Lower ball joint nuts missing or fell off??

[mrjking2000]

Question for folks, and let's keep it civil here as we're not looking to point blame... Has there been any other documented instances of the 6g fullsize broncos having the lower ball joint nuts back off or fall off? We had a catastrophic failure wheeling this weekend at low speeds on the passenger side, no jumping, no bahaing through stuff etc. We were doing a rocky trail with lots of suspension movement though.

At first we thought somehow the nut was ripped off the threads as they were pretty flattened, but once we got this trail fixed and limped out, put on a trailer, the next day the crew discovered that not only was the passenger side gone, the drivers side nut was missing too. This vehicle has 13,000 miles on it and is as-assembled by ford (per the owner). The drivers side balljoint doesn't appear to have any marks on it that a nut was ever installed.

these are nylock nuts on mine, is it possible to have them back off? or were they maybe never installed? I'm genuinely curious. again, this wasn't my rig but a friends, and we're so glad he's ok and this didn't somehow come apart on the highway. There is a recall on the bronco sport and maverick addressing missing or loose lower balljoint nuts, but this recall doesn't seem to apply to the big bronco.

genuinely curious to hear thoughts. pics below.


diagnosing what happened:

working on pulling the broken CV (broke at diff - pulled boot off at hub)

inspecting the smashed threads

driver's side nut missing next morning during inspection. we had gone through numerous deep mud puddles so the threads were dirty, but the coloring of the threads makes it look like no nut was ever on this side.

this pic was as we walked up to it "on the ground" per say. just uploaded in wrong order sorry.

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[PowerBronco]

Holy crap that is scary. I'll say it's lucky that was at low speed, because if that happened on the highway the outcome would have been different. I haven't seen anything like that posted on the forum where the lower ball joint nuts were loose or missing from the factory. Definitely file a safety report on Report a Vehicle Safety Problem | NHTSA.

Makes me want to go check the torque on all the suspension and drive components on mine.

 

[BroncoChallenger]

Yes, nylock nuts CAN back off, especially if they're subjected to a lot of heat. But if torqued properly even then they should stay put. Have I heard of it in this particular instance? No. BUT this is why I much prefer the castle-nut style joints, that have a torque spec AND a cotter key to help prevent this kind of issue.

Interesting that there was never a noise associated with it, if they'd never been installed the ball joint shaft would never have seated properly, and it should have made at least SOME noise.

Whoever was doing oil changes on this rig should have noticed that. When I do one, I always check ball joints, CV shafts/boots, linkages, and grease every zerk I can find, because I want to know if there's going to be a problem BEFORE it becomes a problem and leaves me stranded. And when it's under warranty, I tend to take it to the dealer and have them do it, because they're SUPPOSED to do a multi-point inspection when they do...and even though I somewhat trust my dealer, I still roll under and give things a quick once-over because I'm like that.

 

[SpringTXOR]

Who ever did the lift probably took off and reused the deforming torque once single use nuts on the ball joints, or just flat out did not torque them.

 

[mrjking2000]

Yes, nylock nuts CAN back off, especially if they're subjected to a lot of heat. But if torqued properly even then they should stay put. Have I heard of it in this particular instance? No. BUT this is why I much prefer the castle-nut style joints, that have a torque spec AND a cotter key to help prevent this kind of issue.

Interesting that there was never a noise associated with it, if they'd never been installed the ball joint shaft would never have seated properly, and it should have made at least SOME noise.

Whoever was doing oil changes on this rig should have noticed that. When I do one, I always check ball joints, CV shafts/boots, linkages, and grease every zerk I can find, because I want to know if there's going to be a problem BEFORE it becomes a problem and leaves me stranded. And when it's under warranty, I tend to take it to the dealer and have them do it, because they're SUPPOSED to do a multi-point inspection when they do...and even though I somewhat trust my dealer, I still roll under and give things a quick once-over because I'm like that.

so then maybe if they were on there, they were not torqued right and was actually able to ratchet themselves off. vehicle was not making any noise at all, been on a few trips and one was multi-day, only noise was when it let go. loud bang followed by rapid drop in passenger side height, at a whole 5 mph.

 

[Brian_B]

Seems like there was a recall or TSB associated with these, but it was for a very limited number of Broncos. Maybe they let that guy on the assembly line have his old job back.

 

[NC_Oak]

I like to use this stuff on bolts that really matter

 

[mrjking2000]

i'm about to put torque wrench to everything on my bronco just to see what/if anything moves. hopefully nothing.

 

[SierraBronco]

You’ll break the housing on 74weld portals before you break the factory ball joints…I’m gonna double check wifey’s now…

 

[Sitruc_btb]

Alright. Extra ugga duggas for me.

 

[mrjking2000]

torquing things now, got 1/4 turn out of my lower ball joint nut drivers side before it clicked at 85 pounds.

 

[Baja Bronco]

I like to use this stuff on bolts that really matter

Torque marking every suspension bolt F / R is essential. IMO.

 

[mrjking2000]

Torque marking every suspension bolt F / R is essential. IMO.

i just finished torquing all my stuff. my upper 3 nuts on the shock tower got about 1/4 turn out of. upper ball joint is uniball on mine and tight, no movement. tie rods tights, sway bar tight, lower ball joint 1/4 turn out of drivers side, 1/8 turn out of passenger side before they got back to 85 foot pounds.

 

[CitrusBronco]

Missing on both sides, someone did not replace after working on it or someone sabotaged it, took them off.
They dont just both fall off on their own.

 

[BroncoChallenger]

so then maybe if they were on there, they were not torqued right and was actually able to ratchet themselves off. vehicle was not making any noise at all, been on a few trips and one was multi-day, only noise was when it let go. loud bang followed by rapid drop in passenger side height, at a whole 5 mph.

I gotta say, I'm not so sure this is 'as built by Ford,' since with 13k miles on it it's already got a new set of tires - those aren't factory tires on any model I'm aware of. If it's been lifted or any of the suspension has been worked on, without a cross-hole for a cotter key there's a good bet those were 'torque to yield' nuts, meaning they should have been replaced when it was taken apart.

I have a sneaking suspicion that what you encountered with that rig (presuming it's not yours) is someone who isn't telling the entire truth.

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