I've got a '60 valiant wagon. how do I tell if the suspension needs work? the car's been sitting for many, many years. I know the suspensions on 60-61's are unique and don't interchange with other years. Something about the ball joints, and pitman arms. I have the opportunity to get some parts, but i can't tell if i actually need them yet. advice please. thanks.

Get the parts,wether u need them or not,just in case...

If you look underneath your car you will notice that at the UCA and LCA joints there are bushings, if they looked cracked or mushed their bad. You can't see how good the balljoints are by looking... I actually don't know how you tell they're bad, so they're old and probably a good idea to replace them. Shocks, just bounce your car a few times, it should stop bouncing after like to bounces. You also know their bad if you have to hold on for dear life when you take a corner at 5mph(it happens, I drove a friends thirty year old, well driven, Saab, fun experience ). Also, if your car can't keep an alignment that's a sign as well. You could be like about 60% of the people that own old cars though, replace the shocks and be happy if your parts are good, and just be ready to replace tires a little more often if they're not.

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My car may be slow to sixty, but at least it's been reliably slow to sixty for more than thirty years.

Hardest to get are the idler and pitman arm. The lower ball joints are
also unique to 60 and 61. The lower ball joints also come in screw in
and press in types.

Watch out for the more common upper ball joints being advertised
as lowers on the auction houses.

Do not throw away old 60-67 idler or pitman arms even if worn out
- you may need to have the old one rebuilt. There is
a place that specializes in small quantity runs of suspension parts.
I think it is rareparts.com They can rebuild your idler arm IF you have
an old one - They also can make or stock many of the parts you can
not find for the suspension on our cars.

Before you check the ball joints, check the wheel bearings for proper adjustment; this could result in inaccurate diagnosis.
Put a floor jack under the LCA (hard surface, of course) right behind the tire and jack it up so the tire is an inch or so up.
Get a buddy to watch the upper joint as you grab the tire top and bottom and push/pull/shake it. Any play = replace.
Stick a long bar under the tire as a lever, then lift while your buddy watches the lower joint. Again, any play = replace.
Grab the tire at the sides and shake it. With the other tire on the ground, you'll find if there's any play in the tie rods. Watch the idler arm to see if there is significant play in it, also.
Bushings have been covered, so the only other thing is to look at the grease fittings and dust boots. Torn boots and/or crusty zerks means time for some work.
It's safe to assume that it needs gone through (and updated?) anyway at that age.
Sorry if this is too windy.

thanks for the info guys.