how will you know when your lower balljoints is bad.and now a transmission Discussion Question I just had my transmission did and when i go to pull something it will not pull but if i take it off i will get all the shifts
You can check the ball joints and suspension by jacking the wheel up, and inspect the suspension parts as someone pushes, pulls, and rocks the tire. Any visible movement will indicate a worn part, like lower ball joints.
As far as the transmission problem, I have no idea what your asking.
First of all… year, make, model.
Most lower ball joints are load carrying ball joints so they are allowed some movement, some up to .250. So again it depends on what type of vehicle this is.
Another thing… a load carrying ball joint has to be checked with a dial indicator for radial and axial movement, only then can it be condemned. Ask the shop if they did this.
We had a run on BMW e-46 balljoints (replace with entire control arm) The area Tech service rep old us in BMW’s opinion anything over .0001 (you can’t even feel that small of a amount) was grounds for replacement. Now you know BMW would not have us replace ball joints needlessly (they pay for it) so i am going with the lower spec.
OK, so BMW told you to replace them under warranty. How does that apply to this question? We don’t even know what kind of car this is.
If there was a specification for movement you have to measure the axial and radial movement in the ball joint. If you try to sell a customer a replacement ball joint based on visual play you and your shop could be charged with fraud.
The only time you can sell or replace a ball joint based on visual play is a non-load carrying type, they have a spec of “0” play and thus if there is visual movement it needs to be replaced.
My response is really in response to your stated .250 “movement” in the ball joint,I feel your figure is to large,I used the figure provided by BMW as a example.