Do track control arm / ball joints just break?

T i m gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying:

When you say "just came to a halt" - had they parked? Including a nice bit of lock-to-lock steering?

If so, then that's what's caused it to actually choose that moment to fall apart - it's very unlikely that it'd fail at 70.

Must have been very, very, very knackered beforehand. I wonder if the MOT man's been a bit over-lenient on a judgement call, since it's a little old man who never does many miles...?

Hi all,

I've just run my elderly mates elderly missus home after the nose of their elderly but tidy looking Audi hit the floor just as they came to a halt in a car park.

They were both shaken up, not because of what happened but what could of happened had it occurred 5 mins earlier when they were doing 70 mph.

So, I had a quick look and the o/s/f wheel arch was sitting on the wheel and the outer end of the track control arm was a couple of inches off the floor with that looked like half of the ball joint socket showing (like a torn 'U' facing the outside of the car).

Apparently they had just been over a pothole (nothing really nasty) and she had heard a 'clonk' so in hindsight there was a little warning.

So, what sort of trauma would this sort of thing had to suffered to fail like that?

Cheers. T i m

p.s. When I got the call I had just seen the stepdaughter off after charging her battery (whilst awaiting delivery of a new one) then on the way home I noticed the o/s/f caliper dragging on the old Rover ... ;-(

They say things happen in threes. ;-)

Back in the early 1970s I owned a Triumph Herald 1200. It had been my father's car from new - and he had passed it onto me, so I knew it had a full service history and had been well looked after.

One day I had driven from Brighton to Littlehampton in Sussex, where I was living at the time - and had come along the A27 doing around 70 mph at times.

I needed to do some shopping in Littlehampton before I went home so parked the car in a town centre car park. After doing my shopping I got back into the car and was reversing out of the parking space when the front nearside of the car just dropped down with a crunch. I got out and found the front nearside wheel sticking out at 45 degrees. Turned out that the stub-axle had completely sheared off close to its carrier and at its widest point.

There was no obvious fault in the metal - but clearly it must have been a dodgy casting. I've never been able to place total faith in mechanical parts since then. Why the stub axle chose to shear off when I was reversing out of a parking space instead of when I was doing 70 mph down the A27 I'll never know - but I'm very thankful that it did...

Twice as well, sorry about that (Damn you VM!).

Nearly (they were parking but had just swung into a bay).

Understood.

I don't know the std failure mode of such things but if it had just 'worn out' the lower ball joint would have had to have to wear the fore and aft plane of the inside of the socket on the TCA for it then to have the end of the arm / ball socket to break away completely wouldn't it?

ie. I imagine it used to look like a 'o' and now it looks like a 'U' and not a 'O' (plan view)? It may well have gone to a O before failing to a U of course.

Maybe.

He's since MSN'd me (thanking me for the help etc) and suggested that the insurance Co are going to pick up the tab (- the £250 excess).

I'm not sure, looking at the damage that it mightn't just getting it fixed himself? How much would a new TCA be (assuming the ball joints are part of said) and a little touch -up to a wheel arch?

Cheers, T i m

[1]

These friends had recently been about quite a bit (family stuff) so it was very lucky it was even in a car park and not in the high street.

I had that on my Morris Minor van when taking a mild right hander at

30 mph. That was a bit of a surprise and a very bizarre bouncy halt as the wheel locked up in the wheel arch. Luckily I carried a jack and length of rope and was able to lash it back together to drive the mile or so home. ;-)

Oooerr.

Whist I have thought the same on occasion I'm also often impressed how 'failsafe' they do make some things. Like even if the key bolt fell out everything would probably stay together.

Indeed. And with it's total lack of airbags it wouldn't be just like a session in a bouncy castle as it is these days.

Cheers, T i m

[1] My uncle had a Reliant Robin and it failed the MOT on the front kingpin. He had them replace it and it failed again a year later on the same point. This time he asked me to do it for him and I found whoever had done the job previously hadn't lined up the grease hole.

"Ret." gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying:

Riiiight.