I think my ball joints might be going bad, but I am not sure. How can you check? Is it usually the upper or lower ball joints that go bad? Is this a DIY job or should I get my mechanic to do it? Thanks again.

 

No one? Really?

 

I had mine done by mechanic as I didnt have the time or tools to do it myself.It's quit a bit of work to do.While your at it if they need to be done ,do the axle u joints and hub bearings since it's all gonna be apart anyway.Either top or bottom can go bad.Do a search for ball joints tons of info on here.I used XRF upper and lowers seem very high quality and many on here use them.

 

jack up the truck, grap the top of the wheel and push/pull if it moves you need uppers, do same at bottom of wheel, then get a prybar put under the bottom of the wheel then lift up, I believe its max 60thou play, any more requires replacement.

to remove if you have never done it, might be a handful
you need to remove rotor/hub assy/axel just to acess the spindle and ball joints. there are tricks along the way to make it easier, but you will need some tooling and a ball joint press to make the job easier or in some cases even possible

 

X2, X3. I did XRFs with a standard ball joint tool and it was a royal PITA! Not the XRFs, just the job (I also did the hubs at the same time). The regular OTC ball joint tool throat is just a tad too shallow and you have to maneuver the tool, the adapters or make additional ones. If you've never done ball joints or used the ball joint tool, I strongly recommend you have it done by someone that knows what they are doing. One final caution if you decide to try it yourself:
DO NOT USE AIR TOOLS ON THE BALL JOINT TOOL.IF IT FAILS, YOU WILL EAT THE TOOL