I think that I have a lower ball joint that is going or is already gone. I have a LOUD pop when I hit the brakes moderately (can feel it in the floorboard and drivers door). It only POPs once and brakes and feels fine. To eliminate the brakes from the picture, I downshifted to L1 at 20 MPH and it poped as the weight transfered to the front.

Last weekend I replaced the pads and rotors, and the outer tie rod ends. I did not experience it again until lastnight driving home.

I guess my question is if it is a ball joint or was a tie rod end, why wouldn't I feel it in the steering wheel or brake pedal. There is a little play in it when checking it at 12 and 6 o'clock with it jacked up under the A arm.

Is it possible that the strut is toast or the rubber piece in between the strut and mount?

Thanks
Brian

 

Wow, I can't believe that no one has never had a ball joint failure?????

 

You can test for a bad ball joint by raising the A arm for the wheel in question. Simply try to shake the wheel from top to bottom. If the movment is great, chances are you do have a worn ball joint. If it seems pretty tight then you'll have to look for something else.

BTW, if one side goes, you might as well replace the other side as well.

~John

 

I had one fail but it never made any noise, I just noticed it as I was doing brakes one time, had alot of play....

 

Same exact problem here on my 94. It is sitting now, a little cold here in Ohio. If you figure this one out, please post what it was.

Thanks!

 

That is also a good test for finding a worn hub assembly in the front. If you have a lot of play it could be either. The lower ball joint has a wear indicator on it that you can see if you look at the grease fitting area. It's detailed in either the Haynes or Chiltons manuals. I just replaced both of my lower ball joints as preventative maintenance since I road race my car. Believe me, it's not an easy job. That stupid ball joint press I got from AutoZone is a serious contraption.

 

I had to replace my driver side one it had some play in it, my pass side arm is new from a previous accident from before I had bought my car.

 

Im working on replacing all my ball joints. It started out the front passenger making cracking noise when i pulled out of a spot and turned the wheel to the left. Then it acted up on the highway, now i seem to hear it all around on every bump. Do our cars have polyurethane bushings from factory? 94 z28.