Up sh_t creek without a balljoint

AndrewT · Post by **AndrewT** » Mon Dec 04, 2006 10:56 am

Here's a novel for you;

I went 4wheeling with some "real" 4wheel drives yesterday to the good old Powerlines track.
Good mix of vehicles...
Huge 4wheel drives in stock form
Huge 4wheel drives done up like monster trucks
Couple of little Vitaras
I was the only Subaru.

First half of the trip was fantastic! I was showing them a thing or two and I think they were quite impressed with what I could achieve in the little Subi, I basically drove over everything they did and only had to avoid some of the really deep ruts (which I stradled and drove over anyway).
Then something really unlucky happened.

I watched a Landcruiser drive over a particularly tricky section and totally bananna it's massive aluminium side step on a rock.
I've driven of this exact obstical a few times before (Alex and Matt too). I followed and avoided damaging my sills completely with some careful wheel placement, but on the way out somehow I busted my drivers side ball joint. Sheered the damn thing in half!
The wheel/hub/strut/spring, everything was moving back and forwarth in the wheel arch completely unsecured.
Lukily I noticed after about 1metre of driving and didn't dislocate a CV joint or bust anything.
However I quickly came to the realisation this was very not good.
Could not drive.
Could not even be towed.
Car couldn't even be rolled along.

Anyways I jacked the front of the car up.
Removed the broken ball joint (both parts).
Rested the hub on the control arm (where it normally goes).
Lashed the control arm to the hub with some fence wire borrowed from a nearby fence.
Also used a tiedown done up really tight.
I jumped in the car and tested this arrangement by steering the wheel to the left and right - tiedown broke immediately and the hub jumped off the control arm - that obviously wasn't going to work.

At this point I should mention that I was pretty much in the halfway point of the treck. Ages to go back to the start, Ages to get to the end. Lots of difficult terrain to go over in both directions, some without granny tracks.

So now it was time to *make* a ball joint.
I got the largest socket I had with me (19mm Sidchrome).
Found a random nut & bolt in my toolbox.
Bolted the socket to the upper side of the control arm (where the balljoint usually goes).
Rested the hub down over the socket.
Secured the hub to the control arm using 6 cable ties and more fence wire.

This worked well enough for me to complete the rest of the track and get to the highway. It was VERY slow going with lots of stops to make checks and replace snapped cable ties. My clutch got a real workout (even though I was using dual range) I just had to go extremely slow. Had smoke comming from the clutch in one section.
When I reached the highway I decided to pull it all apart and see if I could improve things. The 19mm socket was slapping around heaps inside the base of the hub because it is much smaller in diametre than a ball joint. I used almost a whole roll of electrical tape wrapped around the socket to increase its diametre then used the jack to jam it up into the hub. This was a really snug fit.
Basically the car drove really well after that. I drove the entire way home to Carine without any issues at all (80 kilometres).

In the end I was really happy that it didn't cost me anything. No expensive offroad rescue, no calling towing services. Just abit of time.
(it might have cost me a 19mm socket - havn't checked yet!).

A very important lesson comes out of this;
CARRY SPARE BALL JOINTS!
I had two spare front struts, two spare control arms, spare driveshafts etc etc but no ball joints!!
They are very cheap and don't take up much room.
My ball joints had less than 6000kms on them - just goes to prove when your driving offroad even parts in perfect condition can just break!

Pics here;
As I drove it - http://members.iinet.com.au/~carine3/DSC_0217_small.JPG
Cable ties, wire removed - http://members.iinet.com.au/~carine3/DSC_0221_small.JPG
Separated from hub - http://members.iinet.com.au/~carine3/DSC_0222_small.JPG
"Custom" balljoint - http://members.iinet.com.au/~carine3/DSC_0223_small.JPG
Bolt removed - http://members.iinet.com.au/~carine3/DSC_0224_small.JPG
MIGHTY SIDCHROME - http://members.iinet.com.au/~carine3/DSC_0225_small.JPG

Hardly a scratch on it! Didn't even get the red tape until I got to the road!

Subafury · Post by **Subafury** » Mon Dec 04, 2006 11:40 am

you're very lucky to get out of that one. and very clever to improvise with you're bush mechanics. good to see that the real 4wd's stayed and helped u out- not leaving u helpless like u thought they would.
next time- together with a few more subas u wont have as many problems

steptoe · Post by **steptoe** » Mon Dec 04, 2006 11:56 am

gotta admire your ingenuity. you deserve 5 minutes in the next Bush mechanics show on the abc !

