How do you know if your tie rod ends are bad?

[Air4ceOne]

I have a 95 Tercel that I bought 5 years ago. There's always been a slight wobble of the steering wheel, and it gets worse at about 65-70 mph. It does it most of the time, but there are times when there's no wobble. It's not the tires or balance because I've bought new tires since buying the car, and it does the exact same thing. Had the alignment checked too, and it's fine. The only thing I can think of at this point are the tie rod ends. Any other thoughts on what it could be?

[crash_1333]

you could have a bent ball joint or a bent controll arm but anything like tierod ends they should have spotted thea because they usually inspect that...most likely a bent controll arm or ball joint

[Air4ceOne]

Well, I took it to one of the local garages. They checked it out and said the rack & pinion is loose from being worn, and the only fix is to replace the entire thing. It has over 140,000 miles on it, so I guess it's about time to replace it. $500 down the drain (parts and labor).

[Air4ceOne]

And the rack & pinion was the problem. They replaced it yesterday and no more shaking/wobbling! After driving it like that for 5 years, it almost seems strange not having the wobble!