Issue with IHC 4/6 lowering kit ball joints.

[Racer9]

Installing my IHC 4/6 kit and having trouble getting the supplied lower ball joints to seat all the way, I'm unable to tighten the nut enough to get to the cotter pin hole.
I called them and was told to get an impact wrench and tighten away. I usually run the nut up until it touches and then tighten it with a 1/2" breaker bar.
I'm very uncomfortable with trying to tighten it further. It's a tapered fit, so if I hit it with an impact something has to give! I asked the torque spec and he said 110ft/lb, I'm sure I'm already further than that.
I looked up the OEM spec and it's 38ft/lb according to this 'site; https://tighttorque.com/trucks/dodge/ram-4. A new Moog bj says 60ft/lbs in the instructions.
I compared the bj's side by side and the IHC one looked bigger, I checked it with calipers and it is slightly bigger, maybe a 1/32" and that gap is consistent at several spots, so the taper is right, but that is the reason it will not fit properly.
Anybody ever encounter that?
I was told to send pics to tech support but I can't find their email address, it's not on the 'site and the "contact us" page doesn't allow pics.
I will speak with them again tomorrow and try to get this resolved. I might have to buy new bj's to replace the IHC ones.
Here's pics;
Side by side.

Showing the gap.


The old lock nut doesn't even go on all the way.

 

[G-Ride990]

Call them and send them those pics. Something has to be off. That balljoint is not right for that knuckle.

 

[6speed4.7]

Hey Racer your post is timely
Just cleaning my garage out to install an IHC 3/5 4x4 front control arm drop hopefully before Christmas
Pulled lower control arms out and looked at the hole for the cotter pin on the supplied BJ castle nut
Is there a difference in the factory one to IHC’s castle nut?
Mine seems to line up with the top of the castle nut and BJ stud
Curious to see where you end up with this
My IHC has been sitting in my garage for almost a year

 

[Racer9]

Just got off the phone with IHC, the bj is a GM part. Tech stated "this isn't the first kit we've sold and it won't be the last", and "you're looking for a problem that doesn't exist". They asked for a pic with the castle nut on to show the problem. The pic I sent was with the old lock nut on because I felt it would stay on better under this condition.
I'm not very happy with them. I'm going to have to buy a tapered reamer to open up the spindle hole a bit so it fits properly.
Other than this issue, I do think that it is a very good kit, well built and engineered, and fairly easy to install, and if it rides as good as stock, I'll be happy.
Side note, my front shocks are toast, and since I already had the front apart, I decided to switch to new Bilsteins, so it should actually ride better.

 

[Racer9]

Hey Racer your post is timely
Just cleaning my garage out to install an IHC 3/5 4x4 front control arm drop hopefully before Christmas
Pulled lower control arms out and looked at the hole for the cotter pin on the supplied BJ castle nut
Is there a difference in the factory one to IHC’s castle nut?
Mine seems to line up with the top of the castle nut and BJ stud
Curious to see where you end up with this
My IHC has been sitting in my garage for almost a year

I will have to look at mine, I didn't try that. When installed, mine won't tighten up enough to get to that cotter pin hole, so you can see that it isn't enough thread to hold properly, nor is the taper seated enough to support the spindle, IMHO.
Also, the oem Dodge joint has a hex stud at the end ans is held with a lock nut, so it is longer.

 

[G-Ride990]

Picture might be deceiving but it sure looks wayyyy off to me. Let us know if it was indeed correct

 

[Racer9]

So I called Moog tech support, the taper is 10* on both so that is not an issue, however the small end size of the GM bj is .730, while the Ram is .710, so the GM/IHC is .020 larger.
For 6speed4.7

On my truck. You can see only about half of the cotter pin hole, cannot get the pin in it. I need about 1 more turn on the nut.

 

[Bigskyroadglide]

I had the same issue. I took a drill and slightly enlarged the hole in the knuckle where it fits. . It took minimal effort. The ball joint is slightly larger. I've not seen any negative effects in about 40k miles.

