The only LCA's I know of that will retain the stock ride height characteristics and hold up are the Motorcraft's. If your stock LCA's are still around and don't have anything wrong with them I would recommend keeping them and replacing the lower ball joint with a HD Moog or similar. The Motorcraft ball joints are holding up fine.
Pass side
less blurry dri side
I, personally, would be comfortable saying that's about what it looked like with the original bars and OEM LCAs.
But these are the Raybestos LCAs.
And I cannot see that tiny amount causing a ride height drop of over an inch.
If that's all the worse yours are then you don't have a problem with the hex. Look back at the pictures I posted and you should be able to tell right away if yours are bad or not. What problem are you having? Extremely low ride height?
Installing the new arms can be tricky. If installed with the wheels in the wrong place (droop/compressed) you will get an undesirable outcome.
You need to have the vehicles front wheels sitting where you want them to ride using a floor jack under the front cross member. Then insert the hex head, then install the rear bolt. Snug that bolt up tight then lower the jack slowly. Tighten (or loosen) the bolt to your desired height/lift, and measure the gap between the top of the tire or center of wheel to the bottom lip of the fender directly above. Drive it around the block and remeasure. Adjust the bolt again accordingly.
Good luck!