I believe my drivers side upper ball joint is out, when I squeeze it you can hear air going in and out of it, and the other side doesn't do that. I can't see a hole so I imagine that the boot just lifted off of what ever it sits on.

Anyway, I don't have a ball joint press or any fancy tools (I know I can rent them, but don't want to unless absolutely need to), so I was wandering, can I just buy the whole upper control arm with the ball joint already in there and bolt that up without having to use a press to get it into the steering knuckle? It looks like the bolt on the ball joint just goes in there without pressing in, but that is what I am trying to figure out for the most part. I am just trying to do this without taking out a bunch of bolts, if anyone can confirm that I can do this that would be great.

 

Yes it's possible to replace the whole Upper Control arm. Just unbolt the Camber/Caster adjustment bolts holding the 2 control arm bushings and the ball joint nut attached to the steering knuckle and replace the whole arm.

But...now..not only will it be more expensive but you will also need to get a front alignment to re-align your Camber and Caster on that wheel especially.

If you can just replace the ball joint itself I would advise doing so to save yourself money and time.

Also if you decide to replace the joint itself, make sure that you have a Upper control arm with a REPLACEABLE Ball joint, some aren't replaceable and therefore will have no choice but to replace the Upper Control arm in it's entirety.

You can rent a "C clamp" looking portable press from any auto parts store so you can install and remove the ball joint without removing the upper control arm at all therefore not affecting your alignment adjustments at all.

Here is the tool I mentionned

 

If you have stock upper control arms, do not try to get your old ball joint out and press in a new one. It is not easy. Lowers are a different story.

Buy a new arm with balljoint already in it. They're like 60 bucks a side and take 30 minutes a side to replace. 3 bolts. Then get alignment.

 

On my 97 you have to replace the whole upper control arm its a pretty easy job though

 

Moog makes a upper control arm with greasable ball joint, so you don't have to deal with doing this again. They one they have is much beefier than the stock one as well so that's a plus.

 

Thank you guys, I am going with moog for this job. I believe they are stock upper control arms, but I have no idea. They match the other pieces of metal in the truck as far as how used they look so I am going to venture to guess they are stock. I will be going through moog to get the whole assembly, thanks guys.

 

Good luck!

Its a fun and easy job going the way you are!!

 

i got non moog. It's grease able and half the cost. Put it next to a moog and couldn't see a difference

 

moog >> knockoffs

 

They don't run non-moog in NASCAR for a reason.

Glad they worked for you though, I just went with Moog because it looked thicker, and my mechanic recommended them.