noisy front shock

got a 05 bomber outlander 400xt im working on and if its on a jack and you grab the wheel or hit a bump riding it clunks. if you hold the rack by the top strut mount you can feel something clunking i tightened the nut on the top strut mount still does it. theres like a ball joint looking thing on the top so it can turn with the steering if thats worn could that be my problem? im more familiar with sport quad and honda 4x4 so not totally sure and dont wanna replace the shocks if thats not the problem.
one side does it worse than the other if that makes a difference