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- 2003 Mazda Protege5
Hi all,
As you may know from my previous threads, I've been doing a lot of work on my suspension these past few weeks. New axles, wheel bearings, wheel hubs, tie rod ends and lower control arms on both sides of the vehicle. Well, yesterday afternoon as I go to drain and refill my gear oil (while under the car) I noticed something off...it appeared that on the passenger side there was a significant gap sitting between the steering knuckle and the lower ball joint, where the steering knuckle sits on said ball joint on the LCA. Upon further inspection, it appears that from the weight of the steering knuckle ALONE (this car has not been back on the ground yet) that the greaseable boot on the passenger side had punctured. Just from the weight of the knuckle? The car isn't even on the ground! WTF!
Bad/Punctured Ball Joint:
Good Ball Joint:
I just wanted to double check with y'all, that this is not supposed to happen? Correct? And believe me, I was EXTREMELY careful working with these new LCAs and tie rod ends because of the greaseable boots on each part, I didn't want to puncture them. Now, this may be my bad for buying AutoZone LCAs, but it appeared to me that the materials used on these components were good, sturdy stuff. AutoZone assures me it was just a defective part, but I'm planning on returning both AZ LCAs and going after some Hardrace LCAs. What do y'all think?
EDIT: I bought these LCAs NEW from AutoZone, not remanufactured, just FYI.
As you may know from my previous threads, I've been doing a lot of work on my suspension these past few weeks. New axles, wheel bearings, wheel hubs, tie rod ends and lower control arms on both sides of the vehicle. Well, yesterday afternoon as I go to drain and refill my gear oil (while under the car) I noticed something off...it appeared that on the passenger side there was a significant gap sitting between the steering knuckle and the lower ball joint, where the steering knuckle sits on said ball joint on the LCA. Upon further inspection, it appears that from the weight of the steering knuckle ALONE (this car has not been back on the ground yet) that the greaseable boot on the passenger side had punctured. Just from the weight of the knuckle? The car isn't even on the ground! WTF!
Bad/Punctured Ball Joint:
Good Ball Joint:
I just wanted to double check with y'all, that this is not supposed to happen? Correct? And believe me, I was EXTREMELY careful working with these new LCAs and tie rod ends because of the greaseable boots on each part, I didn't want to puncture them. Now, this may be my bad for buying AutoZone LCAs, but it appeared to me that the materials used on these components were good, sturdy stuff. AutoZone assures me it was just a defective part, but I'm planning on returning both AZ LCAs and going after some Hardrace LCAs. What do y'all think?
EDIT: I bought these LCAs NEW from AutoZone, not remanufactured, just FYI.
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