BrennyV · Post by **BrennyV** » Mon Dec 04, 2006 12:52 pm

hahah, go the bush mechanic!
might have got made piss by the pines sat night with some hard driving

Suby Wan Kenobi · Post by **Suby Wan Kenobi** » Mon Dec 04, 2006 1:08 pm

Nice work and creative thinking, however there must be a point at which you have to say "i dont really need to take this" A ball joint is small and it doesnt take up much room but if you start to carry one of everthing when you go 4wding you will end up with enough weight in the car to seriously hamper the performance especially if you have a few mates on board.

AndrewT · Post by **AndrewT** » Mon Dec 04, 2006 1:20 pm

Yes I am looking at skinnying down my spares but it's always catch 22.

Say you bust a front strut... Would you have busted it if you weren't carrying a spare one? Or would you have busted it anyway and then got stuck with no spare?

aspro · Post by **aspro** » Mon Dec 04, 2006 1:39 pm

Mate well done.... a really good bit of bush mechanicing for sure. BYBed to the best of your abilities.
I hope a few of those namby pamby overkill landbruising behemoths took notice of the mix of driver/vehicle ability;)
Cheers,
Aspro

I shall start carrying ball joints. What brand was the one that busted?

AndrewT · Post by **AndrewT** » Mon Dec 04, 2006 1:48 pm

Unsure of the brand, I'm sure Tim will know though. It's the one you get when you ask for "a balljoint" at Covo's.
I doubt it was any kind of manufacturing flaw though. At the end of the day its a car being used as a 4wheel drive

I bet my balljoint is similar in strength to your average Corolla jobbie.

tim_81coupe · Post by **tim_81coupe** » Mon Dec 04, 2006 6:55 pm

It's a WASP branded one. With bigger tyres, lift and hard offroading you're going to bust any brand you put in there.

That said though, I'm certainly putting a couple of balljoints in my spares compartment!

Subafury · Post by **Subafury** » Mon Dec 04, 2006 7:02 pm

yeh me too might go order one

Matt · Post by **Matt** » Mon Dec 04, 2006 7:14 pm

Nice work mate!! Instead of carrying spares just carry a bolt and nut and 19mm socket. Less weight that way, the socket you already have to have(well should anyway) and the nut and bolt weigh stuff all. And you can show off your bushcraft to your mates if it happens.

AndrewT · Post by **AndrewT** » Mon Dec 04, 2006 7:29 pm

heh yeah but it was VERY dodgy driving it like that.
If I had to put the brakes on semi-hard to swerv to miss something on the way home it would have all fallen apart. And you would not beleive how slow I had to drive in the offroad section (hence the smoke from the clutch).
1 spare balljoint and it would have been back up and running 100% fine in under 5 minutes.

Post by **Alex** » Mon Dec 04, 2006 7:39 pm

lol matt..order me one too!

alex

AndrewT · Post by **AndrewT** » Mon Dec 04, 2006 8:20 pm

**updated - added pics.

Subafury · Post by **Subafury** » Tue Dec 05, 2006 9:19 pm

just a tidbit of info while ive got my suba parts list out:
balljoints part no for L series: BJ257 ~$18 PowerMax Brand

SuBaRiNo · Post by **SuBaRiNo** » Tue Dec 05, 2006 11:03 pm

Do u have to order them in Matt?

Dave

Subafury · Post by **Subafury** » Tue Dec 05, 2006 11:12 pm

yes. thats from supercheap btw. how bout i place an order for like 3? im sure i can flog some

Xtreme_RX · Post by **Xtreme_RX** » Wed Dec 06, 2006 8:08 am

PowerMax is 100% better than the Wasp brand.
I used to use the wasp brand - dirt cheap, but they would flog out after 3000Kms......

Suby Wan Kenobi · Post by **Suby Wan Kenobi** » Wed Dec 06, 2006 11:55 am

In a road used vehicle the Wasp brand seem to hold up ok i have a set in Dads RX and they are going on 7000kms with no problems, then again the harder you use something the quicker it wears out no matter what the brand.

stamp_licker · Post by **stamp_licker** » Wed Dec 06, 2006 3:43 pm

had a wasp brand collapse from road only use ,only a couple pf months old .took it back to conventry's with the reciept and it was replaced no question's asked.

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Up sh_t creek without a balljoint

Up sh_t creek without a balljoint **Now with pics