Lower control arm ball joint - just how dangerous is putting off this repair?

Howdy,
For maybe the last 20k miles, my Jetta ('97 TDI 5 sp manual, 180k miles) has
made a little more jiggling noise when the left tire hits a bump than the
right. For the last few months, I have noticed a quiet ticking clicking
sound when taking off in 1st gear. I have no objections to a few noises
coming from a car this age, and I'm not all paranoid about safety, but I
also don't want a wheel to fly off on the way to work.

A mechanic sorting out a few other things told me these are symptoms of a
dying lower control arm ball joint, and it is $177 to fix. He also called
it 'dangerous', but other advice from this source would indicate he would
use the same adjective for wiper blades that are streaking a little.

Here is my question - will my wheel fall off if I wait for this to fail? It
seems like the wheel will steer kind of sloppy but should be ok in a 'limp
home' mode kind of way.

Another factor - I plan on selling this car in a year, when it hits 10 years
or 200k miles, so if it drives and acts like it does now for 20k more miles,
I will be happy.

On Thu, 03 Aug 2006 23:10:33 GMT, "Keith Loyd" >
wrote:


>A mechanic sorting out a few other things told me these are symptoms of a
>dying lower control arm ball joint, and it is $177 to fix.

REasonable price.

>He also called
>it 'dangerous', but other advice from this source would indicate he would
>use the same adjective for wiper blades that are streaking a little.

Yes, it is *dangerous*. I would agree that bad wiper blades are also
dangerous too.

>
>Here is my question - will my wheel fall off if I wait for this to fail?

Yes, it will. At speed, proably 65 or 70 MPH. You'll die. Someone
else, who you don't know will die. All because you didn't feel like
spending $180 to fix your car...

> It
>seems like the wheel will steer kind of sloppy but should be ok in a 'limp
>home' mode kind of way.

Yea, at five MPH, no faster.

>
>Another factor - I plan on selling this car in a year, when it hits 10 years
>or 200k miles, so if it drives and acts like it does now for 20k more miles,
>I will be happy.
>

What state are you in, and what roads do you dirve? I'd like to avoid
them if at all possible.


Fix it! Now!

OH, and make sure your insurance is fully paid, especially liability.
WHen you have that accident, the other party (their survivors) will
find out that you were warned to fix the problem, because it was
dangerous.

peter,

Your emotionally overrought reaction to a simple question on an obscure
suspension issue was 'how dare I seek a second opinion?!' in so many words.
I suggest you either drink a little more or a whole lot less, or go to
church, or a doctor, or something to help get your mind right. I am not
reading any more of your posts.

regards,
Keith Loyd

you overreact
barely perusing my text
sad blubbering fool

Keith Loyd wrote:
> you overreact
> barely perusing my text
> sad blubbering fool

suck it up and get a new ball joint, you cheap *******. I could
replace it for you in half an hour, with a beer break in the middle,
but you will need an alignment afterwards (although if you are careful
and scribe some match marks, it'll be "good enough" if you're really
strapped for cash to get you through until payday.)

nate

If your ball joint fails and separates it will be a dangerous situation -
the wheel will not fall off completely, but you'll be left with a "McPherson
pendulum" instead of a McPherson strut and won't be able to drive the car.
The strut will pendulum into the back of the wheel well and car will come to
a screeching halt. You probably won't be able to control the car very well
when the separation happens. Have a knowledgeable mechanic look it over and
replace it if it is worn.

Wojciech


"Keith Loyd" > wrote in message
...
> Howdy,
> For maybe the last 20k miles, my Jetta ('97 TDI 5 sp manual, 180k miles)
> has made a little more jiggling noise when the left tire hits a bump than
> the right. For the last few months, I have noticed a quiet ticking
> clicking sound when taking off in 1st gear. I have no objections to a few
> noises coming from a car this age, and I'm not all paranoid about safety,
> but I also don't want a wheel to fly off on the way to work.
>
> A mechanic sorting out a few other things told me these are symptoms of a
> dying lower control arm ball joint, and it is $177 to fix. He also called
> it 'dangerous', but other advice from this source would indicate he would
> use the same adjective for wiper blades that are streaking a little.
>
> Here is my question - will my wheel fall off if I wait for this to fail?
> It seems like the wheel will steer kind of sloppy but should be ok in a
> 'limp home' mode kind of way.
>
> Another factor - I plan on selling this car in a year, when it hits 10
> years or 200k miles, so if it drives and acts like it does now for 20k
> more miles, I will be happy.
>

>peter,
>
>Your emotionally overrought reaction to a simple question on an obscure
>suspension issue was 'how dare I seek a second opinion?!' in so many words.
>I suggest you either drink a little more or a whole lot less, or go to
>church, or a doctor, or something to help get your mind right. I am not
>reading any more of your posts.
>
>regards,
>Keith Loyd
>

He gave you a real answer, if you can get over the 'overwrought'
style.

He
http://autos.yahoo.com/maintain/repa...ques109_0.html

and he

http://member.rivernet.com.au/btaylo...tFailE30M.html

On Fri, 04 Aug 2006 00:04:42 GMT, "Keith Loyd" >
wrote:

>peter,
>
>Your emotionally overrought reaction to a simple question on an obscure
>suspension issue was 'how dare I seek a second opinion?!' in so many words.
>I suggest you either drink a little more or a whole lot less, or go to
>church, or a doctor, or something to help get your mind right. I am not
>reading any more of your posts.
>
>regards,
>Keith Loyd

Emotional reactions are what you get when the wheel falls off and the
comment is like "Who'd have thought this would happen?"

YOu described a very dangerous situation, and I said so. Further your
lack of knowledge in thinking you could continue to operate the
vehicle in this condition shows a total disergard for anyone else's
safety.

And, yes don't read my posts. Don't read anyone's posts that say it is
dangerous. Just read the ones that say it is just fine to drive it as
it is.

Plonk.

Many thanks to those who responded and directed me to websites (lamerfreak)
with more detailed information. The unanimous opinion here was more useful
than a mechanic at a ethically casual dealer who I have caught exagerating
in the past. Even the crazy guy in this newsgroup agreed with the rest of
you when he briefly addressed my actual question.

Since I'm between jobs, I was hoping to put this off, like mediocre shocks,
a dead liscense plate light, or window tint turning purple. Yes, N8N I am
Fat *******'s thin, tight fisted little brother, Cheap *******.

regards,
Keith Loyd

Keith Loyd wrote:
> Many thanks to those who responded and directed me to websites (lamerfreak)
> with more detailed information. The unanimous opinion here was more useful
> than a mechanic at a ethically casual dealer who I have caught exagerating
> in the past. Even the crazy guy in this newsgroup agreed with the rest of
> you when he briefly addressed my actual question.
>
> Since I'm between jobs, I was hoping to put this off, like mediocre shocks,
> a dead liscense plate light, or window tint turning purple. Yes, N8N I am
> Fat *******'s thin, tight fisted little brother, Cheap *******.
>
> regards,
> Keith Loyd
>
>

hey, don't take it personally. I own a Studebaker (you think VW owners
are cheap????) I just know how easy it is to replace a VW ball joint,
it is a complete non-event, trust me. Plus your car won't sound like a
bag of s**t going down the road anymore.

nate

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