Give me you opinion regarding my front axle

[Yukon Jack]

Drove the K5 to work today for the first time since I yanked the 35"s from the 69 K20 and installed them on the K5. I've known those tires needed balancing bad and it was alot more noticable on the K5 so I stopped in to have them balanced before work.

Went to pick it up and they mechanic reported that my front axle's drivers side ball joint is in very bad shape and the passenger side axle needs a new upper ball joint and wheel bearings.

Then he mentions one of the rims is bent and has caused a very bad wear pattern.

Sure didn't need another project to be staring me in the face

I've never replaced ball joints before but after hearing the mechanic's quote of about $600, I know I won't be paying someone to replace them. (Had to laugh since I paid about $650 for the Blazer)

I have a buddy who is yanking out a 3/4 ton Dana 44 so he can install a Dana 60 so I'm considering just buying it from him and not screwing with replacing the ball joints in my existing axle. It's the right axle ratio and in good shape and since my existing axle is also a 3/4 ton, this would be a good possible solution.

I'm sure I can rip the axle out and put the other in place faster than I can figure out how to replace upper and lower ball joints + install new wheel bearings.

So, what does my K5 brethren think? Yank and replace or rebuild?