Mevotech Lower Control arm ball joints. Failed Safety. ??

[Jeff_J.]

Has anyone else had problems with Mevotech LCA ball joints right out of the box? I had my 2022 MK4 in for it's safety yesterday and the LCA ball joints failed to pass. Pretty sure these are Mevotech ball joints, they come already inserted into the LCA's From FF so it's not like I didn't install them correctly. The car has 10 miles on it from Go Carting so it's not like they are worn out..
I have to come up with a game plan to get it corrected one way or another. Little disappointing...
Thanks for any insights..
Jeff_J

[Jeff Kleiner]

They come from FFR assembled into the LCA. Curious what makes you think they are Mevotech brand and also what was the reason for the failure? If you want to replace them you can choose whatever manufacturer you like since they are simply off the shelf Fox Mustang joints.

Jeff

[Hoooper]

Why did they fail the inspection?

[Jeff_J.]

Hi Jeff, I guessed at them being Mevotech because they had the same color boot as the UCA ball joint - It was a guess the Ball joints would have been from the same manufacturer I used a Howe racing ball joint on the UCA when I did the initial installation. I'm going to be under there today to have a closer look at the possible cause for the failure. I was curious if maybe others have had the same issue. I'll post what I find under there either way..
Jeff_J.

[Hoooper]

The inspection didnt say why they failed, just that they failed?

[JohnK]

They didn't give you a reason/explanation when they failed them during the inspection?

Edit: Hooper beat me to it. I'd press them for a reason for the failure.

[Jeff_J.]

Hi Hoooper - to much freeplay on the drivers side - significantly less on the PS but still a little.

[Jeff Kleiner]

That's a loaded joint. How were they checking it? With the suspension hanging or with the LCA supported and the tire off of the ground?

Jeff

[Jeff_J.]

Suspension hanging, he grabbed onto the top and bottom of the tire pushed and pulled and there is movement where the stem goes bolts into the spindle. I'm going to have closer look at it shortly and advise what I see/find.

[Jeff Kleiner]

Suspension hanging, he grabbed onto the top and bottom of the tire pushed and pulled and there is movement where the stem goes bolts into the spindle. I'm going to have closer look at it shortly and advise what I see/find.

The way you describe it sounds like there was movement between the spindle and ball joint tapered stud and not within the joint itself. If the former is correct it's an assembly problem; if it's the latter it's the joint.

Jeff

[J R Jones]

Jack, FWIW I upgraded my 818 (steel) LCA to the Mevotech aluminum forgings. Shopping them on line Summitt had options varying in price and part number. The images were all the same.
I researched Mevotech (made in Taiwan) and distributed out of Canada. A call to customer service resulted in this explanation:
The expensive tooled forging is the same regardless of number and price. The lower cost assemblies have low cost hardware.
In the case of the 818 (Subaru) control arm, the low sales volume does not justify different assemblies, and all the various numbers and prices are the same quality.
That is not necessarily the explanation of your part, but better hardware may be available.
jim

[Jeff_J.]

I took a look at this again and pulled & pushed the top and bottom of the wheel again, there is movement at the spot the ball joint stem enters the spindle.
188959

it's almost like the ball joint stem is not fitting the the hole in the spindle correctly or tightening correctly. I can confirm I have checked the torque of the castle nut to be minimum 80 ft lbs. The spindle and shock are the only things the UCA to the LCA so there shouldn't be anything preventing it from tightening together unless I'm missing something???
Jeff_J

[michael everson]

FFR needs to know about this if the fit is wrong. Hopefully its a one time thing.
Mike

[rich grsc]

I'd bet the taper is wedged on the spacer you have under the nut.

[Jeff Kleiner]

As Rich alluded to, there is a bevel on the spacer that goes under the nut.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=188967&d=1692219106

The bevel is supposed to be towards the spindle. If it is installed upside down when the nut is tightened it will wedge the spacer and not tighten the tapered ball joint stud into the spindle. If this is the case it would explain the looseness. Remove the nut and check the direction of the spacer.

Jeff

188967

[Jeff_J.]

Ok, I'll have a look at the that right away...
JJ.

[Jeff_J.]

I removed the Castle nut, the spacer was oriented correctly, taper facing down. I did notice the stem of the ball joint is barley above the surface of the spindle so the tapered spacer is probably not capturing anything, which might explain the freeplay. pict 1 is the nut off showing the stem, 2 is the tapered spacer face down on the spindle, 3 is reassembled with Castle nut, not yet torqued.
188969
188970
188971

[Rdone585]

Comparing the picture earlier and the last one just posted, it appears to me the castle nut is threaded on the ball joint one to two threads further than previously. Maybe it's 'an illusion but that's what I see. Sometimes a torque reading doesn't guarantee the nut is fully seated. Perhaps it is now. Are you able to detect any play between the spindle and the control arm?

Edit: Thought I would add this... I often put a thin layer of grease in the spindle hole and on the taper of the ball joint to make sure they slide together smoothly.

[Jeff_J.]

I'm not sure if the nut is any lower I have not torqued it yet but I'm up for trying anything at this point. I'll post if it makes a difference. I'm considering the options going forward - I think I'm coming to the point were I have to remove the spindle from the LCA and see if I can determine any reason why the Ball Joint taper may not be extending far enough into the spacer to be fully captured. This Balljoint, LCA and Spindle are used on a lot of builds so the answer is here somewhere. Is it possible the blue rubber boot is caught under the spindle and holding it up from seating? Guess I'll find out Thursday morning. Thanks for the input from all....
JJ

[michael everson]

Once you get the spindle off take some measurements of the size of the hole on both sides with calipers. My guess is the taper is too big. I have a set here that measures .827 at the bottom and .690 at the top.
Mike

[Norm B]

It’s a long shot but, maybe the wrong ball joint was installed. I have received the wrong part in a box with the correct part number on it twice in all the years I have been wrenching on cars.

Norm

[Jeff_J.]

So I have made headway on this issue. It points to a failure of the Ball joints as supplied in the LCA's, the drivers side was flagged right away on inspection the PS probably would have passed but if one side is suspect you might as well do both.. I spent an hour or two on the removal of both LCA's I'll have Moog Ball Joints installed this time and have the LCA's back in pretty fast.. Little disappointing brand new parts fail from the get go. I'm moving on...
Thanks to everyone who offered opinions and help to find the problem, it's a great forum with lots of helpful souls...
Jeff _J