1998 Dodge ram 1500 4x4 upper ball joint problem

I am putting new ball joints in my truck and on the upper joint it comes through the steering knuckle so far that I don't have enough threads to tighten the bolt. Is my steering knuckle bad? I am really confused.

Is it a aftermarket ball joint? You may need a washer under it. Not common but I've seen a few that way. If you still have the other side to do,try fitting the joint in the knuckle and check the fit. Does the tapper seem ok?

I just did mine a couple months ago and it seems I ran into this too.

I had to

Curios what brand and part # is that?

Moog ball joints.

I have used narrow machine washers to take up a little space... but from the pic it looks like a lot of gap. Almost 1/4"?

Agree inspect and swap parts side to side to check it out. Maybe the receiving hole is wallowed out or the ball joint is not made correctly.

for this what the remedy for this?

I'd put a washer in there.... Moog stuff scares me anymore in this department. I've had a few 4x4 trucks that the steering wheel wouldn't return center after their install. They had too much tension on them. Went with the more expensive Mopar ones and problem solved in more than 3 cases I can think of recently. Moog always seemed to have a good name in this department.

i have seen some with nice thick washers on them and some without.....

I bought a bunch of Moog stuff when I rebuilt the front end on my 92 D250. I am not impressed with the quality of their stuff any more. The top of the line NAPA stuff is much better but also much more expensive.

Napa/AcDelco or OEM.

Raybestos PRO used to be an option as well... unfortunately they ceased existing a couple years ago and most inventory has since been depleted.

Moog is and always has been and always will be over hyped garbage that does not last.

I've been using XRF parts for everything suspension related anymore.

Thaxs i'll check napa.