Took The Dive!

[HOLLYWOODSPIDER]

My spider took the dreaded ball joint dive this afternoon.

I was cruising along about 30mph when the lower right ball joint gave out. Car drops to the ground, upper ball joint and brake flex hose go with it. The wheel was attatched by the steering linkage only.

I lost all steering and brakes in an instant and skidded left, across 3 lanes of traffic, up a driveway and into a wall.

Fortunately, the 3 normally busy lanes were clear and by the time I hit the wall, I was slowed down enough that it just compressed my bumper shock.

The towtruck drivers were at a loss as to how to get it on the truck. In the end, we set the hydraulic jack cup under the failed ball joint and rolled the jack with the car onto the flatbed.

I drove the car over 1000 miles this past weekend. I'm freaking lucky.

I dusted off my other car, a '66 T-bird that hasn't seen use since I got the Fiat last year. Then it died on me at a stoplight on the way home this evening. Twice.

Anybody else ever use up all their AAA tows in twelve hours before?

[mdrburchette]

Man, you really were lucky! I'm glad to hear the damage was minimal.

[The Magic Fiat]

Ouch! Sorry to hear that.

I used to use a shop where they would test the ball joints and linkage joints by compressing them with channel lock pliers.
Anyone ever heard of this?
I thought it was that they could "prove" there was a problem with the joints, even if there was nothing wrong.

What are some tests to see if the ball joints or other parts are about to let go?
My steering feels tight and the wheels don't wiggle, but catastrophic stuff seems to happen at the worst times on Fiats

Neil

[mbouse]

your luck sounds like it is fantastic. Alive and well to tell the tale!

glad to know that, for sure.

[yap123]

Glad to hear you're okay. I'm sure your won't forget the fear you felt when you lost control of your car.

Regarding AAA towing, when I bought my Spider, I upgraded my membership to AAA Plus which give me 100 miles towing per disablement.