Houston, We Have a Problem

I rarely drive to work. I did Monday because the weatherman said we were going to have heavy rain and storms on the afternoon commute. Of course, the weatherman is right about as often as I drive to work and they rarely happen at the same time. In other words, it didn't rain.

However, as I was backing out of my parking space, there was a loud "pop" and the Jeep jolted like I'd hit something. I thought maybe I blew a tire. A quick 360 inspection showed nothing wrong...so I got back in, put her in reverse. There was a funny noise, it felt like I had a flat tire and that the emergency brakes were on -- and neither was the case.

This time I looked under the jeep.

Uh-oh.

This is the right front wheel. This is how it's supposed to look:










This is the left front wheel. Notice that big ball thingy and frame resting against it.









Turns out it was a defective ball joint. Can you imagine if this happened going down I-95 at 70 mph, instead of in a parking garage?