Ball Joints Coming Loose??

[dan2286]

I took a look at someone's Blazer because there was a squeak coming from the front end wile turning. It turns out it was coming from one of the ball joints. So I jack it up to check for looseness and holy crap, there was so much play in the wheel. After taking a closer look, the nuts and bolts that are holding the joint in are all loose on the top and bottom! These are aftermarket ones that use the bolts in stead of rivets. Surprisingly, both front wheels are like this. Besides the one that is squeaking, would it be okay to just re tighten the other ones if they have no play? I don't know if the holes in the control arm could be mangled to much since they have been loose. If I do tighten then up, I would be using some lock tight or lock nuts on them.

Also, has anyone ever seen this happen? I never have and I have no idea what to think of it.

 

[Brick442]

I wouldn't mess around with front suspension wear . . . I've seen some pretty bad injuries and car damages over the years from ball joints separating, wheels coming off . . . etc.

I'd replace any worn parts and all bushings, ball joints, etc. In my experience, when you replace or rig old, worn front suspension parts it just causes other old worn-out suspension parts to fail that much faster. Fix em all at once.