Never had this happen before, but I was in the process of replacing the ball joints on my 87, the old ones came out with the tap of a rubber mallet. Literally. New ones..won't go in at all. Period.

I've used two different presses, the first ones threads ripped out, second one from auto zone bent it backwards and warped the hole in the control arm, as well as snapping a 1/2"drive snap on ratchet.
They werent cockeyed either, and are indeed the right ones for a bird.
so uh..any other ideas?

Great timing, being that its my DD, leave for vacation in a day and have to be back to work day after I get back.
Grr.. if nothing works, then looks like this is when she gets welded to a 4x4 frame

 

What are the replacement parts you're trying to install? I had tried to install Moog Problem Solver ball joints on a different (non F-body) and realized the problem solver was a larger diameter for control arms that had the holes wallowed out from a bad joint. After realizing I should've went with the regular Moog but too late to take it back, I froze the joint in the deep freezer over night, took a torch and heated the control arm as hot as propane would get it, then brought the joint out of the freezer and installed it.

 

They're duralast factory spec replacements, nothing fancy. The only way I could see them fitting is if the boot wasn't there, which is no bueno.
I dont have time to deep freeze, but I did fire up the fire wrench and heat the arm up to red hot°f, still Nada.
Makes me think something else is clearly wrong, either with the new joints, or my arms, since I've never managed to bend one of those presses, even working out joints from cars that sat in a field for 40 years.

 

I don't know what exactly your new joints look like but the boot should go on after they are pressed on already,

 

Either you're an idiot, you're joking, or I'm am even bigger idiot and you just solved the whole issue. Which I'm leaning towards the "I'm an idiot, can't believe I missed that" option.

 

I've always put the boot on after myself. Damn things are press fit to begin with. I couldn't imagine installing with the boot.

 

i have a video on installing ball joints on a thirdgen using autozone ball joint rental tool (see below)..I also have a full version..check out my channel for that one..

.i have come across hard to install ball joints that bend the clamps..what i do is..leave the clamp on and tighten it as much as i could..then spray butter sauce (wd40) into the ball joint from above..and then go away for an hour..come back..the ball joint is in

 

firm taps to the top of the ball joint press (not the threaded side) also help. I usually tighten a little, then a few firm taps, tighten a little, etc. Never broke or bent a tool and have done dozens of ball joint jobs. I also like to put never seez on the threads. some guys also like to throw a tack weld or two once the new ball joint is installed. I always judged this on how the old ones came out and new ones went in. if yours came out by tapping with a rubber mallet, i would get a different set of control arms...