Me again. I'm going through my list to prep the car for the Road Atlanta race later this month. I put on the list to replace the control arm ball joints since I have no idea how old they are and the boots for the front ones are ripped up pretty badly. I got some Moog replacements and the loan-a-tool ball joint press from Autozone.

I was looking at the joints last night figuring out in my head how this was going to work. Turns out the left front ball joint has been welded into the control arm?!? Not just a little tack weld either. I'm wondering why? Does this indicate that the ball joint was sliding in the control arm? Is this common practice? The right front one was not welded and neither were the rears.

Are ball joints something I should worry about as wear items? I was concerned because the boots are ripped. I could probably just replace the boot if I don't need to worry about the joint itself.

The tool I got from Autozone doesn't seem to have a good sized cylinder for the front control arm either. The one that is big enough for the joint barely fits on the arm and is not flush. I'll see how it works.

I did manage to figure out a wiring issues yesterday. At least I fixed one thing....

David