While some of the other things are best checked while still on the vehicle, you can at least visually inspect them to see if anything is obvious.
First things though, would be to see if the ball joints pivot freely without any chunkiness, and are neither too loose or too tight (measurement of the tension of the steering knuckle while turning).
A main thing to either check, or flat out replace no matter what, if you don't know their history, would be the axle u-joints. They don't last forever, and rarely (if ever) get greased. Some are greasable, some not. But if you're not sure of their condition, it's just cheap insurance to change them.
The lower trackbar mounting stud can come loose from the bracket if the weld(s) crack, but that's very hard to see without the weight of the vehicle pushing against it. Still, it's not a bad thing to flip it over and look up inside that bracket to see if anything obvious sticks out.
Now we get a little deeper. Personally, I'd change the axle seals as well. But only because you have it out where it's easy to work on it, will possibly have the axle shafts out (to replace old u-joints) and under those circumstances, the old "while it's out" rule applies.
Of course, if they're not leaking, and you drive it fairly regularly and have had the rig for awhile, there's not a lot of pressure to replace the old seals. But if you know they're old, or the truck has been sitting, or it looks like they're starting to weep, then like I said... Now's the time!
All of this is made more convenient due to the fact that you have the spindles and backing plates completely off for the brake job. It's also known as the snowball effect!;D
But sometimes we like snowballs for a reason.
Paul
