elusiv

So I finally have everything just right, and on my way to Michigan from New York, with Michigans crazy roads, my 99 TL decides that my driver side lower ball joint should come out at 80MPH. We are in the left lane on a 3 lane highway, somehow make it sliding all the way to the right shoulder without getting hit and/or into the ditch.

Brand new tire is completely gone. I didn't notice any cracks or tears before.

So we tow it home, i start taking it apart, and everything looks strange. Like my brake hub that stub that goes inside the lower control arm seems fused onto the control arm and has also snapped off. The nut on the bottom of the lower control arm does not look like the one on the others side, its supposed to be a castle nut.

I dunno wtf is going on... Anyone wanna give me some advice? Will I have to replace the lower arm along with the whole brake hub (dont know the correct term for it) ?

Let me know if you've seen something like this before.

Thanks, Ben

Cisko TLS

thanks god ur good ben

elusiv

Thanks bro, it was just crazy but better to get hit in the wallet than somewhere else :-P

acitydweller

looks like youll need to repalce your control arms, axels and ball joints for starters, not to mention checking to see if your rim is bent. let me know if you need a bodyshop.

MurkyRiversTL

corrosion sems to be the culprit in your cars demise.

was the nut always that loose or did you loosen it. its supposed to be a castelated nut with a cotter pin, but it looks like your ball joint either snapped, or just came out of the knuckle..... either way, I would replace everything. maybe not your axle, but just make sure you inspect it well, or did the axle separate a the joint.

sorry to hear that, but like every one has said; im glad your ok.

Phrosttz0

x2^

MurdaZ

iTrader: (1)

and THATS why u always check ur bjs, specially the lower one, its a pivot point, most of the time it gives signs of being defective, like clunking over bumps or squeeks......this is the worst case scenario when the bj gives out...

glad that u were able to still have control of the car, saw someone in a corolla while back, woman, stuck in the middle of an intersection with a busted lower bj..knuckle and all on the road..

acutee

Wow, that is badly rusted. Good thing you are okay.

elusiv

Well being in buffalo, and at 191K im sure its not the only car like this. Anyway, what I think happened is that the piece that goes inside the lower arm with the castle nut snapped off in the lower arm. The lower arm is supposed to have a hole in it for the bolt to go through, correct? If I can knock the bolt back out then i'll only have to replace the brake hub instead of the lower arm as well I think.

Yeah it was certifiably insane. No time to say anything only skidding down the highway to the right shoulder smoke everywhere.

That lower arm nut I took it off some then just put it back. Its definately supposed to be a castle nut but its not. I dont know what happened or who worked on it before but it looks like I've gotta fix it.

Ive got another problem though. My center nut... the one you take off to pull out the axle simply wont budge. I've tried doing it by hand with a bigass bar, also with an impact gun. I took it off before easily when i replaced the rotors, now because of the accident i think it like got stuck on there real good... dunno what to do. Someone told me to take a torch and heat it up real good and then try to take it off....

LukeaTron

I'm thinking some one worked on it before the car got to you and torqued the nut on way too tight. Probably because they didn't have the castellated nut and didn't want to it come off. Not the right way to do it. What confuses me though is that the top of that stud looks heavily corroded. If that's the case it must have somehow been broken for a while because that's where the ball part of the ball joint should be and it's just one solid piece of metal.

Anyway, +1 on heating the center hub nut but you should probably replace the wheel bearing after that. When you say "brake hub" are you talking about the rotor or the piece that rotor bolts to (that's the hub)? If that needs replaced then the bearing needs replaced anyway so go to town on the nut. You can also very carefully cut it with a dremel tool. Don't go so deep that you hit the threads on the axle but get close. Then wail on it with a chisel till it snaps.

elusiv

LukeaTron,

I think you're right. But im wondering how the hell do I get this stud out of there now. It looks like its almost fused to the lower arm or something. Any ideas on how to accomplish this?

I dont really wanna start cuttin anything as of this point, wanna get it off first so I can go buy an axle without paying an upfront core charge.

Also brake hub meaning the hub that the rotor bolts to. If you look at the second picture, thats where that stud is supposed to be that should go through the lower arm, that stud is now stuck in the lower arm. I dont think thats replaceable so I have to get that whole piece I think, right?

MurkyRiversTL

if you have the money, I would say get all new parts... looking at your third pic, its really really corroded.....

you could try cleaning some of that up and painting it to prevent it from happening again, but eventually alot of your suspension parts are gonna go....

Check the wheel bearing DIY in the DIY section for a brake down of everything so you can find out how its supposed to be...

sorry that this happened to you, I gotta replace all my parts too, as my car is reaching 200,000...... just the car not the engine lol.

fsttyms1

I wouldnt reuse the lower arm. I Would replace all suspension components on that side. Lower arm, knuckle, I would probably look and ind inspect the upper arm to see if thats damaged (dont see how it wouldnt be) the shock fork, axle. I would also inspect the other side ball joints.

Now, could you honestly not hear any clunking or any thing? That ball joint has been shot for a very long time.

To every one else
Ball joints are a VERY important thing and should be inspected often.

elusiv

Absolutely, I heard clunking. Just before we left for Michigan, my brother in law is like... your suspension looks like it needs to get checked out. I was like yeah I know but I didnt think it was something serious, maybe the shocks just being worn out. Before this happened I didnt know what the tell-tale sign of bad ball joints are, of course now I know.

Once I can figure out how to take off the center hub nut and pull the axle out the healing process will go from there. Thanks alot for your help guys.