Ball joint nut torque question..

[chillware]

Hi guys,

I found a PDF here on the forums that gives me the proper ball joint torque specs, 50 for the upper, and 90 for the lowers.

Question is, should I be torquing the nuts while the pressure is relieved (compressed) on the coil spring, or while the coil spring is allowed to push down on the LCA? Or does it even matter?

I ask because last night I installed my drop spindle and torqued the the upper and lowers to 50/90 and the damn spindle was extremely difficult to move, so much so that it ripped the brand new boot on the lower ball joint because it was pulled down so tightly against it. I had spring compressed while I torqued the nuts.

Any thoughts?

[LONGHAIR]

The torque is pulling the against the taper, so the load on the spring is of no significance.

It sounds to me like the tapered hole in the new spindle was drilled too deep. That would allow the stud to pull further into it, thus crushing the boot.