Originally Posted by jschmid
Yep, I had to replace mine this summer...the only factory ball joint that went bad on me.
Mine was a dull clunking over bumps, esp while turning. Take a wheel off, and see if you can wiggle the spindle/knucke at all front to back, side to side. Mine had probably a 1/4" of play front to back, easy diagnosis. If that's what it is...just a heads up...you can't get an oem replacement for the upper front control arm. BUT...Ingalls makes their own upper ball joint that fits in their upper A-arm, but it's the same size as oem...I bought one for $20ish and did the install. You do need a press, but that's about it.
I got an aftermarket replacement for the upper control arm off ebay and the boot blew last winter...POS. It blew in the middle of my mysterious knocking noise crisis (don't know if you remember that) that turned out to be a blown shock that had replaced a blown shock and led to my confusion.
How much do presses cost? How long of an install is it?