Now that was scary..Ball joint separated (pics added)...

[InkaSteve]

Just driving along 30mph and left ball joint separated from lower control arm. Now that gets your heart rate up.

Very lucky it wasn't on the freeway or a 70 mph sweeper on Hwy 33 or anywhere else except my garage. I knew they could wear out and get sloppy, but come clean off...wow!! Absolutely NO control after that, just pray, and hope you miss everyone else. Missed a parked car by about 1 inch. Tweaked the front fender a little when it jammed up under there, but could have been a lot worse.

With the help of an off-duty CHP, borrowed a floor jack to get it out of the main street of town, had it towed to the shop. Awaiting their report.

So, guys and gals....check your Balls, the life you save may be your own.

Since I am feeling so lucky I wasn't killed after that, I went to Taco Bell for lunch.

Here is where it happened. Note black skid marks in middle of pic. left tire dragging sideways, right tire trying to stop car. Just missed parked car in the same location as blue Prius.

why it fell to its knees...

Gee, which way should I go??

Body damage

[NickVyse]

Since I am feeling so lucky I wasn't killed after that, I went to Taco Bell for lunch.

Is that a celebration or torture for not checking your balls sooner?

Congrats on your escape - that'll be one of your nine 2002 lives gone! One of mine went when under hard cornering the rubber dohnut in the steering column shredded to pieces - left with almost 3/4's turn before any steering input.

[BillWilliams]

for being scared or being at the Bell?

Glad you are ok and your car is not badly damaged.

[TobyB]

Really? The tapered bit came out of the bottom arm? Or did the ball come out of its socket?

I've had the small bolts attaching the bottom arm to the strut come loose- that's pretty scary. All of a sudden, you have control over only one wheel...

Glad nothing really bad came of it.

t

[InkaSteve]

Already crapped my pants when it happened. Figured even Taco Bell couldn't hurt me after that.. I could have been rolled up in a crumpled orange ball if it happened anywhere else. I am feeling very blessed now.

[Gordon]

I just replaced the control arms, bushings, tie rods, thrust arm bushing and center track rod on my 73 Bavaria, ouch, that did hurt the pocketbook. It looked all stock on my car, hey every 30 years or so, you've got to break down and replace those bushings. As Steve can speak from experience, the down side of not replacing your old suspension parts can be much worse.

My 74 tii has had the bushings replaced with polyurethane.

Glad you are OK Steve, that will definately get your pucker factor way up

G-Man

[Craig74tii]

I've heard of the ball joint being sheared off at the bolts if the bolts aren't strong enough. This stuff makes me nervous. Mine are new, but I better take them apart and check again.

Craig74tii

[RayC911]

I had a nut come loose on one of my tierods after a 50 mile commute last year. Went over into the outside turning lane when I was making a left and almost took a few cars out. Now I go under and check everything even though most parts been replaced. Glad you're OK!

[f1reverb]

there with the safety wire? Had you ever replaced the ball joints? Was this on State St.?

[Pierre]

I'm glad you're OK and the damage was minor.

I am interested to know however, what failed exactly?

[InkaSteve]

It WAS the Touring....SOB, SOB! I am not sure what failed yet. I will taked some Pictures tomorrow. Thanks for the concern...I am very depressed but the '76 2002 is happy to be out now. It has been neglected

[Mike Self]

thing that held the two parts together was the rubber boot! Fortunately I detected some looseness (!) in the steering and caught it before the boot tore... So check tie rods, everyone. They hang downwards on an '02 and when they go, they fall out. Then no steering on one side.

Ball joints are on my project list for Wolfgang (218k) and Ludwig (208k)--both of which have their original ball joints--this winter.

Glad you and your touring are OK...

mike

[InkaSteve]

there with the safety wire? Had you ever replaced the ball joints? Was this on State St.?

Still safety wired. pulled out of control arm. This side obviously had never been replaced. The other side has been replaced. Yes it was on State street 1/2 block from my office. From the pics, it looks like it was dry and rusty where it pulled out. It was on my list of things to check, but just hadn't gotten to it yet. Guess it should have been a higher priority.

[f1reverb]

as I did mine about 11 years ago (or 15000 miles ago when I did a full front-end rebuild) and it irritated me that I had to drill the damn rivets out. They still look perfect, but I wonder how long they last? What makes the unit separate? Just water sitting in there and rusting away? I'm surprised State St. wasn't packed with cars when you had your problem. The car behind you must have shit a brick. I gotta check my 533i.

Looking at the gouging in your wheel, I wonder if it has been structurally compromised with the gouging?

[02Nut]

Its always scary to hear about this type of stuff. Bummer it was the Touring but at least you've got your '76 as a back-up.

I'm curious to hear what the root cause of the failure is.