"Pooh Bear" wrote in message

Arny Krueger wrote:

"Pooh Bear" wrote in message

Mike Rivers wrote:

I was listening to NPR's Car Talk program while reading the
newsgroup messages this morning. A caller had a ball joint break
when he was driving, and he didn't want to pay for a tow, so he
put the pieces back in position, wrapped it in duct tape (he had a
roll in the trunk because it was an old car and he'd need the duct
tape for something, sometime) and drove it home. He said he'd been
driving it that way for about three weeks.

It just occurred to me that I've been reading this thread for a
while and from context assumed you mean what we in the UK would
call a CV - constant velocity ( transmission ) joint. A ball joint
would typically be used as a steering link over here.

In the US we call the rotating coupling between the front suspension
lower control arm and the shock strut (McPherson type suspension) a
ball joint. We call the rotating couplings between the hub carrier
and the upper and lower main control arms (upper and lower control
arm type suspension) ball joint(s).

I hadn't imagined that the OP could have been referring to them.

I think they fit the description, the best.

We call steering link ends, tie rod ends.

Track rod ends here.

In US automotive parlance, a track rod or a track bar, is a specific kind of
link between a solid rear axle and the body. It runs parallel to the rear
axle.