1995 RWD has stiff steering after balljoint job

[ratdude747]

Finally got around to swapping the ball joints on my 1995 RWD Ranger.

After installation the knuckles are stiff and I have a lot of steering memory.

The ball joints are Mevotech's from rock auto. I did grease them (and the 4 tie rod/pitman arm joints) after tightening everything.

On each side, I tightened the lower joint first, then hammered in the camber bushing. After that is when I tightened the pinch bolt.

So far, after 10 miles of curvy driving, it maybe loosened up a bit but still nothing.

Do my joints still need time to break in? Or did I screw something up?

 

[adsm08]

Did you get it aligned? The way those front ends are, even if the wheel is straight, you should still at least have the alignment checked after ball joint replacement.

 

[ratdude747]

Did you get it aligned? The way those front ends are, even if the wheel is straight, you should still at least have the alignment checked after ball joint replacement.

No I did not. I did notice some less than ideal tire wear on the right front tire indicating too much positive camber but I also found a loose spot on the right lower ball joint.

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Clarification: I do have return to center for the most part, it's only going straight down the road or at the exit of turns that the steering isn't self-centering (or tending to some direction at least).

Also, I did note that the knuckles were right after tighening the ball joints (lower 1st, upper 2nd) as I had to tap them into the right orientation to allow the tie rod to line up. I thought that with the upper joint being a smooth pinch bolt setup it wasn't possible to bind it up if the lower was tightened first??? Maybe I should loosen the pinch bolts, tap it a few times with a hammer, and retighten to releave tension?