I was using the same joint on the original and didn't seem to have any problems with that though now that I look at it there is more distance between the ball and the leg on the old, may have to fix that. The reason I used a ball joint was because I want the lower part of the leg to be able to move left and right, not just back and forth, to help with the stance (see the very first pic I posted on page 1) and allow for movement that is more agile.

D.