How to check upper ball joints?

[xx88man]

I am a newbie at suspension work and looking for advice. I had a look at my front end yesterday and I have obvious play in my lower ball joint on the drivers side. Everything else seemed okay but is there a procedure for looking for movement in the upper ball joints that I might be overlooking? My car is a 1971 Challenger with 45000 miles on it. Pretty much everything is original. Thanks in advance.

[70 Challenger Lover]

I have found that if you lift a wheel off the ground and wiggle it vertically, you can detect issues with ball joints, wheel bearings, and bushings. There should be almost no moment. If there is movement, it's fairly noticeable and you then have to have a helper look underneath while you jiggle it to see if the slop is in the bushings or ball joints. When there is a problem, it's fairly easy to identify.

[1 Wild R/T]

Hows the rubber grease boot? 

Here's the deal... All the weight of the vehicle is carried by the lower ball joint... The upper simply locates the top of the spindle & acts as a pivot point allowing suspension travel & steering... But honestly it's pretty lightly loaded... So as long as the boot is intact & it got greased from time to time chances are good that it's fine...

The lower ball joint is a whole different deal... Along with the lower control arm bushings...

[xx88man]

Hows the rubber grease boot? 

Here's the deal... All the weight of the vehicle is carried by the lower ball joint... The upper simply locates the top of the spindle & acts as a pivot point allowing suspension travel & steering... But honestly it's pretty lightly loaded... So as long as the boot is intact & it got greased from time to time chances are good that it's fine...

The lower ball joint is a whole different deal... Along with the lower control arm bushings...

Thanks guys. I'll look at it even closer but the nipple is buried in grease so someone obviously tried to grease it. I appreciate the info