tonight i was under my truck draining the oil and i noticed grease by my passenger axle shaft and looked at the ball joint, there was grease as well. i pushed on it slighty and grease oozed out and saw the same thing on the driver side. so my question is how detrimental is this to my driving as this is my dd for work. do they need to be replaced asap or replaced when convenient?

 

As long as the rubber boot is not cracked, torn or damaged the grease coming out is normal, it has to go somewhere when you put fresh grease in and it typically blows out past the seat of the boot.
Just wipe it off and inspect the boot, when lubing the joints just give them 1 or 2 pumps to keep fresh clean grease at the joint and wipe the excess away.

 

ok. thanks for your help. ill check it out tomorrow.