100% agreed, first thing I looked for was lateral play in the front wheels, and then I was using the floor jack under the lower control arm to position the suspension in its full range of motion and check / wiggle all parts / links while inspecting the joints rubber seals for leakage since none of these have zirc fittings any more. Something my boss said when I was chatting with him (mechanical work is actually the basis of my job) is that since I live in SoCal and it's always hot n dry, that the grease inside can actually dry out and turn to powder inside the sealed ball joints without the boot showing visible signs of damage. So the links are probably the most likely culprit if as you said they're only good for ~50k and I have 120k now, and I can't get them to clank or move around in any position, but the noise does emit from both sides when going over cracks / holes in the pavement. Will find out this weekend.

For my comments on the alignment, when the car was new, it would stay in it's lane for 20+ seconds without any hands on the wheel, totally tight, but after the first alignment where the shimmed it, it still stays in the lane, but begin leaning to one side after a few seconds, it doesn't require effort to keep centered (not like being out of whack and making lane changes on it's own) but never as good as that factory new feeling. This could all be in my head as well. I will give the tie rods and sway bar bushings a thorough inspection and take some pictures.

Cheers

 

Academic question, but what did they shim when they did your alignment? Was it an attempt to change the camber adjustment in the front? If the car stays centered for any amount of time and then arbitrarily goes left or right depending on what lane you're in, it could be just because of the road surface beveling which is done to shed water to the sides... also, when you check your tie rods and ball joints Jack the car up and let wheels hang freely. ANY movement = shot..