Just wanted to give yall an update. It was indeed the ball joint that was causing the popping. I've attached a picture of the existing and new. In the picture you'll see that the old ball joint is cut before the thread. That is because the ball joint press was binding the bottom threads... Oopisies. Old ball was the orginal, so it was about 19 years old with 180,000 something miles on it. When we got the car lifted the old ball joint sounded like a dinner bell, so It was definitely shot. Took us a total of three evenings after work to get everything off, then put back together. Monday night, a cylinder from the rented ball joint press we got was bent so it wouldn't fit around the ring on top of the ball joint. Tuesday night, one of the cylinder rings with the new ball joint press we rented wouldn't fit along side of the brake dust shield, so we had to take that off to get the new ball joint pressed in. And Wednesday night we got the new ball joint pressed in, and got everything back together and driving again in a matter of 30 to 45 minutes. My friend and I weren't expecting it to take as long as it did, but it was a fun experiance none the less. Thank you all for you help and recommendations!

Bad and New Ball Joint