So I put in new ball joints about 3k miles ago, and they are already loose and clunking around.

This weekend I'm planning on changing the bolts, using blue lock tight, and adding star washers top and bottom.

Was wondering if anyone might have a better idea to make sure they stay on place

 

I just recently replace my ball joints on mine too, when u took the old ball joints out how were the holes in the steering knuckle cause I had to replace mine on one side cause the hole was egg shaped and would of ruined them fast and that could be a cause on yours if they are like that

 

This is why there are torque instructions in service manuals.
Both the above cases.

I always smirked at every bolt having torquing specs but, thinking on it, if you didnt grow up turning wrenches and gaining a feel for it..how WOULD you know what is tight enough and what isnt.
Have to snap off a few along the way, too.

 

http://ww2.justanswer.com/uploads/ca...rque_specs.jpg

Go to Autozone and rent a Torque Wrench and tighten them down to Specs. See if that helps. If not then we may be looking at a different issue.

 

have a torque wrench just didn't use it cause I don't have any 11 and 12 mil sockets in 1/2 drive. Guess it's time to go buy an adapter. They were tight before cause i snapped one off, perhaps they were to tight and fatigued the bolts.

 

Ugh, don't you hate it when stuff is metric! My truck is like half Imperial, half Metric... its so annoying lol.

But maybe there is something else to blame. When is the last time you had an alignment done? Also did you remember to grease them? Did you also replace the ball sockets?

 

Yeah, I used to hate how auto manufacturers would mix metric and standard hardware on a vehicle. I've been turning wrenches for so long I can actually tell a metric thread from a standard. It's a gift. Or is it a curse? I dunno.