Sorry for the length of this post in advance, but I must get this off my chest (doctor ordered therapy).
I posted up a link to the socket that you need to remove the screw in ball joints for my 92 Dakota 4wd and placed the order. All the parts arrived from Summit 2 days later and I thought I was all set. Then "Murphy" knocked on my front door.
First I made the mistake of ordering Mevotech ball joints instead of Moog or PST. I was able to get the left side joint out fairly easily.The new joint threaded in and torqued to 130 ft lbs and so I thought I was home free.Not so fast...the stud went into the socket so deep that even with a thick washer the hole for the cotter pin didn't line with the slots in the nut.(more on this later). I switched over to the passenger side and the old joint came out pretty easily...a little too easily. When I screwed in the new cheap POS Mevotech it spun at 25 ft lbs....oh sh*t! After some interwebs research I found the tack fix for this style of ball joint and set my MIG up to do this seemingly easy task (murphy again). Cleaned everything off, and proceeded to blow a hole in the top of the cheap, thin Mevotech....oh my F*#KING word! Called around and found a Moog K778 for 3 times the money of the POS Mevotech(not a fan at this point) for delivery the next morning.Oh well ...it's only money right?
Moog joint arrived and it was readily apparent that it was much better quality.It definitely started much tighter , but would only torque to 75 ft lbs before I chickened out. I then successfully got 2 beefy tacks on it and called it good. Got the bottom nut started and it lined right up and the cotter pin installed correctly.This is because the nut supplied was twice the height as the cheap POS Mevotech nut (reoccurring theme here).
Now for "Murphy" part 2. I went to hook up the battery the next morning after welding and the truck was dead....totally dark.[ Moparts Family Site - Keep it Friendly ]? I had less than an hour before the last FEA appointment available this week. Battery showed 12.4 volts and fully charged but would not turn truck over??? Next door neighbor came over and gave me a boost and truck started right up. I jumped in and raced over to the tire place thinking I was all set...wrong! Truck shut off completely as I turned into their parking lot. Boosted it again and it was up on the alignment rack. Finally I was home free! Turns out battery showed 12.4 volts but only 43 out of 600 cranking amps. There goes another $129......oh well it's only money, right?
Let's get this thing lined up, get a new battery and be done with this right? Wrong! Just then "Murphy" made his 3rd appearance. 1 1/2 hours later the manager comes over and informs me that they don't dare touch the adjustment bolts to set the camber due to extreme rusting.They are afraid they will break and I'll be SOL. Turns out these parts are NLA. [ Moparts Family Site - Keep it Friendly ]... "Murphy" is over in the corner, laughs and raises a glass to my sorrow. This all started because I put new tires on and wanted to get an alignment! It is the next morning as I am typing this after having medicated myself to sleep last night. I also threw the POS Mevotech ball joint out in the woods in frustration. The moral of this tragic story is 1- Don't buy cheap sh*t and 2- "Murphy" always wins Now, to find some good, clean front suspension parts for a 91-96 Dakota 4wd.....anybody?
