For my truck the first thing I did after I got my 46 into my shop after a 3 hr drive from purchase was lift the front end and did a visual assessment, grab each tie rod/ drag link and see any movement, look at the spring end pivots and shackle position/ angle and see if wear is visible. Grab each wheel and try to rock it top to bottom.
Have a person turn the steering wheel while you observe the pitman arm movement to assess slack in the steering box,
Wheels on the ground have someone turn steering wheel to if see any linkages have strange movements.
Likely much will become obvious without jumping into any one thing. On my truck it was almost scary…..it was ALL worn out.
Good news it’s it is not that hard to correct any/all of these issues, and parts are available.
Chuck
