Ball Joint

I've been told this past Feb that my right ball joint had some play in it but I shouldnt be worried to fix it right away. Its now July going on Aug and Im wondering how much longer I can put it off before it becomes a safety hazard

Any day now your wheel is about to fall off. Does it make a nice clunking shound when you hit the brakes?

Any day now your wheel is about to fall off. Does it make a nice clunking shound when you hit the brakes?

No. I haven't had any problem with it. I don't hear any noise or feel anything unusal

There's really no way to tell... as we can't actually see how bad it is. You can allways check it your self.. just jack up that tire (block the rear tires), get your head under there where you can see the Ball Joint, and then try to move the bottom of the tire back and forth sideways... if you see the joint wiggle, then its bad. How bad it is depends on how far it moves... if it really wiggles, then I'd not drive it but to the station to get it fixed.

Now, how long it'll last is completly a luck factor.. depending on how you drive, road conditions, etc. It does help that the Ball joints are not a load carrying joint so that basically means that it'll fail while going around a corner or over bumps (something to cause it to pull out of its socket). The wheel won't "fall off", but it'll bend the strut out and probably damage the tire, fender, and strut making the repair even more costly.

Check around.. it's probably a cheap fix. I had joints put on a different car for $80@

There's really no way to tell... as we can't actually see how bad it is. You can allways check it your self.. just jack up that tire (block the rear tires), get your head under there where you can see the Ball Joint, and then try to move the bottom of the tire back and forth sideways... if you see the joint wiggle, then its bad. How bad it is depends on how far it moves... if it really wiggles, then I'd not drive it but to the station to get it fixed.

Now, how long it'll last is completly a luck factor.. depending on how you drive, road conditions, etc. It does help that the Ball joints are not a load carrying joint so that basically means that it'll fail while going around a corner or over bumps (something to cause it to pull out of its socket). The wheel won't "fall off", but it'll bend the strut out and probably damage the tire, fender, and strut making the repair even more costly.

Check around.. it's probably a cheap fix. I had joints put on a different car for $80@

Thank you!