Struts & more, Part 2

[Jerry Croucher <croucher@mail.eos.net>]

Thanks to everyone for your replys to my first post.  Since then I have
given the "Q" (1986 4kcsq 144k miles) a more complete inspection.  What
I found:

Rear -	Seems fairly tight when wheel is raised and shaken.  The only
	obvious damage was split boots on the tie rod ends.  The
	subframe bushings looked good (how do you test them?).  The diff
	housing was leaking on the left side, just enough to attract
	dirt but not enough to make it wet.  Shocks fail bounce test.
	CV boots look sound.

Front -	A different story.  Car is obviously loose when driven, makes
	little noises when small bumps, like curb cuts for driveways,
	are encountered & has an occaisional vibration at various
	highway speeds.  It is loose when you shake a wheel by hand.
	Subframe bushings look OK.  Stablizer link rod bushings look
	bad.  CV boots look OK but shafts have rust bubbling under the
	paint.  Transmission driveshaft seals look fairly good, only
	a small amount of dirt attracted to oil seepage.  Shocks appear
	to be different (different nuts on top of shaft)

The Fix	Start with the front.  Replace shocks, wheel bearings, control
	arm bushings, stabalizer rod bushings, tie rod ends, ball
	joints & strut bearings.  Will also replace drive shaft flange
	seals in transmission.  Recondition drive shafts, ie. new boots
	& grease, fix rust.  Are subframe bushings a common wear item?
	Fix the rear later.  Any suggestions on evaluating the situation
	will be appreciated.

Thanks,
Jerry