Hello, the other day I was driving, just normal driving not racing / "grip driving" / "spirited driving", just casually driving to work. Well, I make a left turn, and go down a small hill (road has different elevation, not really a hill), and go to straighten up and lose almost all turning capabilities, and hear a loud thud followed by the sound of metal scraping. Immediatly, I pull over, and look for a wheel to be off, as for that's what I assumed it was. Turns out my front left ball joint had snapped off, and my axle boot was ripped. My ball joint(what was remaining) had come up and out of the LCA, then shifted and was resting on the inside of my wheel. My axle boot is pretty bad, but it was drivable(obviously no more than to get me home).


My question is, what could have caused this? I couldn't find the ball joint nut, but the threads were stripped as if it ripped off. Could a left hand turn and a small downward hill, really cause the ball joint to lift up through the LCA, and then land back down on my wheel? Or was this caused by something else?

I'll probably take pictures today after class when I go to swap out the axle.

Thanks guys.

 

Sounds like somebody didnt install the castle nut and cotter pin correctly...get a new ball joint and reinstall it properly and you should have no more issues.

 

They don't fall apart for no reason.

Either someone installed it wrong, or it was old and rusty

 

$48.52 List price

$36 + tax SHIPPED. Brand new OEM.

LMK