Along w/ the ball joints I also had my front axle assembly's replaced bc of a torn axle boots and grease leaking all over the place. This coould also be the root of the noise that has since susbsided, I would suggest asking stealer to look at this also to be sure. Axles were covered under my CPO warranty...

Lot goes wrong with my non-sport '01 3.0 at 82k miles.