Sheared off lower ball joint

[Kenm4187]

I have not taken out the part of the ball joint stud that is still in the spindle yet. I don't think it is right at the transion.

There were no signs of the problem, I checked the car over pretty good. Just put the shock back on and eveything looked ok. I agree all the ball joints should be replaced.

Originally Posted by Silverback51

If you look at the 009.jpg picture you can tell that this condition has existed for some time. The final failure happened when the dark gray area failed. The lighter gray area had been cracked for some time. It appears to me that it failed right at the transition to the threads. Is that correct?

And don't feel bad. The chances are that a casual inspection would not have indicated the condition so you did not do anything wrong

I would recommend that all ball joints be replaced. Could have been a bad batch. or an isolated condition.

[TMark390]

Have you looked at the possibility that the upper joint failed first causing the break at the lower joint and tie rod as wheel snaped back? Just a thought, but if the lower joint was tight and correct taper it should not have sheared like that. The start of the threads should be higher on the stud, so the tapered sholder is what is contacting the spindle hole.

[Silverback51]

Originally Posted by Kenm4187

I have not taken out the part of the ball joint stud that is still in the spindle yet. I don't think it is right at the transion.

There were no signs of the problem, I checked the car over pretty good. Just put the shock back on and eveything looked ok. I agree all the ball joints should be replaced.

You are correct, it's not at the transition to the threads. I was at work this morning when I resonded and was in a hurry. I just went back and looked at your pictures again, and I will however stand by my comment that the final failure occured at the dark gray area. The light gray area had fractured at some time in the past.

Unfortunately my work days just went from 12 hours to 14 for at least the next few weeks. Hopefully I will have this Sunday off. If so, if no other engineer has chimed in by that time I will take a couple of your pictures and point out some things to you.

If time allows I will have one of our stress engineers at work take a quick look at a couple of your pictures and see if he agrees with my analysis.

[Kenm4187]

Thanks for all your input. A metalurgist looked at the pictures and it looks like it was over hardened and became brittle. A problem from the supplier. I was sent a picture from a car that was in a wreck and it was bent badly but not broken. It seems to be one in a ?????? I don't have that kind of luck when it comes to Lotto.

Ken M 2560

[Silverback51]

Originally Posted by Kenm4187

Thanks for all your input. A metalurgist looked at the pictures and it looks like it was over hardened and became brittle. A problem from the supplier. I was sent a picture from a car that was in a wreck and it was bent badly but not broken. It seems to be one in a ?????? I don't have that kind of luck when it comes to Lotto.

Ken M 2560

Looks like you got your answer so I will not pursue it any further.

[D-CEL]

Ken,

Like everybody here, I’m sorry for your failure, and happy that you were not hurt. I am a VP at a destructive testing laboratory in SoCal. While it is interesting to guess at the cause of the failure, it cannot be determined by looking at photographs. And to suggest that and entire lot of parts is suspect is unfair. Investigate: yes, accuse, no.
With that said, I would be happy to perform a failure analysis on the suspect parts, free of charge. If you are interested, email me and we will set it up.

Let’s hold judgment and comment until we have a clearer picture on what has happened.

Jason
jasonw@metalstec.com

[emberglo66]

Thank you!!!! D-CELL Your offer to review the possible product failure is extremely generous, I hope Kenm4187 takes advantage of your offer

[Kenm4187]

Originally Posted by D-CEL

Ken,

Like everybody here, I’m sorry for your failure, and happy that you were not hurt. I am a VP at a destructive testing laboratory in SoCal. While it is interesting to guess at the cause of the failure, it cannot be determined by looking at photographs. And to suggest that and entire lot of parts is suspect is unfair. Investigate: yes, accuse, no.
With that said, I would be happy to perform a failure analysis on the suspect parts, free of charge. If you are interested, email me and we will set it up.

Let’s hold judgment and comment until we have a clearer picture on what has happened.

Jason
jasonw@metalstec.com

Jason,

My intent is to find out what happened. I do agree it is harder to determine what happened just from pictures.

First I wanted to find out if this happened to anyone else or if was just an isolated issue. From the info I have gotten back it seems very rare.

Second, I never suggested that the whole batch was bad or this was a wide scale issue. Those comments were made by others. I just did not want to see this happen to anyone else.

As soon as I know I don't need to hold on to the part any longer. I would like to take you up on your offer to help determine what happened.

My car is just over a month out of warranty and I am not sure what will happen with the insurance company as I was auto-crossing. If it is not needed by one of them I will send it to you. I do want to thank you for your offer, it was very nice of you. I am sure everyone would like to know the cause.


Thanks,

Kenm2560

[D-CEL]

Ken,

I apologize for not being clearer, as those comments did not come from you.
Just shoot me an email when you are ready and I will get to it.

Jason

[Bartruff1]

Investigating a "clicking noise" in the left front, my mech found the lower left ball joint would bind and then pop under loading....noise there since car was new, May 22nd. To his credit, Lance has a replacement in the mail.

[Kenm4187]

Glad to hear you found it before something may have happened. I wish mine had made some noise or gave me some warning.

Kenm2560

[Bartruff1]

Originally Posted by Kenm4187

Glad to hear you found it before something may have happened. I wish mine had made some noise or gave me some warning.

Kenm2560

We didn't find the problem till the 4th try. The noise was annoying, so I finally told the mechanic to tighten every fricking bolt on the undercarriage. He finally hear it on a hard left turn and found it by bouncing the car useing the sway bar when it was on a lift....very lucky ...