Ball joints

[Emagine]

Afternoon all....

Thought I better post this really just to make everyone aware.

I had a lower front ball joint failure yesterday coming back from the Car show at Knebworth. Luckily for me it was at very low speed and not on a main road. I was just turning into my friends drive when all of a sudden there was a loud bang and the front right of the car dropped followed by a loud scrapping noise as the lower wishbone dropped onto the inside of the wheel rim.

Upon investigation it turns out the ball joint broke just where the thread starts.

The car is now down with DMCL and they're going to do more investigative work. I haven't changed this part since I bought the car and until we get the ball joint out I can't say whether it is an original 25 year old part or not. But I'll keep everyone informed.

I can tell you now it was a proper mission trying to get a Delorean on the back of a recovery truck when you can't push it or lift it! It took nearly 7 hours, 4 AA vehicles, 2 flat beds and one HighAb (lifter) to finally get the car loaded. One thing I did learn. The Delorean is SO back heavy that it can't be lifted by those guys that tow you away if you have parked illegally or have no road tax. Dunno if that is useful to know or not really!

I guess I'm just lucky it didn't happen at higher speed and that I seem to have gotten away with just a bit of rubbing on the inside of the wheel arch and a little damage the wheel rim.

As always, its a good idea with these 25 year old cars to do routine checks on all the critical areas like suspension and steering.

[MikeH]

damn, all these load bangs and stuff i keep reading about is putting my wallet off buying a D. Good job i own my wallet and not the other way around

Hope you get it sorted soon, try get some pics

[Emagine]

Just some pics of the incident

[NickT]

ooh that could have been a lot worse !

Glad you got off so lightly !

Nick.

[Guinney1971]

Jeez Stuart, thank goodness that happened at low speed, like Nick said that could have been so much worse, at least you are ok and Maddie can be sorted for you.

Mike - yes, things go wrong, as they do with any car, but to be fair D's arnt that expensive to maintain - I was nattering to the service guys at the Merc dealership I work at - how do you fancy £1000 to replace front and rear pads and discs on a Mercedes ML270 - and thats every 10,000 miles, and a set of tyres at £1200 every 15,000 miles!

And my boss wonders why I tell him to bugger off everytime he tries to convince me to get rid of my old Cav and buy a Merc.... :lol:

Hope you get Maddie back soon Stuart, and I'll deffo make sure that I give Flopsy the once over to make sure everything's ok.

[Guinney1971]

Jeez Stuart, thank goodness that happened at low speed, like Nick said that could have been so much worse, at least you are ok and Maddie can be sorted for you.

Mike - yes, things go wrong, as they do with any car, but to be fair D's arnt that expensive to maintain - I was nattering to the service guys at the Merc dealership I work at - how do you fancy £1000 to replace front and rear pads and discs on a Mercedes ML270 - and thats every 10,000 miles, and a set of tyres at £1200 every 15,000 miles!

And my boss wonders why I tell him to bugger off everytime he tries to convince me to get rid of my old Cav and buy a Merc.... :lol:

Hope you get Maddie back soon Stuart, and I'll deffo make sure that I give Flopsy the once over to make sure everything's ok.

[MikeH]

heh yea, luckely i have a little golf that ill keep aswel anyway incase anything goes wrong.

Yea it could of been really bad at top speed, let us know how you get on

[Daniel Shane]

Hi stuart,

I have got you two new balljoints and I will be bringing them back home tomorrow with me so we can fit them.

Dan

[MikeH]

so how much did that little accident set you back? be intresting to know how much such things cost and weather they were original or replaced that went

[stunned_monkey]

To clarify: The problem was a snapped shaft. The joint was properly installed and the taperlock had been holding - as evident by the shine on the shaft, and unlike the one that recently failed in Ireland. The "cross reference" failure is of the ball joint actually separating because it was not designed as a load bearing joint.

What it cost was a new ball joint and 0.9 hours to fit it. Stu understandably had both done. The damage was minimal and for the most part, cosmetic.and probably mostly done getting it on and off the transporter.

[Emagine]

Well thought I should give an update on the ball joint thing.

As mart said above, it was the result of a snapped shaft.

Here are some photo's







This ball joint came from the passenger side and I know this car has taken a knock at some point on that corner. The underbody had been repaired in that area by the previous owner.

As you can see it must have sheared throught. There is a dark patch and prossibly provides evidence of the shaft being fractured and grime getting in long before the ball joint actually went.

Anyways, had both replaced just in case.

[Rissy]

LEX failed her M.O.T.

Front lights need adjusting. Minor.

Offside Rear wheel hand brake doesn't work, at all. So hopefully just a cable adjustment... Minor, hopefully?

The guy is NOT happy with the rust on the chassis under the engine (engine cradle), so wont let it go without some welding. He will do, if i want it to pass next time.

Now the biggy! (If you completely ignore the welding thing)

The nearside front lower ball joint is shot. He will NOT let this go. He says i need a new one. end of.

SO. Cross reference anyone? possible to source in the UK, for another car type??? If i can get it, the guy will do the work to get LEX ready for next Wednsday for the June meet, otherwise LEX will not be making an appearance, and instead, i'll have to come along in the Civic! Boooooooo!!!!!

Tried to phone Martin. He's changed his number. I've obviously bugged him one too many times! ha-ha!

HELP!!!!!

Please!

[Rich H]

Dave Howarth

Lower Front Ball Joint

Call Him

Decent job, you'll need a day to do it if it goes well.

[Chris Williams]

Ball joints....mmm there are lots of topics on this on Delorean forums some good some bad. Not sure where Martin got his from when he did Stuart's, when I replaced mine I used the ones from John Harvey http://www.specialtauto.com/delorean-pa ... nsion.html
These seem to be all OK, Plus as allways check with or own Dave Howarth, though it depends on the condition of the arm as to how well they fit, as in may need the retainer ring. And how quickly you want the parts. Ed Uding may be quicker for getting replacements though?
Hope this helps
Chris

[Rissy]

This is exactly what i've done. I've phoned Ed in Holland, and order two on express postal service. Going to replace both, since Ed's advice was, "if one is going, the other is sure to follow" So ordered Part No. 109266 x 2 Ed says this is all i will need. Got the car booked into the garage again for Tuesday morning (cutting it close!) so fingers crossed. I've insisted i'll hang around while they do the work, so i'll be able to keep an eye on how the welding etc goes. They are going to paste it up with undercoat to cover the bare metal in the short term. (i hear everyone cringing! lol!) but that is my only available option given the timescale involved.