If you get new ball joints they come with new bolts.
I cant recall the size/pitch. Try taking the nut off the other side to match. Grade 8.8 should be fine and easy to come by, if you can find it a 10.9 would be a good upgrade.

What I can say is that if the head breaks off, get yourself some Kroil or PB blaster and saturate the joint. Use a punch to knock the bolt out.

 

Cool. I'll take it to the hardware store and try to match it.

Yeah, that one bolt is stuck. The nut came loose and off the other side, but I cannot get the bolt to slide out, even after beating on it with a hammer. Now that I've actually removed the whole assembly from the car, I'll try to wedge the joint open so I can slide it out.

 

You can get new ball joints seperate from the control arms. I dont know if new control arms will come with bolts.

Only drawback to replacing the balljoint alone is the fact you need to drill out the rivots that hold on the OE ball joint.

 

The new OEM bolts are $1.10 each from me and retail for $2.00 each.

An air hammer is your friend, you can use the chisel bit to force open the gap there to get the bolt out and drop the ball joint and a pointed bit to help push really stubborn bolts out.

I really wouldn't use a generic hardware store bolt in that application.

 

I don't want to use a generic bolt. I'll order a proper grade bolt from McMaster-Carr if it would mean being able to use a non-Torx bolt. I hate those damn things.

Can you get a hex head for this application? If so, I'll order them from you. Heck, I need to order the clutch replacement bolts from you anyway. Speaking of which, what days/time do you work?

 

Okay. That's probably what I should have done in the first place! I'll call you later this week with a list of parts that I need.

 

I will also say that I usually replace those because they do have a tendency to bend when you torque them down which also makes them difficult to remove.

I'm not a big fan of torx bolts either but at least this one gives the option of taking the nut off.

 

Any bolt and nut of the proper diameter and grade will work just fine. I'm quite sure the bolts that came with my Moog ball joint were not torx, and they are either 8.8 or higher in grade.

 

It takes a 15mm socket to get the nut off of the Torx bolt, if that helps any.

And holy crap, if I didn't know your car was an '02, I would have thought I was looking at an antique with all that rust. Maryland is not kind to your car. My control arms and knuckles are still black...

I might be moving to Ohio in 3 years, so if I still have my car, I can kiss all of that goodbye...

 

Oh yeah, I have the nuts off the backside of the bolts. The passenger side came off with nary a problem. The driver's side nut came off, but now the bolt doesn't want to slide out. Now I have an excuse to buy a new tool--an air hammer...

I don't know the full history of this car. I'm AT LEAST the third owner, if not the fourth. At one point, it was registered in PA; I don't know where else, though.

I'd like to order some POR-15 and paint all that crap before I get done here.

 

Ahh, I just messed with these as well. I will have to get a couple from FORDSVTPARTS when I order all the other stuff I need this week.

Also, my Michigan car is rusty like that also, go figure.