[chris]

I was looking at the front suspension on my car and noticed that the right side upper ball joint has a torn boot. I wanted to know if this could be the possible culpret to my car. My car pulls to the right when I brake. I looked at the left side and that ball joint is fine. But the right side the boot is torn. Would this cause the car to pull right. Is there anyway of checking the joint. and if so how big of a project is this. I have done some work on my car like the strut rod bushings on the front of the car. Thanks for any help

 

[BR1]

it could possibly have somethign to do with it. i'd check for a soft tire there, hanging caliper though. you can check the joint by jacking up that wheel off the ground, and seeing if there is any play by the boot/joint. eventually with a torn boot, enough dirt will get in there and eat away the joint and it will fail. failing ball joint is bad. there has been a few threads lately about the cost being around $60 for a new upper control arm, which is how you replace the ball joint. installation is not too difficult. search around, you will find the threads.

read this: ball joint tips

 

[chris]

how would i go about checking for a caliper that is hung up. The upper control are seems to be solid. there is really no movement. The rotors on the front of the car on both sides are slightly warped. I know that because when I turn the tire when the front is off the you can heard the brake pads hitting spots of the rotor. I don't know if this would cause the problem. Thanks for any help

 

[a Bill]

Pulling to the right when you brake means the brake isn't functioning correctly. Has nothing to do with the suspension unless the car is bottoming out under hard braking and the tire is making contact with the fenderwell.

For the hanging caliper, pull off the brake caliper and see if it is sliding on the two pins or not.

As to the torn boot on the control arm. It will cause the ball joint to fail prematurely. I'm not sure if you can get new boots though, I never looked.

 

[ruffledfeathers]

Pulling right not suspension???

My car pulled right real bad
not the caliper of anything to do with brakes
it was a combination of lower ball joints, upper ball joints, and
strut rod bushings
now no more pulling

 

[pdennis93]

my car also pulled right when braking, then a lower ball joint snapped on the right side.... i had a lower outer tie rod end and both lower ball joints replaced and the problem went away.

 

[chris]

would you be able to tell because of play in the upper control arm. On the wishbone. or would it be hard to tell. because everything seems solid when I grab it. Please tell me of a way to test it

 

[Werty]

You can use a large pry-bar and see if you can shift the ball joint side to side.

 

[JustinH]

take care of that balljoint, right away. It is very dangerous, I have had a balljoint break on my 90 tbird, the front wheel came off. Lucky I was only going 30mph. I'll say now that my 95 has a totally rebuilt front end, I don't mess around with a worn suspension anymore.

JH

 

[Werty]

I just replaced half my front suspention. It is like I have a new car. It handles better and rides smoother.

 

[chris]

i think the reason that my car pulls to the left is because of the caliper on the left that is the only part of my car that makes noise. whenever I apply the brake very slowly at highway speed you can hear it. I also have slighly warped routers. The balljoint doesn't make any noise. maybe I should just put a new one in

 

[MRCYCOUG]

i have to replace both upper balljoint and both inner tie-rod.....that's going to be fun
________
buy grinders