. the power steering pump wouldent have lasted long,..

MAKG · Feb 11, 2008

The power steering pump would have been fine.

But it's hard (and exhausting) to drive a truck when steering is binding. It also would wear the balljoints quickly until they loosened up, which will shorten their lives.

put in ball joints and steering is stiff??????

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