Originally Posted by earlyrover

"Bad" is a relative thing, with various stages of being "bad." If they have no side shake, when reefed on by a strong man, even though they may not be in the best of shape internally, they are not about to break apart. When they get loose enough for any perceptible side shake, when forced by hand, they are definately "bad," and need replacing right away. At least that is what has worked for me and my extended family, over the past approx. 60 years, and has yet to fail us! Lots of other parts on vehicles can be worn internally, and an exterior examination doesn't show it, but we must put limits on what we take apart for internal examination, or we would be doing more examining than driving!