I ebayed a generic set of ball joints and tie rod ends and cv shafts when I bought my VX about 4 months. It snap crackled and popped and pulled left. After replacing these things It made ALL the difference. Like a new front end. Mine has 120,000 miles. By the way thanks to Marlin..I think it was Marlin on using a sledge hammer to dislodge the upper ball joint. I just came in from replacing the passenger side shaft. It only took two lame hits from a sledge and it popped apart. One hit on the tie rod end. Someone else mentioned turning the castle nut over and partly screwing it on to protect the threading. I did this too. Now that I've been through this a few times I am convinced it can be done in less than an hour.