the nut on the spindle-knuckle (what im just going to assume it is called) that was supposed to be clamping down on the ball joint-finger. well the thread stripped just enough for the whole thing to just hop right off when I was halfway down my gravel driveway.
the good news is that I've replaced ALL the ball-joints and tie rods (inner and outer) AND used loc-tite, AND higher grade bolts since this happened on the morning of my birthday this September 16th. I have also discovered that my front shocks are going, so I'll have to replace those, and I'm going to do the struts as well sometime soon... so that can attest for my loose handling (on top of the front upper ball joints sliding around, changing camber)
not to worry, all has been FIXED. the car has been running fine and I've had no problems with it... (so far )
And this is why I have replaced all suspension components on both my Fiero's when I first got them. I haven't seen a Fiero out there (over 100K miles) that didn't have some kind of major/minor suspension looseness or noise clunking issues!
Sorry about your misfortune, glad it happened in your driveway.............
However, your problem was not caused by the nut loosening, it was caused by not having the ball joint completely through the knuckle. Notice the scallop in the ball joint stud? That scallop allows the cinch bolt to fit through the knuckle and hold the assembly together even without the nut.
The real question however is.... Do you have the DIY for the 4 Wheel Steering Upgrade you did on your Fiero?
Lol no, (and because your picture is from the back to the future movie) My flux capacitor lost power mid-flight during the conversion to take off, and I landed like that* XD
Between the last pic in his post and his description, yeah.
The bolt retains the ball joint stud, if the nut loosens the ball joint/knuckle will not separate.
The bolt must be removed.
no one could tell from the pictures but the nut literally stripped thread with the bolt, and slid just enough for the knuckle to loosen up grip on the ball joint finger, and enough so for the ball joint finger to rub on the bolt to where it started to wear, and eventually popped out of the scalloped part of the finger.
no one could tell from the pictures but the nut literally stripped thread with the bolt, and slid just enough for the knuckle to loosen up grip on the ball joint finger, and enough so for the ball joint finger to rub on the bolt to where it started to wear, and eventually popped out of the scalloped part of the finger.
That would be extremely impressive... got anymore pics of the wear on the removed bolt or ball joint stud?
I had to use a cutting disc to remove the bolt, and I cut right through the damaged area, and I didn't take anymore pictures. and I tossed all the useless hardware after, seeing as how its only good for scrap now.
I had to use a cutting disc to remove the bolt, and I cut right through the damaged area, and I didn't take anymore pictures. and I tossed all the useless hardware after, seeing as how its only good for scrap now.
I had to read the other post a few times to understand what happened. It seems you are saying the bolt came loose allowing the stud of the ball joint to move up and down slightly and thus wear a spot on the bolt enough to allow the stud to pull free of the hole. If this is the case, I noticed the rear anti sway bar and wonder if it had anything to do with this. Not so much the bolt coming loose of course, but the extra pressure from the force of the rear bar, or if it would have happened regardless of the rear bar. Would also think it would have been making some clunking noises before the pieces parted ways.
I had to read the other post a few times to understand what happened. It seems you are saying the bolt came loose allowing the stud of the ball joint to move up and down slightly and thus wear a spot on the bolt enough to allow the stud to pull free of the hole. If this is the case, I noticed the rear anti sway bar and wonder if it had anything to do with this. Not so much the bolt coming loose of course, but the extra pressure from the force of the rear bar, or if it would have happened regardless of the rear bar. Would also think it would have been making some clunking noises before the pieces parted ways.
Kevin.
you are quite right, Im not sure of the sway bar making more stress though.
[This message has been edited by AL87 (edited 11-01-2013).]
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