How many times can one replace ball joints before the hole gets reamed out and a new a-arm is needed, and does it really matter if one of the ears on an a-arm that holds the bushing is bent if everything else is straight?

Long story short, after doing the driver's side del-a-lums, I paid a guy to do the passenger side. Last night, as I was putting my weight jacks and strut mounts on, I noticed that the rearmost ear on the frontmost del-a-lum sleeve on the passenger is bent. The grease zerk is still accessible and the arm is in straight and fine and there are no cracks, it's just a little bent. I can post up a pic tomorrow.

I also went to replace the ball joint boots since one was ripped although I'd just replaced them with MOOG's about 1 year and 3,000 miles ago... and Murphy's law kicked in, the driver's side threads on the BJ stud were a little funky and I ended up getting stuck buying a Duralast BJ to get me home

I don't like that I'm not running two of the same brand and I've heard that Duralast is typically crap, but I cross-ref'd the numbers and found that McQuay-Norris uses the same p/n and they apparently have a decent reputation. Should I change ball joints again (3rd time for driver's side!) with the same a-arms? Preferably I'd get by with this setup for a couple summers and then snag some Howe joints and some new arms and Del-alums and run that.

 

When installing del a lum bushings, they need to be pressed in with a press. A hammer cannot do the job.
Due to its huge pressure, the ear of the a arm could be bent. But even if it is bent, it can be rebent to the original positon with a bind.
IMO as long as the holes of the bushes are aligned straight, and the bushes are fixed with the ears securely, and no part of the a arm interferes with the movement of the arm, the arm can be used as they are.
Of course, adjustment in wheel alignment is a must.

 

Control arms for these cars are a dime a dozen. They fit some other kind of vehicle as well, maybe S trucks or A/G bodies or something; junkyard'll have several sets of em already pulled and waiting for ya, just walk up to the counter and ask for em. Last pr I needed I paid like $30 for em. No point in putting damaged risky questionable parts that KEEP YOU AND EVERYBODY ELSE ALIVE back on your car; just do it right and move on.

"Duralast" and "McQuay-Norris" are just names on a box. They don't "make" anything; they just buy parts and box em. Irrelevant. Especially Duralast, that's just AZ's private label name for everything they sell. What matters is, who made them. Identify the mfr. Could be Moog or Dana for all you know; could be some offshore cheeeeepo place in the far East; could be anything. Pay more attention to the part inside the box, and less to the name on the box.

 

Pics of said ear:



Please excuse the greasy mess, should have wiped them off first...

I do plan on getting some good JY arms and putting them together, but the price of the del-a-lums and Howe extended ball joints is what's deterring me, along with the fact that I just had everything apart two days ago. Is it safe to drive it like this for a while? Is it even bad at all? My OCD/ paranoid side would have me park it and drop $3-400 on everything right away and spend a day tearing everything all back down, but my more rational side tells me that it's not that bad and since I've gone 1,000 miles with them like that, I could probably just wait until I have extra time and fundage or one of the ball joints goes bad again.

And as ball joints go, isn't Mcquay-Norris actually a manufacturer? Running the Duralast numbers came up with Mc-Quay Norris, and the alternative p/n came up with TRW and the spec sheet looks decent so I don't feel quite so bad about that. Any cons to running two different brands other than being upsetting to those with OCD?

 

I cannot see any problems from the pic...
The a arms are not completely symmetric anyway...