Ball joints
 

Do the front ball joints commonly go out on the SVX's? I have 153K miles and have abnormal wear patterns on the tires; insides and out sides of the tires. I also get some clunking noises when going over washboard roads, with a little bit of play in the steering. Is this indicative of bad ball joints? The front CV joints look to be in good shape and I do not get clunking in sharp turns.

I have a front end clunk (right side) and it turns out to be my front swaybar link. I'd check for that next time the car is on a hoist. There shouldn't be any play in the swaybar link.

Your problem is more the slack in the power steering rack.

I had a bad ball joint and it would rattle almost all the time. It would rattle on bumps you don't normally feel.