e500slr

My car's front right side whistles on bumps and uneven road surfaces. I'm 99% sure it's the ball joint, this is a common issue and the mechanic thinks so too although he's checking the car out properly tomorrow.

My question is though do I only need to replace the ball joint or the lower control arm as well. The mechanic says only the ball joint would need replacing but I've read some threads that say the control arm need changing too.

What do you guys think and has anybody done this before?

AMG55TECH

You can replace just the ball joint. Keep in mind, the sway bar bushings on our cars tend to make noise too (bushings are volcanized to the sway car and the subframe must be lowered to change the sway bar). Im not saying your mechanic is wrong because, yes, our lower control arm ball joints do get dry and make noise, but our sway bar bushings are also notorious for making noise too.

shawnoc2003

Just changed out both ball joints on mine since the boot on one of them was torn. All changed the uppers as well. Still have the squeaks though but the car feels more solid.