Replacing upper ball joint question 64 Deville

[Tosh Dickenson]

I'm in the process of rebuilding the front suspension with a kit from Kanter.  The original upper ball joints were tack welded in as is often the norm.

The replacement ball joints came with a bracket with a hole that looks like it might prevent the ball joint from turning and maybe you could put a bolt through into the control arm to retain it?  Unfortunately the kit came with no instructions.

The odd thing is if I install the ball joint as shown in the photo, the bracket won't sit flush with the control arm and will have to be compressed severely to make the joint seat completely.

The only other difference between the old joint and new is the grease boot threads on rather than relying on a spring to hold it secure to the joint.

Anybody seen this before?

[Russ Austin]

That's normal, just run a bead down to the control arm.

[Tosh Dickenson]

Hi Russ,

Thanks for response.  I know tack welding the ball joint is normal but the bracket is what I'm not sure of.  Are you saying to weld the bracket to the control arm?

[David Thomas]

The upper ball joints are side specific. They press into the control arm from the top until they seated in the control arm. The flange on the joint should be squared up with equal space from the control arm sides. The flange keeps the ball joint from possibly spinning in the hole. The nut screws on from the bottom side and is tightened securely to keep the ball joint in place. Be sure to put right on right side, left on the left. It's very important.  HTH.

[Tosh Dickenson]

Thanks David, that makes sense.  I appreciate the help!