What's this and could it be the culprit
 

I made a thread somewhere before and about the front right of the car bottoming out when I hit a pot hole or bump. I assumed it was my shocks and a mechanic recently said its my control arm. Someone in the forums told me to inspect the suspension and this is what I observed...

What exactly is it and could it be the root of my problem explained above? I really wanna know so I can go on ahead and get my lowering springs but I want to make sure everything is in good condition before I go smacking 2 inches lower and my wheel flies off while driving.

Bump

the pic looks like your lower ball joint with some grease on it. I'm not quite sure what else your trying to point out in the pic, but the lower ball joint being loose would not cause your car to bottom out, but it could cause some clunking noises....

with that being said, have you checked all of the suspension??? checked the ball joints for play??? checked bushings for tearing and sloppyness?

Sorry I wasn't clear. I called the mechanic back and told him about the grease I saw on the ball joint and he said that was most likely from when he was working on the car (installing clutch) and it seemed fine when he drove it. I did hear the loud clunking you speak and so did he but he insisted it was my LCA and told me to get a new one because it was so loose or something it was banging into something else when I change gears which was causing the clunking.

Sound bout right?

No

^^
I agree the answer is no.

Thats you lower ball joint, with grease all over it likely due to the fact the boot may be ripped when for whatever reason your mechanic took it apart. Your LCA is a piece of metal with 1 ball joint in it, 2 bushings, and 2 threaded holes for the sway bar links to bolt to.

Not sure why it would need to be replaced unless it was cracked or bent. Moonface and Whiteline sell replacement balljoints. Perrin and ES sell replacement bushings.

Fire your mechanic{thumbup}

i think you are a lil bit confused, what exactly is your problem?

what do you mean by the car bottoming out?

sounds to me like you got the regular aftermarket clutch noise going on....