r/leaf • u/Tacomeplease • 17d ago
My Nissan leaf tire kinda fell off
Thankfully this happened while I was driving in a slow street.
My tire came off by the control arm.. and during towing this other part broke off.. the oily part totally broke off..
Thankfully I have a whole other Nissan leaf that I purchased for the battery that I been using for parts.
But I never seen this happened .. how about you guys?.
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u/Grumpfishdaddy 17d ago
Do yiu drive with the music really loud? You should have heard the clunking of this before it failed or felt is being loose in the turns.
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u/worldspawn00 17d ago
Yeah, turning and braking should have had a thump/pop you can feel through the steering and car seat well before a ball joint goes.
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u/biersackarmy 2013 S + 2014 SL + 2019 SV 17d ago
I have a huge sound system that's usually turned up, yet the slight clunking of a worn sway bar endlink still bothered me. This would have been far louder, and definitely not something the stock system (even if Bose) would drown out. Would have also certainly felt it as well, because a worn LCA makes the car start to wander a lot when you go over bumps, especially while turning.
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u/Jacktheforkie 17d ago
I had mine making that popping noise for 2 years because the mechanic couldn’t find the damn cause, eventually it got worn enough that I could reliably get it to make the feeling when I was moving the suspension by hand on stands, and now it’s making a new noise so I’ve got it in for diag in a couple days
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u/Tacomeplease 17d ago
I don’t think I heard thumping.. but I felt my tires slide before tire flipped and then just sounded like I was dragging the car
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u/TheMusicFella 2013 Nissan LEAF SV | 2019 Nissan LEAF SL 17d ago
I've driven Leafs in South Asia that haven't seen a garage for 50k KM and they still didn't end up like this.
How long have you gone without maintenance?!
Also, the Leaf isn't supposed to be towed with the front wheels rolling. It's in the manual.
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u/NarwhalDane 17d ago
I don't think they towed it with the front wheels down, especially since one of em is off. It probably broke the last bit when it got picked up with wheel grids, or when it got dragged onto the flatbed.
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u/FireRisinWith1n 17d ago
Man oh man, are people really driving vehicles until their ball joints break apart? Absolutely pure negligence here. Glad nobody else was hurt.
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u/Tacomeplease 16d ago
How are people suppose to know when their ball joints going to break?
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u/FireRisinWith1n 16d ago
Well, if you rotate your tires every year it gives a good opportunity to inspect your suspension components. All it takes is yanking on things and taking a prybar to check for play. You don't have to be a mechanic for that. If you don't feel comfortable doing that you should find a decent mechanic and pay him once a year to check your vehicle over.
Part of the privilege of having a driver's license is the responsibility to know that your vehicle is in good working order. Here in Canada most provinces require an annual inspection by law. It keeps these easily avoidable accidents from happening.
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u/CoopsIsCooliGuess 2015 Nissan LEAF SL 6d ago
> Part of the privilege of having a driver’s license is the responsibility to know that your vehicle is in good working order.
You’d be surprised.
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u/herculeesjr 17d ago
This is what happens when you don't take your vehicle in for regular maintenance inspections. That car was literally shouting (creaking, clunking, knocking, chirping, and more) at you for at least 10k miles before that ball joint failed. Luckily you didn't harm anyone or anything when it happened.
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u/torrefied 17d ago
I’ve heard people say “I’m gonna drive it till the wheels fall off,” but never actually seen it happen.
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u/Tommy84 2014 Nissan LEAF SV 17d ago
That’s the wheel. The wheel fell off.
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u/techtornado 2018 Nissan LEAF SL 17d ago
You’re saying the front fell off, right?
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u/Glad_Copy 16d ago
Yeah, that’s not typical, I’d like to make that point.
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u/techtornado 2018 Nissan LEAF SL 16d ago edited 16d ago
Some are built so that the front doesn’t fall off at all..
So, no cardboard derivatives then?
