Upper Ball joint failure with pics

[CudamanTom]

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

Because of the weight of the car, because it was the upper ball joint. The pressure of the upper ball joint is forced up.
I don't think the ball joint broke. It either unscrewed, or slipped thru the threads forcing the rest of the ball joint to pop up, again, because of the weight of the car.

[dodj]

Because of the weight of the car, because it was the upper ball joint. The pressure of the upper ball joint is forced up.
I don't think the ball joint broke. It either unscrewed, or slipped thru the threads forcing the rest of the ball joint to pop up, again, because of the weight of the car.

But look at the pic at the beginning of the thread. That BJ has pushed up quite a bit. How? If the joint was not tight in the a-arm and came loose, the knuckle would have to push up on the b-joint shaft to make it pop up like that. And unless the knuckle came through the a-arm, the ball joint would not get forced up so high, no? It obviously did get forced up that high, somehow, just don't yet understand how. 

[GreenFish]

Those ball joints have been in there for at least 12 years. I can't remember when i did them but it was  a long ass time ago. Its possible they were cross threaded I supposed. Took a long time to pop out. I should get the new UCAs tomorrow, and hopefully replace them this weekend. Ill update if any thing else comes up then. I wonder if the UCA cracked or gave out somehow?

For now ill just tell everyone i was doing Fast and furious style wheel stands.

[HP2]

On top of the 12 years this ball joint was in place, this a arm has had 40 years of driving heaped on it. The threads on a ball joint are very shallow. They barely look like threads at all and they are no where near as deep as a traditional SAE style threaded bolt. Multiple replacements over decades of use to simple eat up material in the a arm. There was probably enough material to thread this ball joint in, get a bite, and torque to spec, but because of the loads they carry and the pounding they take, it eventually lost its bite and pulled through.

I'd say its an a arm failure.

[anlauto]

I'd say its an a arm failure.

1000%

[mopar jack]

Upper arms are not weight bearing. The lower arm handles that however the uppers handle the lateral and in and out loads of the steering knuckle .

[crash340]

  the only verticle pull/push through weight is the weight of the UCA! Im thinking it may have unscrewed after 12 years, maybe, who knows.

[CudamanTom]

the only verticle pull/push through weight is the weight of the UCA! Im thinking it may have unscrewed after 12 years, maybe, who knows.

 

[brads70]

If your having trouble finding a replacement UCA you could fix yours by welding in a ball joint sleeve. Very common in circle track racing . Just be sure to use a tailpipe expander when welding to keep it round.
http://www.summitracing.com/int/parts/afc-20043/overview/
http://www.harborfreight.com/small-tail-pipe-expander-69550-9156.html

[734406pk]

Are the UCA threads damaged at all? Cross threading would be obvious?

[GreenFish]

If your having trouble finding a replacement UCA you could fix yours by welding in a ball joint sleeve. Very common in circle track racing . Just be sure to use a tailpipe expander when welding to keep it round.
http://www.summitracing.com/int/parts/afc-20043/overview/
http://www.harborfreight.com/small-tail-pipe-expander-69550-9156.html

I ordered QA1 UCAs, Should install them this weekend hopefully

[brads70]

I ordered QA1 UCAs, Should install them this weekend hopefully

 

[Skunkworks Challenger]

This thread caught my eye because I had trouble threading in an upper ball joint when reassembling my Challenger. Finally got it right but when this thread came up it reminded me of a thunk I've had in my right front for awhile.  I checked all ball joints and control arms and all was good except the thunk was still there.  I did a search on this site for front end thunks and saw an old thread about a loose strut rod.  Today I tightened my strut rod nuts and found the right one took a full turn at the "A" arm.  Went for a test drive and no thunk!  This site in invaluable!

[GreenFish]

Well you guys were right. The threads in the upper control arm let go. For whatever reason they were all boogaboo'd, probably got cross threaded when ball joints were installed. Check it out.

[GreenFish]

oh, and a pic of the new QA1's