How would you assess the axle? The boot is ripped and a mechanic who looked briefly at the condition, wiggled the wheel and there was a lot of play. He told me to replace the ball joint(s) right away and said I ought to replace the axle as well. A remanufactured axle (on the shelf) at a nearby wreckers costs 60 bucks. Is that a decent price? I'll probably just buy the right-side one and replace the passenger side first. It's really bad, much worse than the driver's side.

My problem is getting it done when I work during the week. I wanted to buy a ball joint kit or tool, also. My friend helped me last time and we had so much trouble even though we rented a kit. It was a lousy set, though and nothing near as good as the Pitman Puller, ball joint puller or the OTC kits out there.