Ford: Front suspension noise/looseness, wheel bearings, ball joints

Question
My 1998 4x4 Ranger is making a knocking sound whenever the steering direction changes and occasionally when braking. I also can feel a slight wobble in the front when making a prolonged turn in either direction, but not during normal straight driving. The truck tracks good and the tire wear is even. I jacked the frontend up and found approximately 1/4" of side to side play in the steering, but can't see where that can be adjusted. There is no looseness in the other direction (wheel bearings are OK) and the control arm assemblies seem good.

Answer
what you need to do is ck the ball joints and to do so raise the vehicle up about 1/4 to 1/2 inch off the ground.use a long steel bar and with your hand on top of the tire pick up and down on the bar and see if you can feela poping in the wheel if so the ball joints are bad   good luck