If you look up the part number for the ball joint, it fits several manufacturers. Primarily gm

 

[6speed4.7]

Thanks guys the heads up and sharing
I’ll let you know how I make out when it’s my turn

 

[Racer9]

I had the same issue. I took a drill and slightly enlarged the hole in the knuckle where it fits. . It took minimal effort. The ball joint is slightly larger. I've not seen any negative effects in about 40k miles.

If you look up the part number for the ball joint, it fits several manufacturers. Primarily gm

The correct way is to use a tapered reamer. A drill makes a tapered hole into a straight hole. Not good.
But it does show that there is an issue with these kits and the oversize ball joints.

 

[Bigskyroadglide]

Op. Thanks for your advice. I've seen no difference in output or driving or damage after slightly enlarging the hole in the suspension component. While you are technically correct, I gave a short explanation of drill, vs the 100% explanation of the effort put in. Which involved the tapered reamer that I had to stop, go hunt down, purchase, read the directions and take the measurements. Before usage.

Have a great day.

 

[Racer9]

No problem. I understand, especially if it's your daily driver.
Another option would be to get a castle nut without the flange and go to a flat washer. That might gain enough to get to the cotter pin hole.
My truck is not a daily, it is off the road until spring anyways, so waiting for parts to fix it correctly isn't an issue for me.
I wonder how many other people have had this issue.

 

[Bigskyroadglide]

Every one. Except those that had ihc do the install.

It's a known issue, along with the occasional broken upper ball joint, the occasional broken bottom ball joint, putting the upper control arms on upside down and lining up the cut kit.

The directions have gotten better but early on, you had to spend more time figuring out stuff.

Now that they went main stream, it's a bit better.

 

[Racer9]

I am going to taper ream the hole a bit to get the bj to seat correctly. My concern about making any changes was that if/when I have to change the bj's would I have to alter something again. Since I know it's a GM bj I will just get a replacement GM one, it should fit with no issues.
If for some unforeseen reason I have to go back to a Ram lower control arm, I will just put a flat washer under the nut, that should give me enough room to get it tight, and line up the cotter pin hole, if there is one, instead of a lock nut like the original.
So, be advised, anyone looking to install the IHC kit, be prepared to have to taper ream the bj hole a bit. It is a 10* reamer. SpeedwayMotors has them for $92.

 

[Marshall]

It seems like a bad idea to ream when they could just send a Ram part instead of a GM part
But I guess they think close is good enough, or just don't give a damn.

In the old days with a 500.oo truck we would just hammer in a 2" or 2 1/2" rusty nail and drive it.

 

[Racer9]

My guess is they just standardized their BJ's to GM and ship all of their kits with them. I don't think a Mopar BJ will fit into their lower control arms, and it is a heavier BJ so that doesn't really hurt anything.
The instructions say to use a threadlocker, which is probably what most people do, but I'm old school and prefer to try to do things right. If there's a cotter pin hole it gets a cotter pin. I will probably add threadlocker also.
I now have the reamer, but I need a 1/2" angle drill to use it.

 

[6speed4.7]

Quick update on my IHC install
Thankfully the taper of the ball joint, castle nut, cotter pin and hole all lined up at 110lbs torque
Hopefully I’ll get an alignment appointment tomorrow and report back

 

[Racer9]

One of the lucky ones, congrats.
Mine is sitting on the ground, it's a 1/2' lower on the drivers side, I'm going to swap front springs around to see if that levels it.
I already tried swapping rear springs and turning the alignment eccentrics both ways on both sides.

 

[ready961]

I bought the kit and read the instructions but haven yet to install it. The arm fabrication is great. Their engineering here is pretty hack. They used GM ball joints I'm guessing because they are the right taper and bolt in. But the top is way to long and the bottom is too short.

Look at the instructions. They want you to use 2 supplied washers on the upper and the castle nut still doesn't make it to the cotter pin. The bottom they want you to only use half the cotter pin and locte tite. Pretty sketchy, major hack.

I'm planning to make a custom spacer for the top and mill a bit off the bottom of the spindle.