Sunday night my wife was dropping off a friend and after making a left turn the passenger tire seperated from the axle, slipped out of both control arms and fell right off.
The brakes and rotor still attached to the wheel. When the tow truck got there we picked it up and what I understand to be the CV axle had disconnected from the wheel completely and seperated at the boot on the axle side.
Ok I'm not a mechanic but have some experience with a wrench. I wonder if all I got to do is replace the cv axle and probably brake lines,(possibly control arms) or if this is something I should put alot more thought to before diving in. Any thoughts, help, or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

So how long had it been making terrible noises up front?

:wabbit2:

 

Wheels don't just fall off without warning signs. I would at least have someone that knows what they're doing take a look at the damage and then decide if it's something you want to tackle yourself.

 

lol unfortunately it hasn't made a sound I had it in the shop for a fuel problem recently they didn't notice anything either.

Thats what I was worried about guess I'll give in and take it to a shop.

 

pics please ?

 

Sounds like the lower ball joint failed. Pics of the carnage will help us diagnose and give you tips for repair.

 

That's what I thought. LBJ doesn't always give warning before failing.

 

Yet, another reason to replace high mileage, 10+ year old LBJ's as PM. I did this past weekend.

 

definitely one of the ball joints failed and the other parts followed. you gotta take it to a mechanic, otherwise it could happen again if there was something else that caused it to fail in the first place.

 

Pics!

With some good pictures we can probably give you a good idea of what you're looking at repair wise too.

 

how many shops or "jiffy job" places check for play in ball joints unless specifically asked??? none. I Check my suspension for excessive play every 5000 when I grease the drive train.

 

yeah, sadly most shops don't check the truck over. i always did. its just customer appreciation. keeps them safe, and keeps them coming back. and will bring the shop more money if they can afford to fix it. we had to tell some people they cannot drive their truck home because it's just too dangerous.