Mix and match ball joints?

So this weekend I planned on replacing all four ball joints. After a lot of reading, researching, etc., I ended up just going cheap and getting O'Reilly's house brand MasterPro.

So here's my question. I got two MasterPro lowers, and two MasterPro uppers. I was smart enough to open the boxes to check the parts before I left, and sure enough, one of them was completely wrong (even though the box was labeled the right way). Since they didn't have another one of these in stock, they gave me a Moog upper for the same price ($25! not a bad deal!). Is there any reason not to mix and match brands here? I mean, as long as they fit, it shouldn't be a problem, right?

I thought if nothing else, this will at least give a real comparison on longevity of the two brands side-by-side. For what it's worth, the stud on the MasterPro brand seems thicker and heavier-duty than the Moog part. I guess that's not necessarily an indication of quality, but I thought it worth noting.

So is it ok to go ahead and put one Moog upper on one side and one MasterPro upper on the other side? Would you guys do this or not do it? I'm not seeing any reason not to, but then again, this is the first time I've done much at all to my Jeep; pulling an axle was a big job for me and I'm sort of halfway proud of myself for getting it this far.

Oh yeah, and does anyone happen to know off the top of his head the size of the castle nut on the lower stock ball joint? I have a 1 1/16" socket and a 1 1/4" socket, with the former being too small and the latter being too large. I've read it is supposed to be a 1 5/16", but that seems like a weird size. Is it possible it is metric? Any reason not to just use a crescent wrench here?

Thanks a lot for any advice or information you can give me. I really appreciate it.

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2000 XJ 4.0L, completely stock (for now, anyway)

it wont matter, just use it. however Moog isn't the greatest.

nfletche said:

... Oh yeah, and does anyone happen to know off the top of his head the size of the castle nut on the lower stock ball joint? I have a 1 1/16" socket and a 1 1/4" socket, with the former being too small and the latter being too large. I've read it is supposed to be a 1 5/16", but that seems like a weird size. Is it possible it is metric? Any reason not to just use a crescent wrench here? ...

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It should be 1 1/8" ... or at least mine are ... 1 5/16" is bigger than 1 1/4" (and also fits the pitman arm)

You could try a crescent wrench ... after which you grab a socket and use that after about 5-10 mins of trying.

Vanimal said:

however Moog isn't the greatest.

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Yes, so I've heard... on here, on other Jeep forums, on Ford truck forums, diesel forums, etc. It seems nobody likes Moog these days... which is why I wasn't about to spend that much extra for that name. But I thought if they were gonna give it to me for $25, I might as well use it.

Yeah, i didn't think it would matter to mix and match... but thanks a lot for your opinion.

Devilfrog said:

It should be 1 1/8" ... or at least mine are ... 1 5/16" is bigger than 1 1/4" (and also fits the pitman arm)

You could try a crescent wrench ... after which you grab a socket and use that after about 5-10 mins of trying.

Click to expand...

Oh yeah, that was me being stupid...shoulda caught that 1 5/16" is bigger than 1 1/4"! Yes, ok, 1 1/8" is probably the right one. I guessed wrong when I ran to Sears to get a new one, so I hate to make that mistake again...especially since I live way out in the middle of nowhere and it takes me a 30 or 40 minutes to get to town. Wasted my whole Sunday because I was too dumb to figure out what size I needed...

Ok, so I see your opinion on the crescent wrench idea...which I somehow already knew was a bad choice. Thanks for not making fun of me TOO much :yap:

Thanks a lot, this helps a lot. I was almost certain it had to be the 1 1/8". The fact that you verified this (sort of) makes me feel pretty confident that that's the right one.

Just to update...

Mixing and matching different brands seems to actually be a bad idea. The one Moog that I had apparently had a slightly smaller stud diameter than the store brand. It ended up working once I got some weight on it and everything settled (had to retorque the nut, though). That being said, the Moog did press into the steering knuckle a LOT easier than the MasterPros.

I would, though, suggest thinking very carefully before doing this. Mine was a PITA, and I think the extra trouble I had by mixing brands with slightly different tolerances probably makes it worth getting all parts of the same brand.

Either way, thanks again. That was one tough job; I hope I don't have to do it again. I don't know how you guys do all this crazy stuff with your Jeeps!