It could have messed up the lives of the people who love you and you would have left behind. Since the mid '70s, Fords have had way more trouble with steering and suspension parts breaking leading to loss of control and crashes than almost all other manufacturers combined. Struts, however are not one of those common-failure items. Usually it's the coil spring that breaks, and a sharp end of one of the pieces often shreds the inside of the tire. If your spring broke, the corner of the car will sit low but that by itself won't affect the half shaft. A rubber boot over the outer cv joint might get torn but those can be replaced. The same is true if the lower plate the spring sits on rusted off. That is less likely to damage the tire if you stop driving right away but it still could, and it could damage that boot on the cv joint.
For the half shaft to pull out of the transmission, something with the strut or other suspension part would have to let the spindle, and the bottom of the tire, squirt out and away from the car. When that happens there's a good chance the shaft can just be slid back in during the other repair service. The inner cv joint could be ground up too to the point of not being reusable.
Most Ford owners know to have the steering and suspension systems inspected periodically, as in once a year, and especially when they hear any clunking or squeaking. Those noises and changes in handling characteristics should never be ignored on any car.
SPONSORED LINKS
Monday, January 14th, 2013 AT 4:21 AM
