Upper Ball Joints

Getting my lower ball joints replaced at a shop. They said the upper passenger has some play. I said go ahead and replace. I assume they will use after market for it. The lowers will both be oem. Will this be okay? Uppers aren’t as much chance as catastrophic failure as lowers?

 

I don't have an exact number for it, but I've seen the assertion that 90% of the suspension load sits on the lower balljoint, so that's the one to really focus on going OEM with.

Stupidly, OEM UBJ really wasn't much more $$ over the aftermarket when I looked. I think it was like 10%, maybe 20% more in reality? Just don't get bullshit from TRW, Centric, Beck Arnley, and especially avoid Mevotech and Moog. Maybe NAPA's premium brand? I dunno man.

Replacing the uppers sucks. Make sure they don't crack the ring around the top of the knuckle while pressing it out

 

It's going to be expensive, that's for sure. I really didn't want to replace my uppers, but after getting a quote for ~$1,000, I finally found the motivation. At the labor cost you're going to pay, the actual ubj price isn't going to matter much. Just go OEM.