Bad ball joints????

Hey everyone my wife has a 2001 Bravada with 145,000 miles on it. Today when we were out & she hit the brakes there was a loud clunking from the front. I know it's not the bearings because i replaced them last month, ABS light came on when the noise happened & ABS kicked in. brakes look fine & i shook the wheel to check the hubs, nothing wrong, NOW i did notice the left wheel shook alot when jacking up the left side. After having my son jack the car up a few times i notice some play in the upper ball joint, then with the car on the ground we shook the wheels like you would to check the hubs & got the clunking noise & noticed play on both upper ball joints. I guess my question would be if theres play in the ball joints are they bad? Thanks for all the help, love this website.

There should be no perceiveable movement in any of the ball joints. Ball joints are a common problem on these vehicles. At 145,000 miles, it most likely needs all 4.

thanks, that's what i figured, we bought it used in 2003 with 23,000 miles on it so everything except the brakes, rotors & hub bearings are original. Been putting off replacing the half axles, they're leaking grease & since i've got to pull the front end apart to replace the ball joints i'm going to replace the axles & shocks.

These things are pretty hard on front suspension and steering linkage parts. If you're going to keep the vehicle, I'd recommend using Moog suspension and linkage parts. They cost more, but well worth it. When you take it in for an alignment after the repairs, make sure they check/adjust front chassis ride height BEFORE the alignment. VERY important if you want the new parts to last.