Used Lotus Ball Joints
All used Lotus Ball Joints listed on Breakeryard.com are tested, original (OEM) manufacturer parts and come with a 14 day money back guarantee. Breakeryard.com list cheap new OES or aftermarket car parts at discounted prices and used OEM car parts up to 80% cheaper than main dealer prices for Lotus from premium breaker yards from across the UK.
About Ball Joints
Ball joints are a vital part of a car’s suspension and steering systems. They connect the wheel hub to the vehicle’s suspension. The ball joints are able to move horizontally and vertically and to rotate, allowing the car to be steered and providing shock absorption for a comfortable ride.
The ball joint consists of a polished metal ball encased by a polished metal cage, with a rubber boot covering the joint to keep the grease in and any dirt and other impurities out. Ball joints are almost always used in the front suspension only, although, in some high performance cars, they are also used in the rear suspension.
Cars can have two or four ball joints on the front wheels. If the car has McPherson struts, it only has two ball joints, which are positioned at the bottom of the wheel hub. If it has shocks and springs, it has both upper and lower ball joints. Some ball joints are load bearing, carrying the car’s weight, whilst others are non-load bearing.
Ball joints do wear over time, especially load bearing joints. If the rubber casing fails and grease leaks out or dirt gets into the joint, wear is likely to be accelerated.
Signs of a failing ball joint are the presence of a banging sound when the car goes over a bump, sloppy or stiff steering, a vibrating steering wheel or tyre wear on the outer or inner edge of the tyre.
Lotus trivia
- The original Lotus cars were sold as kit cars so that buyers could avoid paying purchase tax. It wasn't until 1970 that Lotus started selling a model that didn't come as a kit...the Elan Plus Two.
- Elon Musk called the Lotus Esprit S1 one of the main inspirations for the Tesla Cybertruck, and he owns an S1.
- There's a lot of mystery over why the name Lotus was chosen for the company. The most obvious answer is that it has something to do with the Lotus flower, but the connection to a UK car company is unclear. One of the best suggestions is that it relates to the Norfolk way of saying "...us lot", which was a favourite of the founder.
- The last time that Lotus achieved any big F1 success was in 1978, when they used revolutionary 'ground effect' design to keep their Lotus 79 closer to the ground when turning. As a result of the design, Lotus won 16 of the year's races and the constructor's prize. Ground effects designs were banned in 1983 due to safety fears.
- Lotus once finished building a car one day before it was due to race in the British Grand Prix at Silverstone. The rules now forbid this from happening. Unfortunately, the Lotus R3 didn't finish the race, breaking down with 16 laps still left to go.