Question about ball joints...

[nking79]

I just took apart the front right suspension area and noticed that the top left ball joint is very tight in comparison to the top right. There was a lot of dirt and what-not in this area - maybe it got in there... Is there an easy way to tell if they are bad or should I bring them by a local mechanic to check out? Thanks

[dbrick]

http://www.311s.org/tech/susp/susp_check.htm