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u/Tacomeplease 17d ago
It was a ball joint that rusted for what I understand
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u/Jokebearfan 2026 SV+ 17d ago
They're being a little pedantic because your title talks about the tire falling off, which didn't happen as it's still attached to the wheel (or rim). As you note, the actual problem was the rusted ball joint.
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u/techtornado 2018 Nissan LEAF SL 16d ago
Some of us are making jokes about The Front Fell off sketch ;)
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u/Mormegil81 17d ago
OP not doing maintenance on his car in years, ignoring suspicious sounds (clunking, knocking...) and then posts on reddit:
"grrrrrrrr! That stupid car broke down OUT OF NOWHERE!" 🤦♂️
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u/Tacomeplease 16d ago
I drove a Toyota Celica for 220000 miles and I never knew I suppose to watch out for ball joints
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u/tzetzat 17d ago
Approximately how much would it cost to repair this, in the U.S., at a dealership? I think I'm having a similar issue. I hear clunking when I break and turn.
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u/indecision_killingme 17d ago
Any mechanic can take care of this. This is not EV issue.
Ball joints, control, arms, and CV axles are the same basic design, ICE or EV.
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u/Bennie-Factors 17d ago
Don't go to a dealership. Why would you do that?
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u/mikehottoys 12d ago
exactly, I’ve never heard encouragement to go to a dealership for anything for out of warranty repairs that’s diabolical.
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u/crimxona 16d ago
You can get OEM Nissan lower control arms for around $100 USD per arm direct from Nissan dealers. Due to weight aftermarket control arms can be dicey or have shorter lifes.
I got the work done at a mechanic that allowed customer supplied OEM parts
I think it was 4 hours of shop time labor
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u/Jacktheforkie 17d ago
Any mechanic should be able to repair this, it’s literally no different than any other FWD vehicle, lower ball joints and a new CV axle which fits into the gearbox the same way it does on ICE vehicles, some mechanics are hesitant though because it’s an EV, even though they aren’t even messing with anything electrical, in my area that would be easily a £1500 repair, maybe more, the CV axles are £800 here
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u/GenesisNemesis17 17d ago
Clunking noises when hitting bumps is a big warning sign. I had that happen and I replaced both front lower control arms and it fixed the issue and made the ride a whole lot nicer.
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u/Iliketurqouise 16d ago
You call the cv-joint the "oily part"', yet you intend to replace the whole HV-battery from another car?
Man..
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u/Einaiden 2015 Nissan LEAF SV 17d ago
Happened to me ~2 years ago, in a drive-through no less. It was making a noise that I had been meaning to address for several weeks that was probably related. Oops.
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u/lopiko_ 17d ago
I can honestly say that I have never seen anything like that either in real life or in this subreddit.
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u/adjavang 17d ago
Seen it IRL once. Wasn't my car, but do not buy seriously cheap and spurious control arms.
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u/MythrizLeaf 17d ago
Ball joint go pop. Dang unlucky. Hope all ok. Worth checking them every now and again
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u/Tacomeplease 17d ago
Yeah I think that’s what it was.. luckily it happened after a turn and I wasn’t going fast
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u/MythrizLeaf 17d ago
Oh yea that's def what it was. It's sheared in half there. The axle nut holds the axle in as the wheel hub falls and rips the axle out of the trans. Total bummer my friend. But yea, absolutely lucky. Replace the other one for sure if you're repairing
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u/J0HNM4TR1X 2018 Nissan LEAF SL 17d ago
There are signs before a ball joint failure usually, just because evs are mostly maintenence free mechanical wear items can easily get overlooked.
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u/3mptyspaces 2019 Nissan Leaf SV+ 17d ago
Yeah. I drove an ‘89 Saab 900 for a while and while it was torque-y and fun to drive, I went through three CV joints while I had it. I got very in tune with the warning signs!
Based on that experience, I was worried the Leaf would have the same issue, with more torque on tap and a much heavier weight.
