Type 1

Ball joints must be checked for excessive wear before an alignment is performed.  Also check the rubber grease seal and grease fitting if applicable.  The load-carrying ball joint usually wears much faster than the non-loaded ball joint, but be sure to check both.  Replace the ball joint if excessive play is found.  The following procedure is commonly used for testing SLA suspension types.

This SLA suspension type is found on most RWD vehicles. The spring (or torsion bar, if so equipped) is mounted so that it acts on the lower control arm, making the lower ball joint the load-carrying joint, and the upper ball joint the non-loaded or follower joint.  Load-carrying ball joints, that do not have wear indicators, must be unloaded before checking for wear.

Place a jack under the lower arm, near the ball joint end, and raise the tire off the floor.  Check the lower joint for axial play by moving the tire/wheel assembly as indicated in Figure 1.  A prypar can also be used between the lower control arm and the spindle. Check for radial play in both lower and upper ball joints by moving the tire/wheel assembly as indicated in Figure 2.	Figure 1 Figure 2