Well, what are you going to do, you drive a car for 200K miles and the ball joints wear out. I've been getting some uneven tire wear on the front, the outside of each front tire wore out much sooner than the rest of the tire. God new tires and asked the shop to do an alignment. They put the tires on, but said the alignment would be a waste of money because my ball joints are worn and need to be replaced. So, I read the archives, the FAQ and stuff off the BB to get a little smarter on this issue. I have read warnings about the aftermarket suspension components and decided to order the TRW ball joints from FCP Groton. At $32/each they are less than half the price of the Volvo ones. My questions are the following.

* Is TRW, which FCP labels as OEM a good ball joint?
* Do I really need a pickle fork for this job?
* If so, what is a pickle fork? (sorry for the ignorance)
* Is this job doable in the tree shade without things like torch, air tools, etc.?
* Any tips on doing this in a tree shade setting?

I am no Mr. Goodwrench, but I have so far maintained this car as well as my '98 S70 with no huge blunders. I have changed timing belts (on S70, even), water pumps, brakes, fixed electrical problems with A/C, etc. So, I am not a total ignoramus, but not a pro either. With help of this site I have kept these cars going with great cost savings in maintenance and repair.

The ball joint job seems straight forward, but I always dread the suspension work as things often get rusty and crusty down there. Any words of wisdom will be greatly appreciated.

As usual, TIA.
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Vladimir. '98 S70 base, 5-speed manual - his, '93 945 (approaching 200K miles and rolling on...) - hers