So I don't know my front drivers side ball joint is bad (pops during take off and during certain steering maneuvers). Also the the car will noticeably jerk if I kind of pop the gas or it idle surges while still warming up in the early part of a drive. My question is: Should I replace both the upper control arm and ball joint OR JUST the upper ball joint. It would obviously be cheaper to just replace the ball joint but I want to take all of the proper precautions. Thanks for the help in advance!

 

check the ball joints for play, replace as needed

 

Also, check for worn bushings. They can cause exactly what you describe.

 

Cool. It looks like I'll be doing a full suspension inspection when I get home from school.

 

you can replace just the ball joint itself, but in most cases i have found that once the original is pressed (beat) out the new one will not hold itself tight in the old arm, so its either tack it in a few spots, or get the whole arm w/ new ball joint.

 

When I head home and check everything out I'll be sure to post up and let everyone know what the issue was. If it is the upper ball joint I'll more than likely just end up replacing the entire control arm (178k on the suspension). I found a place on ebay that sells one arm for like $30 or both for $60, which is the best price I've found to date. However, the ebay one doesn't include a LLT warranty or anything.