johnferg69

I know I have some front end issues. Jacked up the front end and can see that my upper and lower ball joints are toast. Prying up on the tires revealed a small gaps at the steering knuckles.
Besides wiggling the tires and steering componants by hand, is there any other way to check the tie rods? Steering wheel locked and man handling the wheels and steering componants, I don't see any wiggle or loose connections.

5-90

Check tie rods for compression and rebound - use your largest pair of slip joint pliers (should be able to have one jaw on the end of the stud and the other on the base of the casing,) you should be able to compress it not more than 1/8" - preferably 1/16" or so. It should fully rebound when you let go.

For turning/twisting/pivoting, you can hold the joint so that the TRE is between your hands, and just twist the joint and try to shake it - any noticeable freeplay between your hands, replace the TRE. There should be some resistance, but nothing difficult to overcome.