Well not really loose. On certain bumps and potholes I noticed a clunk coming from my front right suspension. Had the dealership check it out and they said the ball joint was failing and needs to be replaced.

I'm trying to avoid unnecessary costs if I can, jacked it up to check for myself and found that there is a bit of travel between the A-Arm and the part the ball joint slides into (Is this called the knuckle?). Everything visually about the ball joint looks fine with the exception of the nut on the bottom:


Which does not match the nut on the other side of my car (the side which is not exhibiting travel or other problems):


I'm not sure at what point the nut on my problem side showed up, or the "toothed" part disappeared, as it is viewable in older photos of my suspension.

What I'm wondering is, do I have the wrong nut on there, and by not having it is there some slack in the bolt allowing for the little pop in travel? If so any clue how to track down the correct one?

Or is the nut irrelevant and there is some sort of failure with my ball joint itself?

Thank you!

 

It looks like the nut is backing out. The person who installed them might have missed or incorrectly installed the cotter pin. Just torque the nut back down and go to the hardware store and purchase a cotter pin.

 

Try tightening the nut first and replacing the cotter pin. I had to replace my right front ball joint on my SPC control arm since the ball joint actually failed. I had the same type of noise that you described. Also, you can purchase the ball joint separately. So, don't let someone tell you that you have to buy both front control arms again.

 

Yeah turns out the ball joint itself had failed, there was alot of slop in the ball joint itself, tightening the nut did nada :\

So I ordered the replacement and installed it all good now! As an added bonus the revised ball joint rubber gasket looks more reliable than the old clown nose.

 

Make sure you have a washer (doesn't have to be locking) on the nut as well. The nut, without one, will chew into the spindle and that's a problem if it does. The nut you're looking for is called a castle nut. It's common enough that you should be able to find one at a hardware store / granger / fastenal type place. You need the castle style to be held in place by the cotter pin.