There are really only two things it could be the wheel bearings or the brakes imo. To figure out which i would clamp the front brake line off and drive it around somewhere safe as it will pull to one side then check and if it is still hot if so the wheel bearings have to be the problem. I cannot see how a balljoint can create enogh friction to get that hot.

If your hub is what's getting hot, you could feel it at the castle nut - the inner shaft would warm up long before any heat would travel out to the ball joints.

When you installed the wheel bearings, did you pack them with grease first? As in work gease with your fingers (or a bearing loader) into the races between the rollers or balls?

To check the ball joint pivoting, undo the tie rod end on that side, and with both sides off the floor, pivot each side separately by grasping the wheel or hub. The disconnected side should be much easier since you aren't pushing the rack. Try it with the joints loaded by jacking up on the lower arm to get the ball joints at their operating level, not drooped down.

During my rebuild, I used the torque settings in the book and the front spin relatively freely (not much mass to keep them spinning very long) but the rears don't freewheel at all with the factory torque settings. Not sure if I need to run a few laps around the neighborhood or not. We'll find out I guess. haha

 Well, I can categorically say it's not the brakes heating up. Ran the car again and felt the calipers and they are not hot. But the hub, at least by the ball joint does appear to be hot. I was in a rush, so I wasn't able to actually feel the entire hub to see if  One person was hotter than the other but maybe I could try that. 

 How free should the wheels be once jacked up?  As I said, I installed the bearings exactly as described in the manual into the correct  torque setting. They did feel stiff  but would rotate without any rock tumbling sounds. I know what you mean. I guess I have the same question for the rear. Most cars I've done don't give a torque setting for the rears, and it's more of a guessing game. Much like the Ball joints settings. My manual stated something like 60 pounds for the rear bearing nut. Should have went by feel for botH?

Yes, he said he did all he was supposed to do - lapping, shimming, reshimming and even cutting grease grooves.

About the grease grooves: Personally, I'm not convined they are the best of ideas fo a road car. Hydraulics being what they are, when grease is forced into a joint, and uness the joint is an inerference fit, there is a minute space between parts, so it will flow. How many cars (any make) have OEM ball joints with grooves? My suspicion is that the grooves just channeled grease from the zirk fitting/grease nipple right out the other side, with minimal actual lubing of the very carefully prepped (and probably very tight) bearing surfaces.

Along with verifying the wheel bearing, when the car is jacked up, see if the ball joints flex (up and down) smoohly and rotate, or whether they creak, even slightly.

I'm also with the majority here. I'd expect the heat to be migrating from some SERIOUSLY hot brakes (less likely inless you're racing) or your bearings are really hot and the heat is soaking through the hubs and into the balls.

I'm with Air2Air. Give the hub a good spin and listen for the river stones tumbling in a dryer.

Yeah that's the only way I could possibly imagine them getting hot.

If it was me I would suspect my bearing installation, take off the caliper and see how well the wheel spins and how much it sounds like a rock tumbler.

did you lap the joints before installing. the new ones seem to need because of casting marks. also did the grease actually go in the joint or did it stay in the zerk

Sorry if I didnt write this before but the brakes were not hot. Both the caliper and vented/slotted rotors were warm as they should.

The bearings are new and I torqued them down to the specs...even bought the correct washer that you use first. 150lbs I believe and then tighten to the next slot. So, if the bearings are dragging, what could be the cause? They were packed with grease and assembled correctly.

I TOTALLY get that the balljoints do a whole hell of a lot of moving around. Obviously where there is friction, there is heat. Just wondering how much heat is too much heat I guess

if you have assembled both balljoints properly(left and right bj's) there will be no issues. but did you ever wonder why only the right bj is getting so hot? and the left side is not? it's probably because you didn't do the left bj correctly. if you will look how the balljoint works, the internal of the bj rubs as the car runs and the more uneven the road you drove on the more friction it creates and the hotter it gets, and just imagine how many thousands of up and down does the shock absorber do in an hours drive., the balljoint pivots up and down ass well thousands of times. 

better check it before it snaps when you're driving at high speed... 

i only use Unipart balljoints, i don't trust the chino ones.

I'd suspect wheel bearings or dragging brakes or wheel dragging before I'd suspect the balljoint itself.

That's just weird.

If they are hot to the touch........ STOP TOUCHING YOUR BALLS !

ha....sorry...no help

Yep, you read that right. Just got the car back on the road and after a drive, I notices a faint burning smell. Not of oil but of grease. I looked around and found steam (it was a cool night) coming off the right side ball joints. It was very very hot to the touch. I had assembled them to the best I could. Cut an grease groove, lapped them in, shimmed and reshimmed and rereshimmed till I got it right...whatever that actually is:-) I then regreased them once fully assembled. Grease came out of the top so I assumed it was getting everywhere.

So, how hot to your balls typically get? Ok, I'll stop with the ball jokes as I'm sure there will be plenty here. Haha. Anyone every experience this and know if something might be wrong?