Below is a list of front suspension and steering related repairs on a 150,000 mile 1997 crown victoria police interceptor. At the time, the vehicle in question was around 7 years old and most of the frontend components appeared to be the ones installed by ford when the vehicle was manufactured in late 1996.

First step.

The vehicle made a loud creaking sound whenever the steering wheel was turned to move the front wheels. This usually signifies that the grease had dried up in one or more of the joints. Since vibration could be felt in the tierods when holding one's hand on them, we'll start with them.

2 Inner Tie Rods	Grease dried up. Ball stud corroded and ready to pop out of socket
2 Outer Tie Rods	Grease dried up. Ball stud corroded and ready to pop out of socket
2 Adjusting Sleeves	Sleeves are rusted to the tie rods and will not turn
1 Idler Arm	I want to remove the front steering linkage from the vehicle as one big unit. The rubber bushings on the idler arm were also disentegrated.

Second Step.

The vehicle made an audible clunking sound when the steering wheel was turned back and forth. But the center drag link was disconnected from the steering gear at the time. So the shafts that connect the steering column to the gear were clearly suspect.

1 Lower steering shaft	The shaft was really loose where the two parts of it met
1 Middle steering shaft	The u-joint on the midshaft was really sloppy too
1 Steering Column	Possibly not needed. But I found a 2 year old salvaged 2002 grand marquis with 20k miles to grab the column and shafts from.

Third step

The vehicle handles considerably better with the new parts installed. But the power assist always seems to always stick on and be forcing the vehicle to want to make a hard right turn.

1 Steering gear	Severly worn hydraulic valving. Also the sector shaft visually wobbled side to side which indicated worn needle bearings
1 Steering pump	The front shaft seal leaked badly. Also do not want metallic debris from an old worn pump contaminating the "new" steering gear
Hoses to connect gear to pump	These were badly corroded and could not be removed without damaging them. Also the rubber on these is old and may leak if not replaced now.
1 Pitman arm	The old pitman arm would not seperate from the sector shaft of the old box. Also, the old pitman arm is suspected to have around 150k miles on it.

Fourth step

The passenger front wheel seems to loose control and makes an odd tire related squeaking sound when traveling over imperfections in the road

1 Upper Balljoint	Condition unknown. No odd sounds . But i'm removing the entire front passenger suspension from the vehicle as a unit. And this is getting replaced.
1 Lower Balljoint	Condition unknown. No odd sounds . But i'm removing the entire front passenger suspension from the vehicle as a unit. And this is getting replaced.
1 Lower Front Control Arm Bushing	Wallowed out horizontally. The rubber was visually collapsed side to side on this bushing.
1 Lower Rear Control Arm bushing	This bushing appeared to be in serviceable condition. But it was damaged while removing the lower control arm bushing from the frame.
2 Lower Control Arm Frame Bolts	These bolts were really corroded and were seized to the control arm sleeves
1 Stabilizer link	Condition unknown. No odd sounds . But i'm removing the entire front passenger suspension from the vehicle as a unit. And this is getting replaced.
1 Wheel bearing	The balls and races were worn. The bearing had noticeable looseness in it as a result. The antilock brake sensor had also "rusted out" and was causing the abs light to illuminate on the instrument cluster at random times.
1 Passenger Front Brake Caliper	The bleeder screw on the passenger front brake caliper was corroded and would not turn. So a remanufactured caliper assembly was installed.
1 Shock Absorber	The hydraulic valving was worn and did not operate properly. Also the top nut was seized to the shock absorber shaft and had to be cut off in order to remove the lower control arm.

Fifth step

There was still an odd tire related squeal from the drivers front suspension when going over bumps in the road. The steering also still felt loose when driving over bumps.

1 Upper Balljoint	Condition unknown. No odd sounds. But i'm removing the entire front driver suspension from the vehicle as a unit. And this is getting replaced.
1 Lower Balljoint	Condition unknown. No odd sounds. But i'm removing the entire front driver suspension from the vehicle as a unit. And this is getting replaced.
1 Lower Front Control Arm Bushing	Wallowed out horizontally. The rubber was visually collapsed side to side on this bushing.
1 Lower Rear Control Arm Bushing	This bushing appeared to be in serviceable condition. But it was damaged while removing the lower control arm bushing from the frame.
2 Lower Control Arm Frame Bolts	These bolts were really corroded and were seized to the control arm bushing sleeves
1 Stabilizer link	Condition unknown. No odd sounds . But i'm removing the entire front driver suspension from the vehicle as a unit. And this is getting replaced.
1 Wheel bearing	The balls and races were worn. The bearing had noticeable looseness in it as a result. The antilock brake sensor had also "rusted out" and was causing the abs light to illuminate on the instrument cluster at random times.
1 Driver Front Brake Caliper	The bleeder screw on the driver front brake caliper was corroded and would not turn. So a remanufactured caliper assembly was installed.
1 Shock Absorber	The hydraulic valving was worn and did not operate properly. Also the top nut was seized to the shock absorber shaft and had to be cut off in order to remove the lower control arm.

Sixth step

Before the front swaybar endlinks are reinstalled, the rubber bushings that hold the bar to frame are going to be replaced. This will help lower the amount of body roll and improve the service life of most of the other front suspension components.

2 Stabilizer Frame Bushings

Old ones worn into an elleptical shape.

Seventh step

The front seats in the car are supposed to insulate vibrations in the vehicle chassis from the vehicle's occupants. The seats in this car were in acceptable cosmetic condition, but the springs and foam underneath were not. So a pair of "pre-owned" seat assemblies from a wrecked 2004 crown vic with less than 1,000 miles on the odometer were installed to address this issue.

1 Front Drivers Seat from 2004 Crown Victoria	Original 1997 seat had worn foam cushioning and support springs
1 Front Passenger Seat from 2004 Crown Victoria	Original 1997 seat had worn foam cushioning and support springs

Conculsion

Finally, all of the new suspension related parts have been installed on the front end of the vehicle. Now it's time to drop the vehicle off at the local tire shop for a front end "alignment". They call back and say that the car rides really nice and that the new tires are installed.

The "new car feel" has been obtained out of a 7 year old vehicle with 150k miles on it. Cost effectiveness of these repairs has yet to be determined though.

Update: The vehicle now has over 200k miles on it and still drives nicely.