i went screaming around a right-hand corner yesterday and heard a LOUD pop. now whenever i turn left it feels like my pass. front tire is ready to fall off. it pops and wobbles severely. does this sound like a ball joint?

any/all suggestions will help. makes me not like driving my soob:boohoo:

 

HELP

heh sounds like it to me.. last time i had a ball joint fall apart was in the wagon, it separated from the a-arm thus letting the wheel drag on the nut that holds the ball joint on.. not a pretty sight or feel..

yup, it drags. it's starting to score the wheel. i'll get a new one. can i replace it with regular everyday tools? any tips on replacement?

not too dificult. soak it with penitrating oil first. some times they need a bit of persuasion.

you may need torches to get the bolt out because half the one's i've changed that bolt always breaks and a nice big pair of vice grip's to grab the base of the ball joint and get it turning inside hub then you shouldn't have any problem's

Get this. Right after i last posted, i was driving home and nearly lost my damn wheel. well, not quite, but you get what i'm saying. the nut on the bottom of the ball joint pulled itself off and while i was turning, the ball joint pulled out of the lower control arm. needless to say, tire into fender........again. i pulled over and "fiddled" with it for about half an hour. i could not get them to go back together. i eventually fit them and held it together with a bent allen wrench. got me home at least. i got a new ball joint today and i'm fixin to put it in.

your damn lucky you made home on the the three legged dog:D good luck fixing it

lol.. i drove my wagon about 7 miles to get it home (no tools) when my ball joint went.. then about 3 miles from home i said screw it, i'm not trashin my h-alloy just to get it home.. so i walked the rest of the way, got in the truck with the handyman jack and tools, went back and fixed it right there on the side of the road..

 

since your nut is gone, you have half the job done already, lol..

Removing the nut shouldn't be hard. But getting that damn balljoint out of the control arm is a BIATCH!!! For my XT, I took a tie-rod fork and wedged (no pun intended) it in betweenthe joint and arm and hammered on that beast for over an HOUR!!! You really need to get your hands on some PB Blaster to do that job!