When I was working on my wiper motor swap I removed the fender liner. It made inspecting the suspension pretty easy. The suspension has nothing to do with the wiper motor but I am always looking and watching for signs of excessive wear on every component. One reason it takes me so long to do any repair is I get distracted and fix other little things "while I am in there."
I noticed the ball joints had some slop and the center link had some play. I lube them at every oil change so they always have fresh grease but 29 years of steering has been know to wear out some parts. I figured I was too lazy to tackle it and I knew it would need an alignment after a swap so I cheated and took it to a shop less than mile from my office. They did their inspection and said the ball joints were a 5 out of 10 and the center link was a 7 of 10 and a 10 is so worm out it is dangerous. Since that is why I took it in I figured they we right.
Anyway when I picked it up the owner of the place said all the mechanics were amazed to see a 86 El Camino in such nice shape for a vehicle with over 200,000 miles. I explained it is at 335,000 miles now. One of the mechanics came in the office and said if I wanted to sell it let him know. I told him maybe in another 20 years.