Since many of the 850s are accumulating significant mileage, and with the summer travel season on, it might be timely for people to inspect their front end parts, including ball joints/control arms, tie rod ends, stabilizer links, strut mounts, etc. This goes especially for people who do much of their own work - where the car isn't often taken to a professional shop.

I just had a ball joint separate. While we were going at a very low speed and there was no accident, it took the half-shaft with it when it let go, and we needed a tow, adding $ to the repair cost. The tech who did it was observant enough to point out that the tie rod ends were quite worn too.

I thought I was quite prudent at upkeep, but these things got past me. A few minutes applying a pry bar gently to each joint (with the car's weight off the wheel) could tell you what the conditions are.

As always, thanks to all for their contributions to this forum...