Part of the test seems to be rocking the top of the wheel while it's on the ground. How hard are you supposed to do this?

I'm only asking because this test made an upper suspension arm balljoint knock/move when it wouldn't do it with the wheel in the air. When I tried it I got a very slight knock but only if I pushed and pulled the wheel in sequence. With the upper arm in my hand I'm getting the slightest bit of movement if I try very hard. While driving the car you couldn't notice it was worn at all and I've driven cars with worn ball joints before.

The guy who did the MOT is probably 6'2 20+stone and very strong, the ramp posts must have been rocking 2-3 inches at the top minimum. I'm just wondering if one of the smaller testers had done the same test whether it would have shown up the same.

 

If its on the turn plates when doing this then it will show wear up that isn't apparent when jacked up.

 

It was actually in front of the turn plates at the time. It was grab it at 10 and 2 O'clock and rock it for all it was worth from what I could see.

 

It's a good job then you had a tester spot the worn component. Could be dangerous driving a car that weighs more than 20 stone around on it !

 

to be fair if a human can half rip your wheel off or damage any suspension componant then it was already fucked.