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I understand that in most cases a worn outer tie rod will have play in the axial direction. That is I’ll be able to pull the ball joint in and out of its socket in an up & down manner.
Question is, if there is radial play then is that outer tie rod ball joint also worn?
I had an outer tie rod and the thing was loose when I moved it side to side. Also made a clicking sound, when I did this, as the bolt hit the sides.
Got a hold of a new outer tie rod and there was considerable resistance, compared to the old one, when the bolt was moved side to side. Also no noise…
The way to tell if the ball joint on control arms are bad is partially load the suspension with a jack under control arm and using a pry bar lift the wheel hub where the ball joint is at and see if you get up and down motion. If you do then ball joint is bad if not move to the upper control arm if vehicle has one and repeat. Now if it's a vehicle with a cv shaft going thru hub then grabbing tire at 6 o clock position and 12 o clock position and wiggle tire in and out if there is play there then it's a hub bearing/wheel bearing going bad. Tire rods inner and out should be checked with wiggling 9 o'clock and 3 o'clock position and looking at both inner and outer tie rods to see movement.
This will vary from car to trucks especially ford's and dodge trucks with 4 wheel drive and Dana front axles as there are more ball joints and other suspension components to inspect.
Any movement in any direction in a steering or suspension balljoint is bad news.
To make them self-adjusting modern suspension ball joints have a very strong spring inside usually in the form of diaphragm but sometimes a plastic cup or coil spring which pushes the ball pin out from it's sockets damping any moderate wear. Sometimes you wll find even in quite new ball joints you get the pin moving up and down without any apparent excess side to side movement ---this a sign the damper spring isn't doing its job.
Inner steering rack end joints slightly different in construction but again any free play indicates replacement is required.
As Hardtopdr2 posted it can be difficult to pick out a worn joint without experience of how to find the free play on a particular suspension layout.
