Wonder if you folks know - Is it worth the hassle $$ wise by putting in the upper & lower ball joints myself or have the shop do it as they are mounting the new tires to new rims?
Depends on your mechanical skills and what tools you have. If both are "low" you may want to pay somebody to do it.
do it yourself and save a bunch. look at the ball joints and if they have bolts holding them in all you have to do is unbolt the old and bolt the new in. of they have rivets they've never been changed and you'll have to ground the rivets off, then the new ones will bolt right back in. if the lower ball joint is defective you need to replace the entire lower control arm. if you don't have one get a chiltons manual. make sure you have a jack and jackstands to do the job safely.
I bet you can probably replace the entire front suspension with new parts ... the kit is $269 on eBay ... if you do it yourself for the same price they will probably charge you for labor on just the ball joints ...
i take my rims to them and have the tires mounted. that way they don't mess up my centers... if you don't need to drive the car to work monday then i suggest you do the work...it's called "bonding" with your car...frank...
Looks like this is the route I'll be taking. Plus the wife doesn't mind me "bonding" in the garage - says it keeps me home and out of the local pub.
