My 98 2WD has almost 104,000 miles on it and has never had the ball joints replaced. I glanced at them and they look generally fine, no cracking of the rubber or otherwise deteriorated or appear obvious that they need attention. I do plan on doing a more thorough inspection to check for excessive play/movement, and I if there is I'll certainly go ahead now with replacing as necessary. Although I've never done balljoints before, I've been looking at various info I can find that describes doing the job, and I'm confident I can handle it with proper instructions and hopefully some tips from the forum etc. From time to time I do notice/hear some kind of looseness from the front end when driving, which of course could be a number of things but I'm just wondering if even though the balljoints seem to look fine if perhaps that's not the case at all. Tire wear seems fine and even, and alignment seems good while driving (no veering off or such).
1. At the mileage I stated would it generally be expected that the balljoints are likely worn and high time for replacement, or not necessarily.
2. At my location the roads aren't that well maintained, a lot of rough spots on the pavement and bumpiness and such that I typically drive around on, does that kind of situation put more wear on the balljoints?
3. When/if I get around to doing the balljoints is it the lowers or the uppers that usually need replacement first?
4. Any comments on the pros or cons of changing out the whole upper control arm(s) with the Moog type so I can have zerk fittings and the balljoints would then be replaceable in the future. Is that almost always worth the initial extra expense.
5. My front shocks are only a year or so old, and wheel bearings where replaced a few years back, and I don't put a lot of mileage on the vehicle. Other than those things I've just mentioned, and looking at the balljoints, what else there in the front suspension should I try to at least take a good look at?
Any comments appreciated!

 

Uppers usually go quicker than the lowers but you may as well do both while you're at it.

Moogs are good for replacements. If you buy them online and select in store pick up on advance autos website, put coupon code RETMENOT124 and save money. I usually do two transactions to save even more lol.

I think you'll be good with just ball joints if everything else is fairly new. If you're doing them yourself, when you do the lowers, just use a big steel mallet and hit it from the top down instead of using the tool. Saves time

 

Pretty much everything 99offroadrngr said. Go moog and replace both at the same time. It's pretty easy to do.

 

Okay then thanks for those helpful replies.

 

Hi, I am doing the uppers and lowers on my 2000 2 wheel drive Ranger. Is there any need to do the whole control arm? That seems to be what everyone advertises but I have a ball joint press that should work if on a replacement. A frame bushings look okay. Truck only has 60 K on it. Boots on ball joints were rotted.

 

Bottoms no, they're removable by themselves. The uppers are not removable from the arm so the whole upper control arm needs to be replaced.

 

Okay, I just went a looked and the top is the tubular type arm so I assume that must be replaced as a unit. Bottoms I can press out and reinstall. How about the camber bolt kit? Will I need to find/order one or are things pretty close?

 

Yes, do the camber bolt kit. It make it easier for the alignment.

I did mine at 120k. Both upper and lower were shot. I was able to get a better deal on the lower replacing the entire control arm. It is a PIA. An extra set of hands is also a good idea.

 

If you buy the parts at Advance Auto, you can borrow the tool that presses them out.