How to determine if the auto ball joint is broken?

Guys, I'm LONGWIND GROUP who has been working in the auto parts industry for almost 20 years. Today, let's not talk about complicated things, but a particularly critical small component on the car - the ball joint. You can think of it as our shoulder joint, connecting the suspension and the wheel, allowing the wheel to flexibly turn left and right, and jump up and down. If this joint is loose, the car will "drift" when driving, and in serious cases it may even "dislocate", causing the wheel to lose control! This is no joke. The reasons for the damage of the car ball joint may be the following:

What are the causes of damage to car ball joints?

1. Normal aging and reaching the end of life (the main reason)

The ball head is lubricated with grease inside and sealed by a dust cover on the outside. Over time, the dust cover will age and crack, allowing dust, sand and water to enter and accelerate internal wear. This is just like when the "protective film" of a joint breaks, sand gets in and wears it out very quickly.

2. Poor road conditions, overly "tired"

If you often walk on bumpy and bad roads or frequently get on and off the curb, the ball joint, this "joint", will be subjected to severe impact and vibration, and its lifespan will naturally be greatly shortened.

3. Driving habits: "Too aggressive

Intense driving styles such as sudden acceleration, sudden braking, and not slowing down when cornering will subject the ball joint to additional and huge pressure, accelerating its wear and tear.

If inferior or counterfeit ball heads are replaced, and their materials and heat treatment processes do not meet the standards, they will of course deteriorate faster.

The ball head is just a consumable. A broken dust cover is the most common trigger for its premature death, while poor road conditions and driving habits are the "accelerators". Regular inspection and timely replacement of any problems found are the key.

How to determine if the auto ball joint is broken?

Then how can we determine if the ball joint of a car is broken? You don't need to lift the elevator at all. Just remember my method of "listen, observe and feel", and you'll be able to get a pretty good idea yourself.

The first trick: Listen to the sound - the "clunk" sound is its distress signal

This is the most obvious and common sign. When the ball head wears out and becomes loose, there will be gaps inside.

When should I listen? When you pass over uneven roads, speed bumps, or turn and run over manhole covers at a low speed.

What to listen to? Pay attention to the position of the front wheels of the car (if the steering ball joint is broken, you can more clearly feel where the sound comes from when you turn the steering wheel) to see if there is a dull metallic clanging sound like "clunk" or "clank". It feels as if there's something inside that's not securely fastened, swaying and bumping back and forth.

The second trick: Check the tires - Be vigilant if you notice "tire wear"

This requires you to be a little more diligent and check the wear and tear of your tires regularly.

What are you looking at? If the ball joint is severely worn, it will cause the positioning Angle of the wheel to be inaccurate. The specific manifestation is that there is abnormal uneven wear on the inner or outer side of the tire, which is what we often call "tire wear".

What do you think? Squat down and touch the patterns on the surface of the tire with your hand. If you find that one side is ground extremely flat while the pattern on the other side is still very deep, then you should highly suspect that there is a problem with the chassis suspension components (including the ball joint).

The third trick: Feel the steering wheel - a sense of looseness is a sign of danger

This is the most crucial method of judgment concerning driving experience and safety.

• Feel the "looseness"

Drive slowly on a flat but slightly bumpy road, gently holding the steering wheel with both hands. If you feel a loose and fragmented vibration coming from the front of the car, and the steering wheel seems to be "separated by a layer" from the feedback of the road surface, not as integrated and compact as before, this is often caused by excessive clearance of the ball head and other connecting parts.

• Feel the "sense of drifting" (pay special attention to this!) :

When driving on a straight and flat highway, do you feel that the car is not easy to go in a straight line and you always need to fine-tune the steering wheel left and right to correct the direction? It's as if there's some play in the steering wheel and the front of the car is a bit "floating"? This is a typical manifestation of unstable wheel alignment caused by loose ball joints.

The most direct "folk method" test (strongly recommended for two people to operate) :

• Step 1: Park the car on a flat ground, apply the handbrake, and shift into P gear (or turn off the engine and shift into gear).

• Step Two: Ask your friend to get in the car and turn the steering wheel back and forth slightly with force and speed (just stay in place, don't start). Remember, it's a small, quick back-and-forth strike!

• Step 3: Squat beside the wheel on the suspected problematic side and touch the position of the ball joint (the component that connects the steering knuckle of the wheel) with your hand.

• Step 4: If you can clearly feel a "click" gap coming from inside the ball joint at the moment when the steering wheel is turning but the wheels are still stationary, it can basically be determined that it has come to an end.
  
  

Can it still be driven if the ball joint is broken?

My sincere words to you: Short-term emergencies are fine, but please don't make do!

Just like a person with a loose joint, if you ask him to walk slowly for a few steps, it might be fine, but once he starts running and falls, the consequences would be unimaginable. Once the ball joint completely falls off, the wheel will lose control, which is fatal on the highway. So, once the above symptoms occur, especially obvious abnormal noises and sudden changes in direction, please take the car to a repair shop for inspection immediately. Changing a ball joint doesn't cost too much money, but it buys the safety of you and your family

A car is one's closest companion. Any "abnormal signal" it emits deserves our attention. I hope this "folk method" of mine can help you identify the problem earlier. Remember, there is no such thing as a trivial matter when it comes to the chassis; safety comes first. Regular inspections and timely repairs are the wise choices for experienced drivers. If you are looking for a supplier of automotive ball joints, you can contact us or watch the video below to learn about our products.