How will I know when its time to have the front end worked on?

I am getting close to 150kmi on my truck. What are some checks that I can do to see if I need to replace parts on the front end steering and suspension (Ball joints, tie rods, control arms...etc)? Thanks in advance.

 

all of the above including shocks should be replace. it's called preventative maintenance including wheel bearings.

 

Upper Control Arm: Ball Joint and bushings - Look for sagging in the bushing
Lower Control Arm: Ball Joint and bushings - Also look for sagging, the more of this present will pull your new alignment out of spec that much quicker
Lift the front end up and move the tires by hand at the tires themselves, if you have any ball joint or bushing issues you will see it immediately when doing this
Wheel bearings - You can check for this by getting up to a decent speed and pulling wheel slightly to left and right, looking for vibration or noise to briefly go away.
Wheel Bearing seal - this is located in the inboard side of the wheel bearing, this will need done when the bearing gets replaced, kind of hard to check without getting dirty
Sway control arm Joints - or just remove the entire bar completely, preference and driving conditions, these like to start popping at low speeds when turning
Steering control arm ball joint, you can check these directly by hand.
Shocks obviously

If you have 150k on the truck and don't know that last time you had any of this done, and you are planning paying someone $120 an hour its a no brainer for me....I would have it all done. Everything works together on your front end. It might be a hefty bill, but having two bills is going to SUCK!

 

Thanks mjohn617