Thank God I was only going about 10mph when I felt a thump and my car started wobbling side to side. I was able to pull over on the side of the road and call a tow truck before anything seriously or deadly happened! What happened here? Did my axle go out? I was warned a couple months ago that one of the front bearings and seals needed to be replaced. I was going to take it in in a couple week until this happened today. I was hearing a squeek and grinding noise when braking which my mechanic said was from the bearings/seals. Anyway, how bad is this and how much can I expect to pay to repair this as it is my daily driver!

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lower ball joint ?

sorry to see your having issues

 

yea I think that too. You have to listen to your car. They will tell you when they don't feel good, and they don't like it when we don't listen....

 

either your lower balljoint let go, or more likely your lower control arm cracked where the lower balljoint goes through it.

it is becoming and increasingly common problem iwht our cars as they get older.

Crawl under the car and take photo from the front of the control arm where the spindle attaches- I'll bet $$ the end of it has come off right through the balljoint.

You will have to get another lower control arm, probably lower balljoint and replace.

Be careful if you jack it up, the spring is held in place with that lower control arm, if its no longer connected to the spindle (held in) it can shoot out when you jack up the car and take the weight off it.

 

Looks lower ball joint-like to me, too, but is it low on that side, or is it sitting close to level?

The lower BJ holds the weight of the car, and if it goes, the spring should come down and the fender liner should rest on the tire.

I almost think I can see the lower control arm angling down from the outside toward the middle, under the car, which should be the opposite (angle down from the center toward the outside) if it's the lower ball joint. If so, then maybe a lower control arm bushing let go instead (which would be weird).

Glad you're okay!

- Eric

 

I'm going to differ from you guys and say the upper let loose. I don't think the lower part of the tire is sticking out any farther than it should be with the tire at this extreme angle. On the other hand the top part looks like it's riding on the frame. Pop the hood and make sure the upper arm is still bolted to the frame and that the shaft that goes through it is still in one piece. The squeaking could have been the bushings on the upper control arm and if it has been like that for a long time the shaft could have snapped.

But you never know.

 

EXCELLENT observation! Had the lower let go, the car would have been resting on the ground. And, as you note, very easy to check visually.

 

Sorry to hear and glad there was no real damage. It happened to me a couple years ago.

See if this happened to you...
https://classicoldsmobile.com/forums...html#post74952

If so, there is an explanation of the failure and an easy solution in that thread.

 

First off, thank you guys for responding so quick. You led me in the right direction. I do believe it might be the upper control arm. Im not quite sure as I dont have much experience but here are some photos I snapped. Maybe you can help me out.

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Well, definitely not the LCA bushings, as I had thought. The spring is properly compressed with LCA in normal position.
Both ball joints are intact and connected.
UCA can be seen way too close to the frame, so there's your culprit.
You managed to not get any pics of the front UCA bolt, which seems to be the bad spot, and the rear bolt is partly obscured by the plug wires, so it's hard to see exactly how it is sitting.
My new guess is that the front UCA bolt let go, and that the rear is still connected, but is badly bent. This would rotate the wheel in at the top, and forward in the wheel opening, which is what we seem to see from the two first "front-view" pictures (no side views taken).

- Eric

 

Is your upper control arm connected to your high beams? Looks like the high beam light has something in common with your wheel.

 

Exactly what he said.

That front bolt that goes through the crossshaft split allowing the whole assbmly to slide inward toward the engine.

Fixing it, you would support the lower control arm, break the upper balljoint loose from the spindle
Remove the rear crossshaft to frame bolt

inspect the upper arm & make sure it wasn't damaged

Get two new crosshaft frame bolts (these are special bolts with knurled ends where they go through the frame- you can order them from the restoration catalogs)

Press the existing bolts out- do not attempt to turn them out, otherwise you will break the knurling and have to tack weld the new ones into place.

Press the new bolts in, slide the upper control arm back on, tighten the nuts, reattach the balljoint

if you had the new bolts in hand, you could do the whole operation in probably 30 mins or less.

That said, i think i would want to replace the balljoints on that side at least. Even thought this happened at low speed, it will have stressed those joints more than normal. Of course that could be done later if you are in a hurry to get it back on the road.

 

Hey, if you've already got the ball joint(s) split, you "might as well" put in new ones... It's not that much more work or expense at that point.

- Eric

 

Look here to see if this bolt is broke like mine was:


If the cross shaft bolts are the problem, they can be easily replaced without removing the balljoint. Some careful jacking (just the right height), some light kicking of the wheel into place, and some light work with a prybar was all it took. In theory, removing the ball joint will help, but I have not met one that comes out easily.

Getting the old bolts out may require some blocks of wood as levers and taps with a hammer to drive the serrated part loose.
I did all of them on my car in about an hour (while taking my time)... Cost me a whole $21 for the 4 special bolts and nuts.
Here is how I did it: https://classicoldsmobile.com/forums...html#post75566

 

Great observation, it takes a good eye to look at everything possible!!!

 

This is what happend to be last year only on the right side. I had a broken UCA bolt. The rear one was bent all the hell up.

 

You guys are awesome. A bit of a relief. I appreciate all of your help and time!

 

That upper control arm looks bent by the ball joint in the pics?

I rebuilt my front and rear ends with an internal spring compressor, upper control arm service kit, various size chunks of of pipe and wood, a BF bench vice and a BFH.
Why rent a tool or have somebody do the job for what the tool costs?
I would have bought a press too if I had room in my garage to store it.
You know there's over a 100% chance you'll need it again real soon if you don't buy it.
Just gas to drive to the place to go rent it could pay for the tool these days.
Plus you can loan it to local CO members, I'll loan mine to Sandy anytime.

 

Can you elaborate on the special tools needed for this job? just kidding