Axle & Drive Shaft Maintenance & Repair near Santa Clara, CA

Duke's Having a Ball! Know your Ball Joints Did someone say ball? Where's the ball? There's the ball......ball joints, that is. Hi Duke here, and I love chasing after balls and have a ball doing it, but loose ball joints on your car are not so much fun. So today, we are going to roll into ball joints and the importance of maintaining them. So let's get barkin'! We all have joints in our own skeletal system, but did you know your vehicle has some joints of its own? One of the most important is called a ball joint. One of the interesting things is that it's somewhat similar to the ball and socket joints we have in our hips and shoulders. A ball joint allows two parts to join together to move in more than one direction at the same time. Think about your wheels. They have to move up and down when there are bumps in the road but in sideways directions when you are making a turn. As you can see, the ball joints are important for your steering and handling to work correctly. Since ball joints do so much, they can wear out and become loose. When the ball wears down, or the socket gets worn, there can be too much play in them. It can get so bad that the ball can come out of the socket, and your wheel can fall off, a dangerous situation. Ball joints can also seize up. Some of them are sealed and never require maintenance; others require periodic lubrication.