[pushrod]

I have a friend whom I just helped do a tedious brake job on her 2006 Mazda 3 wagon. As with all of these cars of this vintage, it is still running strong, but the body looks like it was pulled out of a lake.

We noticed after fixing the brakes that there is a very slight clunk in the front end, and I found that the right side LBJ is worn (around say 1/8" axial play). It is not greasable.

Given that the car has MacPherson struts up front, and therefore the LBJ is bearing mostly lateral load, how unsafe is it to drive it like this? There is no sign of issue on the tire treads, the car drives straight as an arrow all the time, and so on. Besides a very light thump which is fairly rare, and the visible wear, there are no symptoms.

I know that we "should" fix it, but the odds of being able to repair it without causing other damage (stuck fasteners, rusty parts, etc) are very low. Can we at least get the money's worth on the new brakes (about 3 months / 3k miles)? She is hoping to avoid replacing the car until next spring.