To know if your tie rods are bad:
Put the front of your car up in the air, tires totally off the ground. Grab the tire at 3 and 9 and shake it back and forth. If they move at all, your tie rod is bad. They should only move if your steering wheel is moving, too, as if the car is turning. Tie rods are the things (or one of the things) that get adjusted when you have an alignment done. You can't get an accurate alignment done with a bad tie rod, it like trying to put a diaper on a squirming baby. If one tie rod goes bad, it can make the other tie rod go bad sooner, so if one has gone bad it's a good idea to go ahead and change both. They're not expensive.
btw, while your car is in the air, to see if your upper ball joints are good or bad, grab the tire at 12 and 6 and shake back and forth. If they move at all your ball joint is bad.