98 Civci - Upper "ball Joint" problem

I have a 98 Honda Civic with a clunking noise near the front driver's side when going over bumps. When I jacked up the car and pulled on the wheel near the top, I could see movement at what I would call the upper ball joint. When I look at the service manual, it seems that the complete arm that includes the wheel bearing assembly has to be replaced in order to replace the ball joint.
Am I correct? or is there a simpler way to repair this?

the strut takes acts as your upper ball joint i believe you sure it's not upper bearing plate on your strut it could be wheel bearing but yes on ball joint it comes with the whole arm.

the strut takes acts as your upper ball joint i believe you sure it's not upper bearing plate on your strut it could be wheel bearing but yes on ball joint it comes with the whole arm.

i see i told you wrong on upper ball-joint but it still comes all in one peace on your upper control arm but i would still check upper bearing plate on struts and check the bearing...

aka the upper wishbone... yes, they're prone to go bad since they don't have grease fittings on these suspension parts anymore on the hondas...

wife's ex honda accord same problem and solution; you did checked it correctly... my problem was so extreme i did the test w/ the vehicle on the ground and the tire on!

according to an online parts store --cough, autozone, cough-- you can get just the ball joint, or for a few $ more, the whole arm assembly

i went w/ the latter since it'll just be and r & r job + the manuals i've read, it's recommended to get the whole arm replaced if the bj failed

as far as it being part of the knuckle and wheel bearing assembly... nah, you unbolt the Upper control arm top 2 nuts in the engine bay and the one big nut to the balljoint

Thanks for the help. Bought the Upper Control Arm which included the ball joint and replaced it without a problem. Love the Honda hardware. The bolts came out without a problem, almost as clean as when they left the plant! Easy to access and only issue I had was to rotate the ball joint so that the cotter pin went in better!
Old ball joint still had some "grease" but not too slippery anymore. Ah, what can you expect after 11 years in a harsh Canadian winter. Clunk is gone and car ready for the next 308,000 Km.