hi Clublexus,

Can you please help me with this ? i showed for alignment at Firestone and the manager at the shop says my both front bushings are torn and needs replacement along with both control arms . Is this a bushing issue or a common wetness ? should i replace the control arms ?

thanks in advance.

 

You (or they) need to clarify what "bushing" they are referring to. The ball joint on the picture does not appear to have anything wrong with it unless the rubber boot is torn somewhere not shown on the picture. The fact that it wept out some grease is not a sign of failure.
At 96k, unless the truck had a rough life, it is way too early for the control arms to fail.

 

Are you sure they don't refer to the stabilizer bushings? That is most likely needing replacement at that age and mileage and is a trivial, low cost part.

 

A96k miles, it is technically possible for rubber to start cracking, but it's rarely a replace immediately emergency unless the car won't hold an alignment or the ball joint has play.

Do the the wigggle test, have a shop (or a friend) jack up the front end and try to shake the wheel at the 12 and 6 o'clock positions. If there is movement or clicking, the ball joint is toast. If it's solid, then spray some brake cleaner on those boots and wipe them down. Drive for a week and see if they are actively leaking fresh grease.

 

I think they mean the dampness on the upper ball joints grease boot. This is not unexpected for that mileage. The ball joints are probably fine but they should be checked for looseness. If they are worn, I would only replace with OEM parts which Firestone would probably not use.