Damnit...another car problem, ball joint possibly loose

[MaxDSP]

I turn into the parking lot at school this morning and am in a hurry so right after a speed bump, I press on the gas a lil and try to take a turn into one of the lanes. My front right tire hit a patch of ice and the wheel was spinning but it seemed to catch pavement and jerked forward. I didnt think much of it until one of my "school friends" was sitting inside while we were on our way to BK and he says that the ball joint was loose, he could hear/feel it. Im not gonna be able to get it fixed until tomorrow afternoon if thats the problem so how much of a risk is it to drive with a possible loose ball joint?

 

[trenchfoot]

although that ball joint is a part of your car's suspension, it will definetly affect your ability to correctly steer the vehicle if it separates. i'd err on the side of safety and either drive slow and easy with a friend trailing and with flashers on, and go to the repair shop or have it towed there for a proper inspection. (and hope you don't get ripped off). (make sure you let the tow operator know what's wrong with your ride.) to assess how bad your ball joint's condition is, you have to jack up the side of your car that the suspect joint is on to the point where the tire is off the ground about an inch or so.. (remember, safety first!) then, stick a pry bar or some such under the tire and leverage the tire up and down to load/unload the joint. then, grasp the tire at 9 and 3 0'clock and jiggle the tire from side to side to determine if a loose wheel bearing is the actual problem or not. you'll definetly hear a loose bearing doing this. if you hear a loud clunking noise from the joint, then i'd get it towed. if there's no noise coming from the joint (and you did this inspection routine properly) you could maybe consider the aforementioned slow ride to the shop if you're willing to risk it, but remember, disaster could be right around the next corner if the joint decides to separate and then you'd lose steering control in ice conditions. personally speaking, if you're not mechanically inclined, or don't have access to someone who is, i wouldn't take the chance. hope this helps.

 

[MaxDSP]

I had my car checked out by a mechanic and he said that the joint was definetely loose. So we went shopping for a good mechanic and one guy quoted $200, 130 for parts and the rest for labor. I went to Pep Boys and they wanted like 186 total. We found this guy that was gonna do it for like 160 but we told him we already bought the part. Hes gonna charge like $50 labor. The joint was another $51 from Murray's. The apointments tomorrow...hopefully it works out

Thanks