Our latest featured post is major front end repairs performed on an Infiniti QX4, brought to us by a client from Vancouver, BC.
Never, never, never, drive a vehicle when something makes a loud clunk, the steering wheel sits off center and there is a loud scraping noise while driving. The owner of this Infiniti QX4 experienced just these issues and took a chance at driving to our shop for repairs. By the grace of god he made it, for when we backed the truck up, turned the steering wheel and proceeded to drive into the building the front end broke apart and the left wheel flopped out. Had this broken apart on the road, which would happened within a kilometer, the damage would have been catastrophic.
Upon inspecting the vehicle we found that the left lower ball joint had broken apart. The clunk and sudden shift in the steering wheel was due to the ball joint breaking and the grinding was caused by the top of the ball joint rubbing on the axle. Numerous other front end problems were found: worn out right ball joint, broken sway bar end links, loose wheel bearings and a damaged brake hose. After all was repaired this Infiniti QX4 was safe once again.
As a vehicle owner it is critical to have your vehicle inspected on a regular basis. Don’t assume that it’s safe. In cases like this ignorance is not bliss, and it cost this vehicle’s owner several hundred extra dollars for repairs. Had he driven another kilometer that cost may have been in the thousands, or if the ball joint had broken on a curve on a mountain highway: well, I shudder to think.
The Infiiti QX4 is essential a dressed up Nissan Pathfinder. It’s a well built vehicle and because it is essentially a Pathfinder, parts are easy to find and are reasonably priced.
For more about the Infiniti QX4 click here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infiniti_QX80
For more about ball joints and how they work click here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ball_joint
