Technical Ball joint snapped !

[jordan1293fiat]

careful examination of the cover shows no visible splits its dry and therefore no oozing grease so it would appear as said by original poster that the balljoint was not seized in its cup and anyway the guy sounds sensible so he would have heard balljoint banging and investigated i believe

Cheers :thumbup: but there were no signs of the balljoint failing and I didnt see any splits last time I checked it. The only thing I heard was a bang as I went over the manhole cover before it snapped

 

[s and b]

You don't think that's a tear at about 1730 relative to the pin?

no, it looks perfect to me

 

[a1ant]

Hi,

Its definitely split...

but as said, I doubt it was the cause as theres no geese seepage etc and the op says its moving freely, so it most likely got split when the two parts of the ball joint separated in the original incident.

Still looks to me like its taken a whack at some point as opposed to corrosion. Seen plenty of them where people have clipped a kerb or traffic island and they look the same.

Could have been cracked for some time just waiting to go. Who knows though, main thing is the OP managed to keep it all under control and stop safely, and is able to repair it himself! So all in all a good result to what COULD have been a very different story!

Alan

 

[jordan1293fiat]

Hi,

Its definitely split...

but as said, I doubt it was the cause as theres no geese seepage etc and the op says its moving freely, so it most likely got split when the two parts of the ball joint separated in the original incident.

Still looks to me like its taken a whack at some point as opposed to corrosion. Seen plenty of them where people have clipped a kerb or traffic island and they look the same.

Could have been cracked for some time just waiting to go. Who knows though, main thing is the OP managed to keep it all under control and stop safely, and is able to repair it himself! So all in all a good result to what COULD have been a very different story!

Alan

Thanks alan came with minimal damage really, the ball joint was fall of grease and moving as it should, it may of been split slightly before but I think the impact may of caused it to tear even more.

Anyway I think you may be right with thinking a previous whack could of weakened it, I cant see why it would snap so easily

 

[atom0007]

Interesting thread.
If you look at the sheared end, there is the bright freshly sheared metal, and way more dull stuff.
I wonder if s and b was right?

Post some pics of the pin on the other one when you replace it please, it would make a good reference.

 

[jordan1293fiat]

Interesting thread.
If you look at the sheared end, there is the bright freshly sheared metal, and way more dull stuff.
I wonder if s and b was right?

Post some pics of the pin on the other one when you replace it please, it would make a good reference.

Ill get one up tomorrow ill show you the other half too, also give you a pic of my shredded tyre haha

 

[Ziggy122]

It makes me wanna go and pop my joints out just to see what condition they are in....

Ziggy

 

[s and b]

It makes me wanna go and pop my joints out just to see what condition they are in....

Ziggy

cheeky

 

[atom0007]

It makes me wanna go and pop my joints out just to see what condition they are in....

Ziggy

I expect it would be difficult to assess just by looking

I saw a car with a pancake wheel like this near a roundabout, now I know what happened

 

[jordan1293fiat]

Both arms and arb's are now getting changed dont risk it happening again !

 

[s and b]

Both arms and arb's are now getting changed dont risk it happening again !

and pinch bolts
they wont go through unless joint in right place on hub so be careful

 

[Ziggy122]

I expect it would be difficult to assess just by looking

I saw a car with a pancake wheel like this near a roundabout, now I know what happened

Well its a case of checking the joint - the gaitor and making sure its not flopping around like granny's nipples

Ziggy

 

[portland_bill]

theres no geese seepage etc

How many geese would you need to fill a ball joint? Or are they lubricated with goose grease?

Well its a case of checking the joint - the gaitor and making sure its not flopping around like granny's nipples

Tell us young man, why would you be aware of granny's nipples? Are you ashamed?

 

[Ziggy122]

How many geese would you need to fill a ball joint? Or are they lubricated with goose grease?



Tell us young man, why would you be aware of granny's nipples? Are you ashamed?

We all have seen the birthdaycards

Ziggy

 

[s and b]

How many geese would you need to fill a ball joint? Or are they lubricated with goose grease?



Tell us young man, why would you be aware of granny's nipples? Are you ashamed?

talking trunnions as we werent,i used to spend all morning with gas axe freeing one of these on a
marinas till a mechanic older then me showed me to cut the blighters off with a cold chissel, grease the trunian and fit a new joint

happy days

 

[jordan1293fiat]

So fitted the new ball joint and arb everything feels ok so far. Tracking still needs to be checked but seems ok.

Heres the ball joint
And arb. Both FAI so good quality.

 

[atom0007]

How easy was it fitting the new ARB bushes?

 

[jordan1293fiat]

How easy was it fitting the new ARB bushes?

They were quite easy tbf, but the one of the bolts did snap but as I was replacing the arm so it didnt matter.

Just make sure you have a good pair of grips an some sort of silicone or grease to ease of the bushes and slide the new ones on. Well I say slide bit of a tap with the hammer to get them to go on but then just wriggle them on. Bit tight but got there :thumbup:

 

[atom0007]

famous chocolate ARB bolts

 

[Brendan W]

Anyway I think you may be right with thinking a previous whack could of weakened it, I cant see why it would snap so easily

Cracks can be very small initially and caused by lots of things from manufacturing defects like thread roots not radiused properly, to abuse to kerbing, corrosion and everything in between. Typically a small crack opens bit by bit with each load cycle and advances into the part like an incoming tide. In fact in some cases you can count the lines and tell how old the original event was. The old part of the fracture will have a polished appearance and you may even spot the concentric tidelines which will lead you to the origin. Eventually the remaining material is insufficient to take the steering load and the last bit fractures instantly, a so called brittle failure which will be rougher and duller than the old parts of the crack. From your pic there is a line from one o'clock to seven. This looks like the hinge and the material at four is the last bit to go. Fortunately loads are highest at low speeds so the final failure is more likely at low speeds. I would like to see a straight on view of the fracture face. At a guess from the pic posted the origin is at ten o'clock-ish.