left lower ball joint gone

[chris lc90]

this happened one week ago...
http://s815.photobucket.com/albums/zz71 ... nt%20gone/

i was very lucky because the speed was only 30km/h crossing a small narrow road without traffic.
i cant imagine what will be happened if i was to a highway with 120 km/h and cars moving around me..
i had checked before three months the clearance of all the ball joints..and it was perfect..(the last three months the car was sleeping to my garage)
still i cant understand how this happened

 

[fridayman]

Ouch!! Very glad that you are OK. As you say this could have been a lot more serious. What other damage did you get because it failed? Is it a genuine Toyota ball joint, and how old is it?

 

[J66P]

not good

I would question the way they were checked to be honest, they certainly dont just pop out for no reason

 

[AndyCook]

very nasty... I am sure i have read of this happening before - in south africa i think.
something to keep an eye one

 

[chris lc90]

Ouch!! Very glad that you are OK. As you say this could have been a lot more serious. What other damage did you get because it failed? Is it a genuine Toyota ball joint, and how old is it?

the low speed prevented me from bigger damages..the ABS cable destroyed ,and the inner cv when came in touch with the pavement had damage also..
i have already changed all ball joints (4) 2 left up and down and 2 right..with genuine from toyota..(240 euro all)
cv has a price in greece 400 euro..but iam lucky because i had already bought 2 crashed land cruiser and keep them as spare parts..
the old ball joints (4) had probably (if you add the possesion of the previous owner) 195.000 km

 

[TonyP]

WOW, that's not nice at all. Just glad you are ok and no one else was injured... could have been really messy!

 

[KZJ90]

i had checked before three months the clearance of all the ball joints..and it was perfect..

How you checked them? You have to jack under the lower arm (against to the spring force) to release the spring pressure. Then you have able to see something, otherwise the spring is against the joint and it feels stiff although it can be very loose.

 

[Ducktape]

Not a nice sight and gives me the chills everytime...

Similar thing happend to my mates Cruiser where the four bolts on the wishbone snapped on a 4x4 track and he ended up on his side in a ditch... Luckilly he and his passengers where all okay... Spent the rest of the afternoon looking for parts at a scrappie and repairing just to get back home...

Never the less we both now have brand new bolts in both our cruisers just to be safe. ('98 and '02 Collies)

I'll have to remind myself to double check those ball-joints before our trans-Africa trip....!!!