Shimmie

if there's a shimmy in the steering wheel when braking, then most likely it's the front disc brake rotors. i've seen a loose tie rod end cause a vibration, but not that kind. if you have a really really bad outter tie rod end, and it's causing a vibration, it's usually at a low speed, and the tie rod end's about to come apart. loose tie rod ends, and loose hub bearing assemblies are fairly common problems on not just cadillacs, but lots of cars on the road. if it comes down to a money issue, then i'd get the tie rod end, and hub bearing assembly fixed first. those two things can be a safety issue, but you should save a little on labor to do the brake job with the tie rod and bearing. a shimmy in the rotor is usually due to the rotor being warped, and unless the rotor is cracked, it's not generally a safety, but an aggravation issue. i've had two gm vehicles in the shop in the last two months that came in with busted hub bearing assemblies. the first was a chevrolet silverado 1500 4x4, and it was so bad we had to have it hauled in, and had to not only replace the bearing, but the steering knuckle, and pads and rotors. the second one was a chevrolet trailblazer, and although the hub bearing assembly had busted, the lady drove it to the shop, and the steering knuckle was fine.

At that mileage, it would not be too surprising to have both the front bearing assemblies and all 4 tie rods about due for replacement. Before you go sinking big bucks into the car, check the struts. There is every chance they are about to be due as well. At that point, you need to decide just how much money to sink into it. Struts for that car are EXPENSIVE. For all 4 struts, both wheel bearings, the tie rod ends, including labour, you could well be coming up close to $7,000 or more, plus you will, sometime in the not too distant future be running into other expenses. These are not inexpensive cars to keep when they get old.

if you don't do anything you are risking losing the car...and your life....please take care of the steering control...the comfort expense can wait!

the shimmy is something not true, in the spinning wheel or a rotor caliber brushing it and showing a shimmy,a loose tie rod makes this easeier for the wheel to show up as its not beaing held a little bit, grab the wheel by hand leftl side and right side and move it while parked,if loose youll see it, even more so with a jack under the control arm

so the wheel bearings could be bad, you just told us how to check for play~

a little play ,i drove many ,lots of play ,and im slightly concerned,but will correct asap, wheel bearings will get noisey like a dry rolling sound,not so risky, even a tie rod if unhooked will skid tire on that side with some pull you have a chance to hang on with luck,what me worry?

i've had to replace tie rod and wheelbearings sooner than yours on my former 2000 Lesabre (same chassis) . it is good to repair them , hub first because it is crucial. the bad tie rod will make your tire wear much sooner & can eventually break. also, look at your brake pads for the wear indicator and see how close it is to the rotor; that will determine replacement.