Hello friends! I recently replaced my outer tie rods. I went to get an alignment, and they won't do it because the driver upper control arm has too much play in it. I replaced it with a junkyard one about 16 months ago. Basically, I've had a lot of suspension problems in the past. I want to just solve them all so I don't have to worry about it again for a long while. But, I'm short on cash, so I don't want to replace parts I don't need to. How should I go about inspecting each individual ball joint and bushing, in both front and rear?
Thanks for the advice.

 

stop buying used parts.

 

Haha, I have. That was the only used part I replaced a worn part with. I'm paying for it now, of course.

 

Grab stuff and start wiggling it around!

 

how much wiggling is normal, and at what point should I be like, "okay, replacing you!"?

 

ANY wiggling means the part is worn out. Everything should be really tight in the front end and steering rack.

 

awesome, thanks. What about the rear end? Same rules apply?

 

Start doing your own alignments