Going to need ball joints soon because the boots are split. I plan to just do uppers and lowers but I'm not sure who makes he best ones for us.

2004 with 79K miles

 

if they have no play I wouldn't mess with them. Only heard nightmare stories about replacing them.

 

Lemforder is by far the best I've seen. Moog are rubbish. Eurospare/Britpart...garbage. Get the best you can because this is not only a job you want to do again, but I'm pretty sure the axle housing is only designed to have three rounds of replacements press fit before it's out of spec.

 

They don'e feel loose of have play but the boots are cracked. Should I bother doing them proactively? I do most everything on the vehicle myself but I am going to have it at my family shop getting the roof painted so I figured I would have them done considering it's a heavy truck shop and they can make quick work of it but it would be a bitch for me sometime in the future.

 

I've had one or two cracked for years now and another 30-40k miles and still no play and truck drives fine. I wouldn't touch them.

 

As whowa004 wrote, don't bother replacing the ball joints unless they have vertical play, regardless of the condition of the boots.

A very reputable Rovers-only shop here told me years ago that they've seen DIIs go for years and years with torn boots but no play in the joints. That's now the case with my truck, as well as whowa004's truck.

To check for play, jack up each front wheel so it's and inch or two off the floor. Put a pry bar under the tire and try to lift it up. If there's no play you're good for now. I do this check every time I change the oil.

 

I agree don’t replace them if they don’t have wear. The wear will likely accelerate with cracked boots as the dirt will have access to the joint, but you’ll probably get a few years out of them as they are.

 

Make sure you do this test on pavement or concrete. You won't be able to feel the play very well on dirt, grass, gravel, etc if there is play to be felt.

Any play is too much play, but if there is none then they may go for quite a long time as has already been covered. Largely depends on how you use the vehicle. If it just sees street use they can last a long time. If you wheel it so it sees dirt and/or water on a regular basis they will wear a lot quicker with torn boots.

It's definitely a job that I procrastinate on, but the opportunity to have someone else do them would be very tempting to me. It's the only job in my D2 that I hire out.

 

Alex are they really that bad to replace? I haven’t needed to do one on my LR’s yet but I have on other vehicles I’ve owned. When the time comes should I be planning to pay someone else to do it?

 

It always fights me. I hate doing ball joints as a general rule, but the Disco always fought worse than others. I always tell folks I'd rather change a transmission than do ball joints.