I just replaced the passenger side drive axle and rear motor mount (what a MAJOR pain to get the bearing out of the motor mount!). I ended up with a loose tie rod end which I plan on replacing. In looking at the various pieces and fittings (steering knuckle, tie rod ends, etc.) besides obvious slop what should be replaced? I also eventually need to replace the struts & springs all around and would like to get all of this out of the way at once.
It's a '92 LE with the 5SFE motor and auto trans. It has 156 K miles on it. The more I have worked on the care, the more I want to keep it and eventually drop a new motor in it (no V6, just a rebuilt 5SFE).
So I guess I would like to know the cost/benefit of replacing the wear components in the suspension. New sway bars would be nice when I do the struts, but that's about as extreme as I want to go. I've researched suspension upgrades and want to keeep it simple, but I do want and expect an improvement in ride/handling if I'm gonna drop over a grand on struts/springs/mounts on a 12 year old car.
Thanks.