This week I'm catching up on a lot of maintenance on my car.
I did:
* both balljoints
* both tie rod ends
* both steering rack boots
* master cylinder
Lots of rust, lots of PB Blaster, and the right tools and everything came out ok.
But I rented a picklefork to get the balljoints and the ends off, and they suck for separating anything. I ended up renting a two/three jaw puller and they are infinitely more effective.
My steering rack boots were torn, but most of the grease is still there and there's no play in the rack.
I had some terrible balljoints, too. More rust than grease.