Control arm scoring brake rotor?

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satxwy

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What the heck is going on here? It looks like the lower control arm is pitting the rotor on the passenger side, but why?

And the angles of the balljoints, granted the ground slopes a bit left to right there, but it still looks a bit off.

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satxwy

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To add, took the wheel off and checked it out, and it is definitely the control arm rubbing when the suspension is drooped.
 

1997chevydriver

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Take wheel off and check your brake pads. If your lca is actually rubbing either the lower ball joint is about ready to snap or your wheel bearings are about ready to leave the truck.
 

1997chevydriver

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STOP DRIVING IT!!!!!!!!!! Look at the nut on the ball joint. I can see it in the pictures. The nut is about ready to fall off. It is missing the cotter pin that keeps it from turning.
 

satxwy

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Thanks for the reply man.

Brake pads are fine, added an update just before your post. The LCA only rubs at droop though, and these ball joints are only about a year old (NAPA Chassis brand). I did notice after replacing everything in front last summer though that on the back side of speed bumps (when the suspension would droop) that there was a slight scraping sound for a split second. Now I've finally figured out why. So whatever it is, has been doing it a while.
 

satxwy

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WOW! Thank you man! Can't believe I missed that. Thank you thank you thank you!
 

addiction2bass

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ya replace that balljoint asap dont drive the truck! with the nut loose that long its probably wobbled the threads right out and wont tighten up! just looks like someone forgot to either tigthen it OR just forgot that little cotter pin or to bend the tab on the pin enough and maybe it just fell out.
been there done that but noticed it before it ever loosened up thank goodness!
 

satxwy

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Ok so here's what I've found out. The pin BROKE, it was still inside the threaded part of the balljoint but the ends were cleanly broken off. Got a new pin and was able to tighten the nut back down to where it needs to be and put the new pin in. For now I figure I can keep a close eye on it and drive it locally til I'm more sure of it. So there's really no telling when that pin broke, could have been last week, could have been longer.

I'm a bit concerned about why the pin broke though. Either it was just a low quality pin I got with the ball joint, or something else created a force that caused the knut to snap it off. Anyone have something like this happen before?
 
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