Sway bar links can be checked easily by wiggling them to see if they are loose, bent or disconnected at either end. In 120K miles I have put on about 4 of them on my 1995. Since you are getting uneven tire wear you need to find out if a ball joint is loose. If so you may be looking at a major accident. Uneven tire wear can't be caused by the sway bar links, though they can cause plenty of noise. Misalignment can cause uneven tire wear but alignment should include checking for damaged parts including ball joints. If not a ball joint then strut bushings are likely to be the source of noise. It's not unusual for suspension noises to come and go on different roads and loads.