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At the front, get all suspension bushes checked, both for excessive movement and for possible seizure of the bottom ball joint.
Steering, get the rack and its ball joints at the ends checked, and don't forget the universal joint at the bottom of the steering column, this can wear but it can also seize up, power steering got enough fluid and is it smooth in action.
At the rear, check all suspension joints same as the front, if RWD does the way the car drives/points vary when going from under power to overrun if so that points to the rear having an issue.
Generally, check for intact springs all round, are the spring top mounts secure and free to swivel at the front, and bounce test to check the effectiveness of the dampers whilst listening for odd noises, best to be looking underneath whilst an assistant bounces and rocks the car from side to side and tries to spin it around both ways.
With the parking brake applied get hold of each wheel and attempt to roll the car both forwards and backwards, this action can show up worn suspension bushes very quickly, as the wheels will move excessively in the arches.
Measure the distance front to rear wheel centres (wheelbase) with a tape measure both sides.
Get in another car and follow your car for a suitable drive, take various roads and watch how it performs just driven normally no need for excessive speed or violent maneuvers, sometimes a problem which is difficult to work out is blindingly obvious when watching the car driving along the road, also watch for crabbing which is when the car is going down the road with the rear wheels following a different line to the fronts.
You can do all of the above yourself easily, last of all when you are happy everything is working well with no wear or seizure found, get the alignment checked.
When it comes to alignment, sometimes self diagnosis is obvious when you think about it, if you drive along a straight road, especially in the wet, and allow one side of the car to travel on continuous white lines (these having less grip normally than the tarmac), say the nearside wheels are on the white line, if the vehicle pulls to the right that might suggest the front wheels are toeing out, if it pulls left that could point to excessive toe in, this is only a rough guide though.
Edited by gordonbennet on 02/04/2018 at 08:33
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