double check

so, ive been driving my project car all this week. when i rebuilt the front suspension, the tie rod ends and all that felt tight with no play. car had been parked for a long time. rest of the suspension was junk. so i did not replace the steering linkage.

ive put a couple hundred miles on it this week. up to 70mph on the highway, potholes, etc.

this morning, for fun car friday, i was going to drive it again. on the way up the road from my house, it makes a dramatic, unintentional course correction intio my neighbors ditch. by the way, it has no seatbelts. or padded dash. or collapsable steering column. or....

after i get done cursing, i climb out to find out what happened. i figured i blew a tire or something. i was only doing about 15-20mph, as i was in the neighborhood. the ball and stud have seperated entirely from the end of the tie rod end. oh my.

only thing i can figure is that there was enough rust and solidified crap in the ball and socket to cause me to believe the end were good. then, dricing it loosened them up.

i SHOULD have rechecked them after a few miles, but didnt really see the need to as they checked out fine.

i got really, really lucky.

just wanted to remind y'all to count you blessings, install seatbelts, and double check your safety items regularly.

i walked away sore/bruised but uninjured, unknown on other body damage, but doubt any based upon the way its in the ditch.

it happened to me, it can happen to you.

that ends our safety mesaage of the day.

Glad you're okay.

I need to go over my daily this weekend.

I assume it was the El Camino? Glad you're ok and it didn't let go at higher speeds.

I am glad you are alright. Always good to double check your work.

yup. the elcamino.

and i also need to check the daily as well. havent checked anything on that car in a year.

im still kicking myself for not double checking....

Im stupid cautious of such things after pulling some lightly clunking OEM ball joints on a Chrysler minivan apart with my bare hands. GM SLA suspension, cars and trucks, has a habit of getting stupid loose before making noise for whatever reason.

I'm glad you're alright. I believe the "Locosters" would call what you did a "Hempy"

(you can skip to about the 5:00 mark)

Hungary Bill wrote: I'm glad you're alright. I believe the "Locosters" would call what you did a "Hempy" (you can skip to about the 5:00 mark)

only difference is he missed everything....

called my wrecker buddy at lunch. hes coming to get it tonight and pull it home.

When I bought my Swift GT, it had a bit of a noise in the front end, so I went through it and checked everything, including the ball joints. Everything checked out tight, and I assumed it was the rack, a common thing with these cars. When I did the brakes a year later I checked the whole front end again. Fine. I installed new struts and springs and went through everything again. My buddy was working with me, and we're both licensed mechanics. Everything checked out good.

One cool Friday evening, the car was running especially well, and I drove it home from work like I was qualifying. I pulled into my driveway and this happened at less than 5 km/hr.

The ball joint that had been checked 4 times, and looked fine, separated. 5 minutes before, and this thing would have been scrap.

The only thing I can think is that it must have been worn so bad when I got it (it also passed a safety inspection) the ball was wedged into the top of the joint, and appeared tight.

Oof! Glad you're okay!

Glad that no one was hurt, it could have been ugly.

I once had the lower control arm strut rod break on my '70 mustang after crossing rail road tracks at low speed. When I rebuilt the front suspension on that car the strut eods were the only part that I didn't replace or rebuild. Lesson learned, you can't see metal fatigue, but its real.

All these experiences added to this thread are the reason why aircraft get certain parts replaced no mater how they look or feel at specific hour or age intervals. Some of the industrial vehicles that I work with have parts with very specific service intervals too. Sadly the only clients that will follow them are the ones that have been burned a few times.

Typical customer: "What do you nean the $2k gearbox was ruined by a $30 bearing thats not even inside the gearbox?!"

Me: "I've been recommending a preventative steering bearing replacement on every PM report for the past 2 years, I even showed you the TSB that says steering bearings need to be replaced every 2000 hrs to prevent damage to the gearbox and drive motor."

With these particular machines there is some chance of a crash or injury when there is a catastrophic gearbox failure, but the bigger danger is that an unplanned outage of one of these machines can bring an entire factory or warehouse to a grinding halt for days. ($$$$$$)

So back to cars, I'm not suggesting that tie rods, ball jointss and the like need to replaced at strict intervals, but its someting to think about.

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I drove my 93 Eagle Talon home on I-75 probably 70-75mph. Got almost home, stopped at a traffic light. Went to go at the green, clunk! Look out and see one wheel pointing straight, the other pointing about 80 degrees right...

Darn broken tie rod end. Happy broken at a light instead of 70mph.

I've also been the beneficiary of a well-timed failure. I had an aftermarket braided steel brake line blow out of its swage at an autocross.

I always hyperventilated just a bit when I'd start thinking about other places it could have done that.

I don't think any of the original brake system will exist when I'm done, but it does worry me that on the 2002, that shouldn't have been a pedal-to-the-floor no-brakes episode, but it was.

Actually (ignore this tangent unless fascinated)... This is one of those that ran one line from each master cylinder chamber to each front wheel, so the left front was connected to both chambers, and the right front was also connected to both chambers. But it's a single-piston caliper, so if you disconnect one of the hoses, you just empty both chambers... Well there's a failure mode they weren't expecting. I wonder whether I have that right...