Outer Limits 4x4 Board

Im after some opinions as to an experience I have had with a ball joint kit for a hilux drag link.

This ball joint is less than 3 months in the vehicle, I removed it to check it as it seemed to have play again.

I pulled it apart to find it had dissintergrated into at least 10 bits unlike the one origionally in the car which had worn but never cracked. the cups are simply cracking apart.

the only cause i can think of is cheap brittle metal? but am quite concerned about the safety risks this poses with possible loss of steering control.

or have i somehow installed it incorrectly and caused this myself.

your opinions?

have a look at the ball end and see what sort of damage is there
i would hazard a guess in that the cup rotated when you installed it
chipping offf the pieces

v8zuki wrote:have a look at the ball end and see what sort of damage is there
i would hazard a guess in that the cup rotated when you installed it
chipping offf the pieces

I did wonder about that, but it was chipped off both sides of the cup, and thought if it rotated then it would only chip one side.

ball seems fine some light scratching from the chunks but appears round and essentially undamaged.

I think there is another issue which might have caused it. i went out again and tried to pull out the other half of the cup. but it wont budge at all. which means there is now no spring action at all. so the cup has somehow jammed in the tunnel and the cups have cracked... perhaps there was to much wear inside the tube of the drag link allowing them to twist a bit causing the issue.

will probably never know.

anyway ive got a whole new drag link so should be fine now.

cheers