Disregard everything I have written about the FA1673 ball joint ever fitting the 3/S control arm.
New Information
I assumed that I knew that because the Eclipse/Talon ball joint fit the 3/s controlarm, which you have already discovered does not. This led me down the path of discovery. Frankly, I should remove that entire posting and redo all of my typings with the correct information I discovered.
What the people that are selling these "magical" ball joints both here and on Ebay that fit the 3/S platform are for a 1995-98 Hyundai Sonata. V-6 or 4 banger doesn't matter.
What you are looking for is Moog K9855 or its equivelent.
TRW 104-244 is one such equivelent.
So is the NAPA ATM 1013408.
This also fits the 94-current Hyundai Tiburons as well. However, They do not have the preloaded spring underneath the ball socket along with the accompanying "bulb" at the end of the joint itself. That joint is p/n Moog k9455. Either one fits. Use the k9855 unit or its equivelent instead of the k9455 in my opinion.
Yes, I have installed this very joint in my '92 VR4 and it is the actual joint. You can take that information to the bank.
So, to all that have ever profitted from selling ball joints for roughly 250% markup, piss on you all.
Seriously? $99 for a set of ball joints?
Granted, I'm sure these companies/individuals have to make a living too but to allow some of you poor bastards to think that a ball joint isn't available from Autozone, or Napa, or CSK is just flat wrong. Maybe those a little further along in the tech dept. have already researched this and discovered that ball joints are available without the price tag attached.
3SX charging $75 per joint or the seller on Ebay charging $45 +shipping or anyone else for that matter selling "specific to the 3/S community" would like you to believe that there is something special about their product.
For anyone that wishes to know, ball joints are available for this platform from any auto parts store. I purchased the Autozone/Duralast FA1673 greaseable ball joint for $29.99. The application of this joint is for the DSM platform as well as any other FWD based semi-modern Mitsubishi that uses a tapered shank rather than a pinch bolt style. Just be sure to get the unit that has the bulb at the end rather than the non-serviceable unit.
As someone on this forum once said, there are only ~5 different joints that Mitsubishi ever used.
Yes, they do fit the rear control arms. There is no magic behind these joints