Uh oh...how long do I have?
 

I was rotating tires this weekend and while I was looking around at the suspension, I noticed I had a new quarter-inch tear on the lower ball joint boot. It wasn't there a week ago, so I know it happened within the last couple days. There was still grease in the boot, but I can't say for sure how much. I cleaned it up well and sealed it with some 100% silicone. The joint itself is still tight and I couldn't get any movement even with a 3 foot wrecking bar.

So I know I'll have to change it eventually, but how long would an educated guess tell me I have until it fails?

It's hard to say, really. Depends on your driving habits and your local environmental conditions, IE, dust, heat, etc. But, I'd say to take it easy, and, don't pull any more sig pics until you get it replaced ;)

It's better to change it early before it's too late. You don't want to be driving with that thing popping out, would you? Might as well fix it as soon as possible, rather than having to fix more stuffs other than that.

Looking at the shop manual, it appears that I have to change the entire lower arm. Is that correct? The ball joint itself isn't serviceable? If so, that kind of sucks. It might explain why I can't find a part number for the ball joint.