For the sake of a few quid, you might as well get a drop arm ball joint replacement kit too. Yer cun get em from paddocks or craddocks. They really aren't expensive and its pretty straightfoward to do. Buster has done a whole thread on the subject somewhere here in the 'archives' of LZ! The...
If yer dampers gone, I think its more noticeable over bumps un the like. Having sed that, when my drop arm ball joint went, I changed the damper too at the same time.. Just to be on the safe side! Plus they're pretty cheap to replace.