Awesome! Thanks guys!!
I ordered from Fastlane and the parts arrived this past week, just in time for me to spend the weekend futzing with the car.
The old one was so corroded inside the control arm the *big hammer* trick was of no use. In fact it just drove the ball itself out the bottom of the joint!
Lucky for me there was a tool rental place across town that was open on Sunday and had the ball-joint press.
I would not say that it worked well (the lower part of that control arm is not really flat so the tool was at a really weird angle) but in the end, I get the tool rented, the old balljoint out, new one in and the front end re-assembled AND the tool returned to the rental in 3 hours!
Oh, and that was definatly the problem!!! Man... was it fried!
Thanks for all the helpful info and suggestions. The *oil in the joint* was an excellent suggest.
Took the old sled for it's first drive in weeks to take the tool back. Rock solid!