The Ball Joint on my driverside front tire decided to disconnect, which in turn caused me to skid about 150 feet sliding on the ball, this also caused the CV to get ripped out, and the tire was at a 90 degree angle into the fender, can a ball joint break that fast is there any way to forsee this?


Modified by rival12 at 2:25 PM 7/12/2004

 

Anyone?

 

Yes they can. Usually there is a lot of play in them before they break, but it can happen. Do you remember hitting anything shortly before it broke that may have caused it to? Lucky you didn't hit something or someone when it went. I have seen chevy trucks roll over when a ball joint lets loose.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by rival12 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">The Ball Joint on my driverside front tire decided to disconnect, which in turn caused me to skid about 150 feet sliding on the ball, this also caused the CV to get ripped out, and the tire was at a 90 degree angle into the fender, can a ball joint break that fast is there any way to forsee this?


Modified by rival12 at 2:25 PM 7/12/2004</TD></TR></TABLE>

Normal front end inspection probably would have caught this. Most of the time they get seriously loose before they finally go. Even if they don't get horrible, they get bad enough that you can see and feel the play in the ball joint. If one went, I would check the rest to make sure they aren't close as well.

 

I just finished replacing all of my ball joints