[TR] Coulda-Been Catastrophic Failure?

[Randall]

> And how difficult will this
> be able to fix well enough to drive the car to a proper mechanic to have the
> car completely gone through?

Depends on the damage done.  Just replacing the upper ball joint isn't too difficult.  If the vertical link and/or A-arms are damaged, then you'll need a proper spring compressor (about $50 at the usual suspects or build your own), and of course suitable replacement parts; but the work still isn't particularly hard.

If that sounds like too much, though, hire a flat bed.  This is not an area to be making compromises.

> And what might have been the fundamental cause?

>From your description, I'd say most likely hidden accident damage.  It's possible the nut "just came off", but that would indicate defective or incorrectly assembled parts.  That joint is supposed to have a thin Nyloc nut, which is supposed to be replaced every time it's taken off.  Someone either used the wrong nut (I've gotten ball joints with tall nuts, so the locking element doesn't contact the threads) or reused the same nut until it lost it's locking power.

And even if the nut did come off, the "locking" taper should have held for a long time.

> The wheel in question also appeared a
> bit out of whack when I had the car up on axle stands a few weeks ago. 

Uhh ... yeah, you were lucky.  I'm guessing that next time it looks "out of whack", you'll investigate _before_ taking a drive.

Randall