Broken/Separated ball-joint? Yes, we can handle that!

We run across one of these several times a year. Ford products seem to be the most vulnerable, very often Crown Vic's and Grand Marquis'.

This was a Mustang that was, fortunately, sitting in a spot I could reach from the side.

The self-loading wheel-lift is perfect for these jobs because the "L-arms" are on the inside of the tires rather than the outside. What this means is that once the equipment is in position, the dangling lower control arm (where the ball-joint is mounted) is supported from below. Here, you can see I have my small hydraulic jack in position for step one, which is to get the tire and wheel off the ground and allow for clearance to position the wheel-lift.

Here, I have the vehicle raised for clearance and I've put wood blocks under the separated lower control arm for support. I've also nudged the tire and wheel back into a more or less "normal" position. This further stabilizes everything for the hook-up and tow.

Once the vehicle is raised for sufficient clearance, a 90 degree hook-up is made and straps and tow-lights installed. Side note: In most occurrences, there is room in front to make a routine connection; in this case, the car had already been towed to customer's residence by another company (via dragging it on and off a flatbed/rollback). Apparently they didn't want to attempt moving it again to the repair shop.