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First Hand Experience - Bad Ball Joints/Alignment
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Author:  retmil46 [ Sat Jan 17, 2009 3:30 pm ]
Post subject:  First Hand Experience - Bad Ball Joints/Alignment
Back on Wednesday night, an air impact wrench threw a couple slivers of metal up underneath my safety glasses and lodged in my left eye. The on-site nurse wasn't able to dislodge one of them by flushing, so they had to transport me to a local emergency room to get it removed.

The security guard that transported me to the hospital was driving a 3.7 L gasser KJ with only 22K miles on it. I initially thought good, even though it's a gasser, I'll be riding in a decent vehicle instead of that rickety old Aerostar van they used to have.

But once we got out on the road, I was wondering if we'd even make it the 15 miles to the hospital. That beast was bobbing, weaving, and jerking around on the road like a drunken sailor. I glanced over at the driver a couple of times, and he was holding the steering wheel still - it wasn't driver induced.

The driver noticed me looking over, and guessed what I was thinking. He said "Yeah, this thing drives like crap, and it's only got 22,000 miles on it. They drive this thing thru the parking lot over all the speed bumps, and I think they've knocked the alignment out of whack".

I told him I had an '05 diesel version, and that there was a federal safety recall out on the factory ball joints, and that if the originals were bad and the recall hadn't been done on that vehicle, that could account for a good part of the alignment/steering problems with the vehicle.

He seemed rather surprised at that info, said he hadn't heard anything along that line, and that the vehicle had never been in for anything other than basic service since it had been given to them.

Made for a long ride to the hospital and back, as he kept it to around 45 mph to minimize the vehicles erratic actions, and I was in complete agreement with his course of action. :shock:

Believe me, if the ball joints and/or steering is gomered up on one of these beasts, YOU"LL KNOW!!! :roll:
Author:  gmctd [ Sat Jan 17, 2009 3:49 pm ]
Post subject: 
Had similar experiences with safety glasses, even standard glasses and water splashes - I try to use full goggle-type which fit over my glasses, plus a safety shield - I gotta pair of $4000 eyes, 'fraid to take chances with them

So, what's the prognosis - your eye(s) ok, now - you doin' any better?

Had similar experience after replacing upper and lower joints, incl upper arms - every slight bump\dip sent bad ball joint or lower arm bushing noises thru the passenger-side floor-pan, poor directionality - kept checking and rechecking my work, all copasetic - noticed the lower stabilizer bar link-bushings seemed really beat out, and they do need replacing, but not causative - camber and caster adj seemed right - finally rechecked the tow-in specs to find 1.250" toe-in, should be less than 1/8" (good thing I don't ride the little mule, much!) - did the alignment job single-handedly, one night - only thing I can figger is I kept getting the tape measure in the wrong tread-groove - the extra-wide track with the 2.55\Rubicon's didn't help - re-did it with a harborfreightdotcom toe-in bar, cheaply-made but self-modified for reliability - no more clunkety-pop-clack on bumps\dips\squirrels\small pets\small children, etc , but will still need final cinch-up by a professional (is there anysuch thing, anymore?) to be good
Author:  retmil46 [ Sat Jan 17, 2009 6:08 pm ]
Post subject: 
Yep, eye's pretty much good to go now. Luckily, that small sliver was lodged in just enough that it wouldn't flush out. Doctor numbed up my eye, and it took him about 2 seconds to lift it out with a cotton swab. He did a dye check with a UV light, said there was just enough of an abrasion to hold that sliver in place. Had to spend the last 3 days putting ointment in that eye, the ointment screwed up my vision enough that I was essentially one-eyed for a couple hours afterward.

Between my eye, and that hairy ride in the security guard's KJ, I've had better days.

Would've sucked to have screwed up one eye just when I'll have to be looking for another job - Freightliner gave us the word a week ago - we're back out the door on March 13th, and this time it looks to be for good - there'll be less than 700 people left at a plant that employs 4000 with 3 shifts, about half the number that's normally on just one shift - they've told the local utility that they will not be renewing their contract for electrical service to the plant when it expires next year - and where normally they'd let you carry over sick and vacation time for up to a year in case you were called back, this time around we've been told no such deal, everyone will have their time on the books cashed out March 13th - that tells me they don't plan on calling anyone back within the next full year at least. They're also "idling" the medium class truck plant in Mt Holly.

Looks like I'll be starting on my 3rd career in this lifetime shortly. Already got a couple good prospects - let's just say Darby might end up with a new neighbor.
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