Hey the rt side upper balljoint is really loose on my 96 civic dx. What is involved in changing these, I havent been able to look at it yet. Pressed in? Do I have to remove the upper control arm? Thanks.

 

It's WORN, not "loose".

Replace the whole thing. A dealer part will be the entire upper A-arm,
about $150. Aftermarket may be just the ball joint.

Word of warning: If one is worn, the other is not far behind. Also the
lower ball joints can seize and snap with disastrous results

Remove the cotter pin.
Loosen the castle nut
Strike it with a pickle fork
Remove the castle nut and tie the knuckle up to prevent it falling all over.
From under the hood, remove the 2 bolts that hold the upper control arm.
Either replace the entire arm or take the arm to a automotive store and have them press in a new one

 

dito. replace both upper control arms. remove the 2 bolts and one nut and pull it off. VERY EASY with the fork and a sledge hammer. just be sure to tighten the rear bushing bolt/nuts with weight on the spindle for ride height. just lift the cars weight off the jack stands slightly. if you just tighten those 2 bushings on both side with no weight on the spindle then you put alot of force on those bushings when you do put the car back on the ground forcing the bushings to twist. and well only so much twisting rubber bushings can do before they want to tear and be junk.

just be sure after replacing BOTH sides to go ahead and take the car to a alignment shop! the price of a alignment is alot cheaper than buying new tires every other month! even if you dont think its needed its cheap insurance to make your tires last as long as they should!