bad inner tie rods?
 

just did the 9/3 and 12/6 oclock tests on the wheels... no play at 12/6 but at 9/3 there is a fair amount. what i'm trying to figure out is if it's the inner or the outer tie rods... the outers don't look like they have alot of play but then again i could be wrong, so here's some vids (sorry for crappy quality, not sure why).. tell me what you think

http://www.flickr.com/photos/3035788...in/photostream

http://www.flickr.com/photos/3035788...in/photostream

Just have someone shake the wheel. Hold your hand on the outer tie rod as the wheel is being shook. Do the same with the inner, you should be able to feel the play in whichever one is bad.

How many miles are on these parts?

not sure if they're stock or not... the look old enough to be though xD. the car has 214k miles now.

At 214K miles if they are originals I would replace all of them (meaning both inner and outer tie rod ends on both sides).

what's weird is the tires haven't been showing unusual wear at all... the alignment is seriously perfect. i can drive down the road for a mile without touching the steering wheel. bumps and potholes don't phase the car (even with the struts being shot). so it stumps me that the wheels have so much play in them. also the steering is very tight. NO play in the steering wheel.

How does the car ride on the highway? If you are getting vibrations that's what will make it obvious that they are bad. The car can still ride fine in urban or suburban driving with bad tie rid ends.

rides perfect on the highway too. how hard are you supposed to be shaking the wheels when doing the test?

From what you describe, I really don't think you have a problem.

not hard at all. barely any movment becuase whats the slack is taken up (if there is any) then all yoru doing is pushing the rack back and forth and thats useless.

lol, yeah i was shaking them fairly hard... ok good so no 200 dollars for new tie rods :D