It's always something... inner tie rod, outer tie rod, ball joint... everytime I take it for an oil change (and I have the lifetime alignment deal, so i have them check the alignment everytime) there's always something to be "replaced" in the steering.

I drive it like a grandmother too... for the MPG and the fact that I'm rolling on titans so I avoid every pothole and crack like the plague.

So now... the mechanics are saying the driver's side ball joint is loose. Great. Well, I'm not paying any mechanic to do anything I can do anymore... so I'm going to tackle this ball joint myself. But i can't seem to find the part... am I going to have to replace the entire control arm?

 

Yes, the balljoint is pressed into the control arm so you do have to replace the whole thing. You can find a nice "how-to" here