Hey guys, newbie here
I am facing an issue with my 2007 g35x. It has about 122k km on it and I recently went to my mechanic to get a wheel swap and asked him to check out a humming noise from the front that I have been experiencing. What he told me is the following :
- My front ball joints are going (I believe he said the driver's side is worse).
(I believe the humming is from the front breaks because they are crap quality and put on by the previous owner, I'm gonna have them changed when I get back)
He said that it is still driveable but that I should 'keep it in mind'.
The problem is this : I just drove up to Toronto (about 500km one way) and the sound has gotten very bad. Particularly when I break going at a slow speed (10km/h) and when I'm about to come to a complete stop. Also, when I break, there is a heavy crunch/clack sound every time I turn the wheel. I can't hear any noise when I am at speed, only when slowing down at a light.
I have two questions :
1) My mechanic said that on my particular model the ball joints and the lower control arms come in one piece. Is this true? What price should I be looking at for parts and perhaps the labour?
2) How critical is my current situation? Will I be able to drive back to Ottawa? (500km) I'm not looking forward to having my wheels fall off on the highway.

Please excuse my amateurness, I hope I didn't butcher any automotive parts or terms
Thanks a bunch for any info you guys can provide, kind of nervous of driving at the moment!

 

If he's talking about the ball joint on the spindle that connects to the lower control arm. You can buy replacements for 45-600 dollars. I bought deeza from rockauto you then need to press them out. If you go the dealer route they'll sell you a new spindle. I did it myself in about two hours both sides.

There's also a compression rod that has the ball joint attached. You can buy those from rockauto cheaper as well. OEM part is several hundred I believe. Those take a little longer to swap out I think.

 

The V36 sedans do not have a compression rod set up. The have an actual lower a-arm style setup versus the 03-06 sedans.