Technical Desperate multipla help needed

[trig999]

I wont beat about the bush so here goes.
Driving down the road and hear a load bang, lots of smoke and we skid to a halt 40 ft down the road.
Lower ball joint (attached to suspension wishbone) has dropped out causing the drive shaft to pop out and the wheel to turn 180 degrees+++.
Recovery mechanic manages to put it back together and I drive it home.
Front wheel is now at an angle & pointing in at the top.
Take to garage and shock is bent at top and tyre is wrecked so they sorted. £185 later and the wheel is still pointing in at the top. Fiat looked at it and they & my mechanic is still baffled as to what is causing this. It is blatenly obvious when looking at the wheel. It''s at about a 10 degree angle and you can barely fit your hand behind the top of the wheel. The mechanics advised that it may be the hub assembly that may be mishapen but they say that it shouldn't be because it is cast iron and that it would of shattered before it ever bent. They are just stumped by it. They showed me the measurements with wheels off and the hub is 1.6cm out. New hub assembly is apperently £200. Can't afford that though. The wishbone is apparently OK as well.

Just wondering if anyone could have any other ideas as to what the problem may be. Am desperate as it doesn't feel safe to drive.

Cheers

 

[trig999]

The force of the wheel bending & turning was significant. Would it be possible for the ball joint to be damaged and if so would it cause the wheel to toe in at the top?
I need advice

 

[kev78]

did the garage replace the whole shock or just fit an insert? if it was just an insert then its entirely possible that the mounts where it bolts to the hub is bent still.
The hub also could be bent and not have shattered - i have seen plenty that have bent on impact - usually old minis and metros when they've been kerbed hard. Its very difficult to see if the hub is bent- even with accurate measurements for that 10 degree angle there wouldn't be much to see down at the hub.
I would start with a second hand hub if the strut has been replaced, just make sure it has a good bearing or replace it with a new one before fitting

 

[JTDman]

Why did the balljoint pop out in the first place ? there is a lock nut which is supposed to prevent this from happening which brings me to think maybe the wishbone is not the proper one as there is lots of fiat ones that look nearly identical apart from length of the arm and the pin on the joint itself.
Could it be possible its the wrong wishbone and has allways been in use? and its pointed in without you realising as it would also explain why the joint popped out in the first place.

 

[trig999]

When the recovery guy put the ball joint back in he said that the bolt was loose and as soon as the wheel was back on I could tell immediately that it didn't look right. It definately didn't lean in at the top before.