Ball Joint Failure!

[bimmerboi318]

well last night when i was pulling a u turn at luckily only 10 mph my right outer balljoint gave way. its been clunking for a week now but i thought it would get me at least until spring. but i was wrong. the car clunked when it popped out and then ground along the pavement for a few feet with both front wheels pointing in opposite directions. all i could do was get a tow truck. when i was getting a good look at it while the tow truck was on its way it looked like the joint had pulled through the control arm instead of the ball coming out of the socket. has there been any problems like this with our cars? this isnt the type of failure i was expecting. so i need at least a new control arm and whatever might have bent or broken in the incident plus whatever damage may have happend to the car while it was dragged onto the rollback. so i guess my point is, if there are any clunks in your front end, check it out pronto because i had about a weeks warning and it could have been ALOT worse if i was going fast. it renders the car uncontrollable.

[2ndBimmer]

Owch.

What did in my old car was rust. The rear right suspension was about to rust right thru. Considering the Old gal was still able to cruise at 70-80 without issue, I was terrified of what might have happened should the metal have given way, similar to what happened to you at 10mph.

[bimmerboi318]

yeah ive got an old 280zx that i am a bit scared to drive because of the rust on the underbody and sub frame. but my ti has been towed unharmed to my dad's shop and the repairs are beginning. i am going to get 2 front control arms, and centered M3 control arm bushings. i have found some control arms made by Meyle i think the name is? they say they are re-engineered which means they have a full metal balljoint instead of a rubber socket one. they are only 80 dollars each and i was wondering if they are a good brand or a good design etc... . btw the balljoint did seperate, the casing was still in the control arm so it did not pull through like i stated earlier.