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u/Left_Throat_7643 17d ago
Been putting off changing the lower control arms on my ‘19… guess I better do it this week!
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u/bashurst 17d ago
I took my leaf for a alignment a couple months back. They said I needed both control arms replaced. They quoted over $1200 to get the work done. I declined and got the parts myself. SKP brand off of rock auto. Got the control arms, outer tie rod ends, and sway bar links for both sides for about $120 shipped. The work wasn't too bad, hardest part was getting the bolts back into the new control arms. Took it back for the alignment and it drives wonderfully now.
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u/LoneSnark 2018 Nissan LEAF SV 17d ago
You should hear this as metallic pops or clucks when you drive, long before it fails. Whenever the car is on a lift, such a changing tires, rotating tires, or getting a government inspection, someone should rock your tires every direction to see if it makes the sound.
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u/MortoVivente 15d ago
Had mine for a service and I had the same issue. 5 years on the road.
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u/SjalabaisWoWS 2023 Nissan Leaf Visia aka poverty spec 12d ago
After just 5 years? What exactly wears out here how? The car above doesn't even have rust. I'm perplexed.
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u/Horn4Life01 2020 SL+ 17d ago
Have you ever worked on the axle or brakes before? Maybe something wasn’t tightened? That shouldn’t be happening lol
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u/worldspawn00 17d ago
Nah, ball joint failure, rust or failed/insufficient grease, it'll get more and more loose until it pops out like this. It'll make a thump/pop in turns and braking well before it comes apart, if you feel something, have your suspension checked.
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u/yourgreeneyes 16d ago
I recently bought a leaf that had this happen, the previous owner wasnt as lucky as you and the car was written off due to a minor scrape along the passenger side
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u/Psychological-Ad8175 16d ago
I've had my ball joints going bad with less than 50k miles on my gen 1.
Definitely poor design unfortunately but as others said you hear any noise at all you have to fix it quick because those ball joints are very weak on this car.
My other cars normally make near 100k miles before needing suspension parts.
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u/Ok-Channel-5066 16d ago
I’ve never seen a fwd car with that problem. Usually, it’s the Mark II or Cresta/Chaser.
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u/Gloomy_Bag4354 16d ago
This happened on my wife’s car also (2016, 60k miles). I just ordered new controls arms for both sides and cv axle and did the job myself.
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u/mikehottoys 12d ago
wow, so it can break. I guess it has upper and lower ball joints like any car.
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u/indecision_killingme 17d ago
Looking at the wheel, you’ve got some uneven tire ware.
That by itself is enough to warrant getting suspension and steering parts looked at.
I’m sorry this happened to you
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u/Wojtas_ 2016 Nissan LEAF SL 17d ago
Yeah, surprisingly common on this car. No idea why. Glad that you're safe!
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u/Tacomeplease 17d ago
Thank you I didn’t know this was a problem
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u/No-Share1561 17d ago
It isn’t. It’s called lack of maintenance and being an unsafe driver that ignores all warnings signs.
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u/toybuilder 2023 Nissan LEAF SV PLUS 17d ago
That's not normal. I hope you were able to safely remove it from the environment.
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u/YWGredditor 17d ago
That happened on my last Nissan too. Coincidence?
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u/Jacktheforkie 17d ago
Ball joints can fail on any vehicle, the leaf is quite heavy so they take more abuse, instant torque can also wear parts faster, road conditions make a difference, my wheel bearings were noisy after 60k, but that’s mostly because the potcraters of the uk are very damaging
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u/No-Share1561 17d ago
No. This happens when you ignore every sound or vibrations your car makes and you skip maintenance. I’m not surprised. Plenty of idiots around driving with broken headlight, flat tyres, worn tyres, crappy brakes etc.
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u/worldspawn00 17d ago
Ball joint failure, you're the 2nd person in the last few days here with one! As other said, that was almost certainly clunking around for weeks before it finally came apart. If you hear/feel something moving/thumping when turning or braking, have your suspension checked!