I agree, get ALL the parts together, BEFORE you start. You don't notice there is any problem with any particular part until it gets really noticable... you soon find out that shocks were not the only problem... Don't just replace shocks or ball joints, when the problem is likely to be a combination of all front-end parts.

Right now I am gathering parts to re-do my front end... I have almost all the parts now, just need a couple more, and am going to do the work myself on my long weekend coming up in September.