The lower ball joint is pretty easy to test. Jack up the front so that tire is up in the air a few inches and use a 2x4 or pry bar to try to lever the tire up. There shouldn't be a lot of play in the ball joint. if the wheel moves up like 1/4" +, time for a new ball joint. Visually inspect the boot also, change the ball joint if the boot is leaking or split.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mpMRXWZpOYAlso, test to make sure that the lower A-arm bolts are snug. My front end started making clicking noises when breaking after a tire shop did the alignment. The driver side nuts weren't tightened all the way to 125 ft-lbs. More like 70 ft-lbs. I tightened them up and then checked the passenger side. The clicking noises went away immediately.