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Method of lowering your car!

1K views 15 replies 10 participants last post by  machausta 
#1 ·
Ok, so I lowered my car last night, and I think I may have used the 'incorrect' method so I want you guys to have a look...

Driver side



Passenger side



Location where I had it done



Results



Missing Ball Joint Method of lowering



Ok, so seriously the lower ball joint failed and it mangled the lower control arm. Not sure of other damages at this time, but will keep you guys posted.

Who knows, maybe I'll do something different...
 
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#4 ·
Whooowe! Bet that was a bit of a "puckering" moment! Glad you're not upside-down and on fire!

Maybe we should make a "cars that lost a balljoint" sticky to serve as proof / warning that this stuff actually happens.
 
#5 ·
It broke as I was traveling over the savannah river from Georgia back into South Carolina. I just wanted to avoid hitting the bridge and possibly going over the side.

On a side note, I checked the ball joints for play last year and again just before leaving IL.

I hit a large pothole on my way to work and thought I'd knocked the car slightly out of alignment and then it broke on my way home.
 
#6 ·
Do you know about how old the LCA was? That's insane, glad you're ok.
 
#10 ·
The LCA itself came with the car, it was an original ball joint AFAIK.

Well it looks pretty good at least :thumbsup: sort of an impromptu preview lol


Isn't your car still sub 100k?
Yeah, actually about 93k when you add up all the miles on the different odometers that have been in the car ;)

Man these cars go to hell around 100k

The lower control arm comes with the new ball joint anyway, so no problem there. Usually when the uppers fail it likes to cut into the inside of the rim, but the lower usually doesn't do that, so the rim may be alright. The biggest expense is going to be the paint work on the fender, unless you find one in the same color that the paint is still good on.
I'm not worried about these tires or rims as I have my SC wheels sitting in my extra storage space about 10 ft from the patio. I'll keep my eye out for another electric red 94/95 fender, but in all likelihood I'm just going to have to get a replacement and have it painted.

I was thrilled I didn't hit the bridge or that sign to be honest. I knew as soon as it let go the ball joint would be the culprit.

Wow. Just like I was telling tractorman1215.

Suspension, suspension, suspension!

So glad you're ok and there's no other damage to the car. Best wishes with the repairs.
I'm just glad there's no damage to me too :D

The car will be fixed, but its no longer going to be my DD. As soon as I get the control arm on I'm going to take it to go into storage.
 
#8 ·
The lower control arm comes with the new ball joint anyway, so no problem there. Usually when the uppers fail it likes to cut into the inside of the rim, but the lower usually doesn't do that, so the rim may be alright. The biggest expense is going to be the paint work on the fender, unless you find one in the same color that the paint is still good on.
 
#12 ·
That was a bit tongue in cheek, but seriously I've had to replace enough maintenance items recently to warrant that statement. This isn't my first Thunderbird and they have all needed pretty much the same wear items at around the same time.
 
#14 ·
Ouch'
sorry to see that happen. Like TM was saying above"Best wishes with the repairs".
Hey, at least you got a great shot of the Bird, I like how it is sitting in Pic 3,
and the "keep off median" sign in the back.

-Maic
 
#16 ·
I only missed that sign by a few inches, and then my wife pointed out the irony of it after the fact -- I hadn't even noticed.

The pothole you mentioned earlier was likely the straw that broke the camel's back, it's fairly unusual for that catastrophic of a failure to occur without the typical signs, though ~100k is about the time those begin to appear it seems.

Still it sucks, but once you replace them you'll be good for as many miles ahead at least. Well assuming you don't get eghey LCAs :tongue:

Oh and I forgot to say it earlier that I'm glad you're ok! I've only esperienced that as a passenger at lower speed so it had to be pretty butt puckering from the drivers seat!
You know, it really was quite a shock to have the right front feel as though it was bouncing off the pavement :D

I found TRW LCAs, I'm going ahead and replacing both sides even though the drivers' side appears much newer than what remains of the passenger side.

I'll see if I can get a pic of the actual failed part later today as well.
 
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