Upper Ball joint failure with pics

[GreenFish]

So drove the Cuda to work Friday. On the way home if felt a little off. The steering was pulling a bit.  It got worse as I went on. Here is what happened.  These ball joints were PSTs installed probably 12-15 years ago. Glad I made it home

[HP2]

Wow, popped right out of there. Glad you made it home okay.

[GreenFish]

Not sure if you are familiar with it but it got a little hairy going over the Maryland Chesapeake Bay Bridge

[brads70]

I wonder what gave out , the threads on the ball joint of the upper control arm?  Glad you made it back ok! Any damage to the tire/fender?

[GreenFish]

I wonder what gave out , the threads on the ball joint of the upper control arm?  Glad you made it back ok! Any damage to the tire/fender?

Thanks, No, no damage to the car at all. Other that the obvious. I didnt take it apart yet. Just popped the wheel off to see what was up so far. I ordered QA1 UCAs to replace it with. Ill inspect further when I swap them out. Hopefully this weekend

[ChallengerHK]

Not sure if you are familiar with it but it got a little hairy going over the Maryland Chesapeake Bay Bridge

I'm familiar with it, and it's not a drive I would want to make. Glad you made it safe.

I'm interested in hearing where that failed and how as well. Seems odd.

[turbo224]

The threads on these ball joints are VERY shallow and easy to cross thread. I would be willing to bet that they ball joint was crossed threaded when installed. I spoke with a mechanic who has years of experience working on older cars. I had him remove my old ball joints from the control arms and he suggested that I add a few spot welds to my ball joints just to be safe.

[Katfish]

Did the BJ actually break?
Thought taper with nut on end would make this impossible to happen?

[BIGSHCLUNK]

Did the BJ actually break?
Thought taper with nut on end would make this impossible to happen?

AGREED.... did the "ball" pop out of the socket...    but then the spindle would have separated... 

[dodj]

Did the BJ actually break?
Thought taper with nut on end would make this impossible to happen?

Looks like the ball joint body popped completely out of the A-arm. Failure of the A-arm perhaps?

[CudamanTom]

My guess is the ball joint loosened up (unscrewed from the A-arm). 
Maybe not tightened like it should have been.
IMHO, it would be hard to cross thread something this tough without not noticing it. Either part is not soft metal.
Again, just my 

Glad there wasn't an accident following the separation of parts. 

[Katfish]

But that can't happen unless the ball joint separates.a

[dodj]

But that can't happen unless the ball joint separates.a

Well, the ball joint separated from the a-arm. Like the part of the a-arm that houses the ball joint lost it's strength (somehow), and expanded enough to let the ball joint pop out.

[Katfish]

Hopefully the OP will post a pic once its removed.

But think of the BJ as a nail going through 2 boards, nail head can't pop up from the top board, unless it breaks or pops up from the bottom board.

In this case the control arm is the top board, the spindle (with a nut holding the BJ) is the bottom board.  Can't see how it happens unless the "nail" breaks?

[dodj]

Hopefully the OP will post a pic once its removed.

But think of the BJ as a nail going through 2 boards, nail head can't pop up from the top board, unless it breaks or pops up from the bottom board.

In this case the control arm is the top board, the spindle (with a nut holding the BJ) is the bottom board.  Can't see how it happens unless the "nail" breaks?

Ya, OK, gotcha. Wasn't thinking of the the other half. And if the ball joint broke, why would it push up like that?