Toyota Repair: Ball Joint Replaced, moog ball joints, cv joint

Question
Hi Ted,

I have a 95 Camry LE 4 door 4 cyl automatic. Meinkie punctured the ball joint rubber boot while replacing the half-shaft on the driver’s side. (These are the original ball joints on the car.) They replaced the ball joint with a sealed Moog.

To remove the damaged ball joint the mechanic removed the bottom of the ball joint completely from the lower control arm. Then he tried to remove the nut from the top. After 16 years of rust it was frozen. He pulled a few times hard on it. I was concerned that without the bottom of the ball joint being in the control arm he would damage the strut, rip out the brake line, or mess up the tie rod.

After a few unsuccessful yanks on the ball joint that was dangling in the air with the strut, I talked him into reattaching the bottom of the ball joint to the lower control arm. He did not want to spray lubricant on that seized nut. He rounded off the nut on the ball joint stud. Next he used a torch to burn off part of the nut. I was concerned that the flame was too close to the rubber boot on the wheel’s CV joint. He said it would not hurt the rubber.

With this story in mind, I have a few questions to ask for your input.
How good are Moog ball joints?

The original ball joint was still tight and passed state inspection. Will my car need realigned?

What damage will the heat of the torch cause to the driver’s side area around the wheel like the rubber boot around CV joint, caliper, rubber brake line, etc?

With all the pulling he did on the top ball joint nut with the ball joint completely out of the lower control arm how may that damage parts in that area like the strut, tie rod, etc?

Thanks Ted for your help!

Sincerely,

Mike

Answer
Hello, I have no experience with aftermarket ball joints but those should be ok it's a well known national brand, I don't know how close the torch came to any of the parts you mentioned or for how long, unless there is excessive discoloration of the metal parts there is no cause for concern, I think you should ask them to re-align the wheels at no charge since they caused all of this by tearing the ball  joint boot.