[DML] Re: balljoint failure [long]

["DMC Joe" <DMCJOE@xxxx>]

Darryl,
Service Bulletin SC-03-1/81 was issued several weeks after it was
discovered that many of the replacement nuts supplied for Safety Campaign
RA-0001 (Lower Ball Joint Failure) were cracked causing stress failure of
the ball joint. The second re-call took place shortly after the first for
the same problem, therefore several cars slipped through the cracks and did
not receive the new components. 
DMC Joe / DeLorean Services / <dmcjoe@xxxx>
Web Site: <http://www.deloreanservices.com>

----------
> From: darryl@xxxx
> To: dmcnews@xxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: [DML] balljoint failure [long]
> Date: Sunday, August 15, 1999 3:26 PM
> 
> I'd like to relate a problem I had with my car that could have had
serious
> consequences. Last Saturday my wife and I left for a car show in our
> supercharged Chevy powered DeLorean. The first 10 miles or so of the
trip
> was on a winding, narrow country road, and I let the car out a little,
> easily exceeding twice the speed limit of 40 MPH at times. I backed off
> once we hit the state highway, and cruised another 20 miles or so to the
> show. Upon entering the parking lot I stopped to chat with an old
friend,
> and then turned hard right when suddenly BANG the left front wheel was at
a
> terrible angle. Thankfully I could drive straight ahead to a parking
spot,
> where I got out the never-used jack to see what had happened. The lower
> ball joint had broken at the nut, and the lower control arm had popped
off
> of the spindle! I don't want to think of what would have happened if
that
> had failed a few minutes earlier. I bummed a ride home where I got some
> tools and several spare ball joints, and was able to replace it in the
> parking lot in a short time.
> 
> I know there was a lower ball joint recall from the factory, and as a
parts
> vendor I thought I knew which was the correct one to use; plus I had
rebuilt
> every piece of this car's suspension myself. And yet somehow I had
managed
> to use the wrong parts, an error which could have had deadly results.
> 
> The point of this is: check your lower ball joints. The bottom (where
the
> zerk fitting is) should have a crowned shape. If it is a flat circle
about
> 1 1/4" diameter which appears crimped into the larger housing, REPLACE
IT! 
> (It also appears the nut on the correct one is 19mm, compared to 18mm on
the
> faulty one, but check the bottom to be sure.) The stud on these ball
joints
> is undercut and weak at the point where the taper ends and the threads
> begin, and could fail - mine did. (And if anyone is curious, the elapsed
> time today to remove both lower control arms and replace both ball
joints,
> alone and without a spring compressor, just a floor jack, was 4 hours.)
> 
> I welcome input from Joe, Stephen, etc. on this subject.
> 
> Darryl Tinnerstet
> McCleary
> 
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