i'm having an issue with my front end, where it feels like something is loose. overall it drives well, but it feels like there is something loose that catches when the wheels are not pulled at equally. for instance i went over a very shallow, wide pot hole on the highway, and the car kind of jumped to the right, and then immediately corrected to straight ahead. it wasn't major, like scary, but very, very noticeable.

i know the steering is a little loose, probably and inch or two of play in the wheel before it grabs, but no feeling of it grabbing, so it isn't that far out of adjustment.

i have a tie rod end that the boot has been missing for a while, so i will replace that.

the only other thing is it looks like the seal where the steering shaft comes out of the box (manual) is leaking a bit.

i was under there a while ago, and everything felt nice and tight, i couldn't find anything, but didn't spend a lot of time looking either.

so how do i go about testing things? sometimes just grabbing and pulling isn't enough to see that something is actually loose. things like tie rod ends and the steering linkage is pretty simple, but what do i do to know the other components are in good shape?

can someone give me a basic rundown on that? it's up in the air on jack stands now.