After weeks of squeaking my ball joint exploded and left me stranded. No town truck driver wanted to pick up my car because is was on the FLOOR. Check your b…
Catastrophic Ball Joint Failure 1999 Lincoln Town Car
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Just had this happen on my 96- gotta do the same thing. Even the war on the ball joint looks the same. Had to get it on the truck by using a jack with wheels and hooking the car up to the front: then slowly rolling both up the tow truck’s ramp.
Bal joints need LUBE!
cheaper to buy a jack, the tools and do it on the side of the road with info from your iphone.
I just replaced the upper and lower ball joints on my town car and the idler arm they were all squeaking like hell! Glad this didn’t happen to me
very helpfull…….
Right on man, thanks for the info.
It just hit the ground, scraped and slowed down. I didn’t lose control but I was going 15mph. I had to disconnect everything from the spindle so I can remove the ball joint because it split into two pieces. I disconnected the sway bar and the tie rod, only from the side of the vehicle I was doing the repair.
I would worry about your other side? I wonder if you felt a lot of shimmy in your steering wheel? Maybe your left tire is way out of balance and or wheel out of round. Also is it mandatory to remove the bars or could the ball joint be replaced with the right socket combo or factory tool? If on a one lane road @ 55 mph could you sway into oncoming or can you still control directions after catastrophic failure?
I had that happen to me before when the tow truck comes they will need a wooden sled on the tow ramp total cost at the repair facility $430 dollars
Hahahahaha!
Dealing with this now. It’s been a bitch trying to get the ball joint out the spindle,which still on car, didn’t take off like you did, but may have to. A pitman arm puller does not work, I cracked one. After going to Crown Vic.net, Found out the key is going Hammertime on it. Will do tomorrow, and since they were sealed ball joints, i’m replacing them all.
Hey man the economy still suck for young people the government is actually trying to pass a bill to spend our money to give kids from 16/18-24 yrs old..free vehicles so they can look for work crazy huh I could only imagine the amount of people 25 yrs old and up that would be totally fuckin rips shit having to bust our ass’s and save money…moral of my story economy is still in a fuxkin shithole state so don’t hate on him too much lol
Hah, you got me pinned perfectly.
Judging from the bald inside part of the tire, it’s obvious you are a cheap bast*rd that doesn’t know, nor have the money, to maintain your car. Who knows what’s going to go next. Some will never learn.
I put all new front suspension parts on my car and at almost 10,000 miles one of the ball joints separated. Luckily I was only going 2 miles an hour over a speed bump. It never gave me any warning signs whatsoever. I had it towed to a dealership about 4 blocks away.
Copy, I’m going to fix this, ASAP. I’ve been slackin too long. Hopefully I wont pay for my sloth as you did!
Great
It could happen under both conditions, if it is a Town Car/Crown Victoria with high mileage (100k+) without any indication of Ball Joint Replacement – it is probably the culprit. I would at least consider lifting the car and checking the wheels for play/looseness at the 6 and 12 o’clock positions.
The squeeking, ìs that when u steer, or go over a bump?
Don’t let it squeak for so long!
this just happened to my 96 crown vic
The newer SEALED ball joints on these later cars (all makes) are a BAD IDEA. They are smaller and cannot be greased. The seals wear out and then dirt, sand and water get inside the joint causing rapid deterioration. These smaller ball joints will not feel loose and will deceive you. If you hear loud squeaking, they are ready to fail. Replace them with Moog greasable units. Moog has recognized this problem, even if the auto manufacturers still refuse to correct it.
Identical.
Yes. Extra diligence is needed with the newer SEALED ball joints on these cars as they are smaller and do not make the noise and movement the older ones did when worn out. They just let go suddenly like mine did after weeks of loud squeaking. When that squeaking starts, the end is near. Your wheel will still seem tight, but it is ready to fail. Replace with Moog greasable ball joints instead (problem solvers). As for sealed ball joints: some new ideas are just plain BAD.
Check your balls regularly guys!
Nope, its simply neglect. A lot of town cars have very high mileage and squeak to all hell.
ive seen these all over town with the wheel almost fallen off. must be a design flaw
I rented the tool at advance auto. Ball Joint Removal Tool/Kit
I just had the same thing happen to my 94 Town Car tonight. How did you get the lower part of the balljoint out of the control arm?
i know it doesn’t matter but ive got a 98 crown vic. looks like same setup you got there.
This exact same thing happened to me two days ago. Luckily was only going about 5mph.. Lower ball joint is in 2 pieces just like yours. My damage looks about the same, but the tow truck driver was great and used wooden blocks and a jack, took forever… So did you use a ball joint press to remove the old one?? Is the only way to do this job by removing the caliper first? It’s really tight to get in there. Any info is much appreciated, thanks! Glad you got your ride goin again!
Thanks for the quick response sounds like one of those might be the issue. I have noticed a bit of looseness in the steering when driving straight. Every once in a while I hear very slight clunking sound. Had a new ball joint put on about a year ago but heard you should replace both upper/lower at same time which I failed to do due to lack of funds at the time.
You can see when the sway bar end link bushings are dead, they will look squashed and rotten/cracked – they are cheap and easy to replace.
My car also had a dead steering idler arm, it was located on the passenger side. It attached to the steering linkage and frame. It made the steering very loose (boat like) and I think it was making wild noises going up/down entrances and turning into parking spots. I never changed it though – ended up getting rid of the car.
Kinda like a metallic fart sound last only a second sounds strange the way I describe it.
Could you or anyone else tell me sound or signs of a bad sway bar bushing or steering link bushings? I get a strange metal type sound not so much a clunk but like something is rubbing when me wheels turned sharply and I go up/down a incline like a curb?
that happened to me in my 1994 crown vic same side, i replaced the other side too
I got a 98 vic & the same thing just happened to me last weekend that was a scary feelin when it dropped me & my homebody was lookin crazy as hell but im lucky i had just got off the highway when it decided to do it so instead of 60 i was doin bout 15-20
haha yeah tell me about it!
That sucks!