[RESOLVED] Ball joint broke

[Andy123]

I was driving 50km/hr and suddenly felt like something popped and my car tilted and pulled hard to one side. Thank god their was a parking lot and it was night so not to many cars out. Took a look and my ball joint is definitely finished. Tire is pretty much on its side. Front passenger side. i just had the cv shaft and boot replaced on that side. And than the mechanic safety the car. Could it be possible that he messed something up? Rim and tire are slightly damaged. Havent been in this type of scenario. Asking for advice. Hopefully nothing from the car is stolen as i didnt have it towed yet.

thanks

 

[Backinajiffy12]

If the mechanic looked at that side of the car and did some work I would fight for some compensation free labor frre parts somthing...Good Luck

 

[luv2rallye]

You don't have to remove the ball joint to get the axel out (for cv joint replacement) on a 2g dsm but many/most mechanics don't know this (and go by the book which says to). Even so, removing/replacing the ball joint correctly should not have been a problem and should not have failed as it did. If the ball joint was bad he should have known when he removed it or he didn't install it properly.

 

[Andy123]

ok ill see what happens. This ball joint was also replaced by a different mechanic 500 km ago. Pretty much brand new. But another mechanic did the cv shaft and safety.

 

[LTUDSM]

i got screwed by mechanics a lot of times,so i don't trust them anymore and do all the work myself

 

[sjm531]

yeah i would definitely talk to the mechanic about that. it happened to me with my old car. i was driving on a dirt road and made a turn and the front end just dropped. i looked at it and there was no sign of the safety pin and the nut loosened off. if it broke, he might have just not tightened it down enough.

 

[Andy123]

happened on a turn. Ball joint is not usable. All threaded and messed up. No sign of bolt.

 

[Andy123]

turns out the recently installed cv shaft (300 miles ago) also ripped out.

the tow truck guy said that theres a chance it couldve messed up the tranny, is that true?

what a headache. Also while towing the car it was too low and 3 bolts broke by the bumper.

 

[MrMopar426]

As for your lower control arm ball joint.... I hope this helps. But there was a factory recall on my 96 avenger. when they assembled the joints from the factory.... some how water got into them. My avenger shares alot of parts with the eagle talons and eclipses. I would call your local dealer ship with your vin #.... cause if this was a recall. you wont have to pay for them to fix it. I learned about it to late. and if you pay out of pocket. keep the papers. that way the dealer can pay for the bill.

 

[Andy123]

I guess i could try calling. EVen though i replaced the cv shaft and ball joint 300 miles ago.

wait till tomorrow to see what mechanic says..

 

[Andy123]

the mechanic took a quick look. said not his fault. said he noticed the locknut was shitty to us when we towed the car there. Said he put a good one of the other side when he replaced that balljoint during safety but didnt bother to change this one. what a great guy... so what he *claims* happened is that the locknut broke after 400km..

So i guess im screwed on this one.. more $$

 

[Andy123]

here are some pics of the damage..

 

[Backinajiffy12]

Go get em. I would be pissed as hell.

 

[luv2rallye]

Chances are your tranny is ok as they are very strong. I recommend replacing that side's drive shaft oil seal (cheap) in the tranny however, as it probably got damaged with the drive shaft flopping all around. Your drive shaft has to be removed to do so anyway so now's the time. You also should check the damper fork and shock for being bent, especially if it hit the ground. One half of the 2g damper fork is normally curved, just compare to the other side. Yes there is a factory recall on the lower lateral control arms (includes ball joint) that a dealer will do for free. You might want to check into it especially if yours is now bent. When all is said and done have the alignment checked.

 

[kingjust]

my 2 cents would be that if you look at the threads on the lateral control arm... hey there are no threads. And you didn't do any of the work, well after so many miles or kilo-meters , they would not strip like that unless someone took them off and put them back on cross threaded. #### that dude and go after him... he gives good mechanics a bad name. Like he said... GO GET'EM!!!!

All in all, I feel that you are justified in pursuing legal actions on the shop, with a twist of your life and or saftey involved but that may be a stretch.

KJ

 

[Andy123]

First shop before i bought the car:
-installed passenger side ball joint (side that broke)

i have not seen this guy before, person who sold me the car brought it there cause he knew the ball joint was finished.

Second shop after the car is in my hands:
-said i needed a passenger side cv boot and cv shaft and a driver side ball joint.
-said since passenger side ball joint was changed the driver side should be too (me being rather new to cars did it because at the begginning i trusted this guy as he is a friend in a way but now i realized he just cares for the money...)
-he broke the cv shaft on the driver side while banging on the passenger side cv shaft (claimed it was seized), but said he will fix the driver side for free.
-installed driver side balljoint, passenger cv shaft, and cv boot.
-completed the safety for the car.
-not even 250miles later, it breaks down.

thats whats going on. going to be sort of difficult. as we called and all he said was that its not his fault. the other mechanic used nylon nuts which break quick.. thats his excuse. dont know if thats true but bad enough he said he put a good locknut on his but couldnt be bothered to add that to the other side. and other to that hasnt called since..