Front Upper Ball Joint LX470- Should I be concerned?

[Amendonsa]

I've searched and there seems to be a lot of information about the lower ball joints, but I had a hard time finding anything about the uppers.

This is the passenger side, upper ball joint and appears to be leaking. Does this look serious to anyone? Looks like my only option is a complete upper control arm, to the tune of $400 per side, so I would rather not replace if it is not necessary.

This is for a Lexus Lx470, 1999, 81K miles and no mods, lifts, etc.... Thank you very much in advance for any help, advice, words of wisdom....
https://forum.ih8mud.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=780977&stc=1&d=1373832246
https://forum.ih8mud.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=780978&stc=1&d=1373832246

 

[DJWUZJ]

I had the "horror movie sounding creak" going on, so I shot a grease needle in an juiced her up to see how it does as a temporary fix. Might want to start there if you are having similar issues?

 

[Amendonsa]

Thank you. No squeaks yet, just happened to notice while doing the wheel bearings. What type of grease did you use? Same as for bearings, etc? Thanks againg for the reply. I will look into a needle for my grease gun.

 

[Supra88]

Very easy job to reboot the upper ball joint. There's a couple of write ups here on mud. You shouldn't need a new upper control arm unless you have "play" in the joint.

 

[super90]

Very easy job to reboot the upper ball joint. There's a couple of write ups here on mud. You shouldn't need a new upper control arm unless you have "play" in the joint.

Agreed. You can find some info out there from when I rebooted upper and lower ball joints while doing other front end work. The reboot kit is cheap and not difficult to install. It has the proper grease included. Getting the joint apart is the trickiest procedure. I used a puller, but some folks can get them apart with a strategic smack with a hammer.