Inner tie rods

If it's excessive only newguy.

Do you mean best way to assess the play? usually with the wheels on turn plates from underneath. It's easier to see and feel any play from underneath

I'm in correct in thinking that I can only fail them if it has excessive,,,,,more than 13mm free play at the steering wheel.
If not pass and advise???

I would go with that newguy

Play in the inner track rod joint may only be inspected when the vehicle is on solid ground, not jacked or on turnplates, by assessing the free play at the steering wheel rim.

That little wiggle we all do on the front and back of the wheel is just for fun, you're not allowed to assess steering play like that. Mind you, unofficially, if I find play like that, I look especially hard when my assistant is doing his shakes

Yes,kind of what I've thought,just wasn't sure.thank you all.

if your looking at the wheel whilst rocking the steering wheel how do you know what the other wheel is doing.

What the other wheel is doing is not relevant at this stage of the test@spanner,as your only checking for excessive free play at the steering wheel.
It may be something else which is causing the excessive free play at the wheel which will/may show up during the rest of the test.
To check for the free play at the steering wheel........use hard standing surface as you need a bit of resistance to complete the check.
Engine running,stand outside the vehicle. Finger on steering wheel,and very slightly rock the steering wheel in a rotational manner and observe movement of the steering wheel/ drivers front wheel.
If at that point the criteria has been exceeded then the vehicle has failed, irrespective of what condition the inner joints are at/or any other component.
When the inner tie rods do have excessive play these still have to be passed and advised, even if the steering wheel has excessive free play,its the play in the system that fails, not the play in the inner joints which you can't see.
If excessive free play is found at the steering wheel,looking for something else to justify it is not required,let someone else diagnose the reason for free play.
(Assuming other components have passed)

Jacked up and shaking wheels side to side Gaz? That's not in the manual as an MOI, Straight push-pull gripping the wheel at 12 and 6 oclock and also at 3 and 9 oclock, than observe your assistant doing the same checks (unless OPT/ATL)

I must admit that I was somewhat confused over what you were asking originally until I read through some more posts in reply.

I thought tie bars/rods were the suspension components?

In the Rack and Pinion steering system the tie rods which you refer to are called Track Rods, and the joints which you are referring to are called Rack to track rod ball joints, thus the outer joint being called the Track rod end joint, and the inner joint, i.e. the rack to track rod ball joint (unseen) is assessed by way of the steering mechanism having more than 13mm free play, measured at the circumference of the drivers steering wheel.

Note also that if the steering wheel diameter has changed from the original OEM, then the free play/wear limit also changes in proportion to the diameter of the new steering wheel fitted

That's interesting ,
How do you know its a ball joint ?
And how do you know what has excessive play if its unseen.