Bad outer or inner tie rod with no slop evident?

[240260280z]

My S2000 still has a metal clunk on the driver's side when going over bumps slowly. I changed the worn sway bar end links, fixed a loose side marker light in the fender and fixed all loose plastic under car panels. This improved things except for a quieter clunk.

Last week I was tapping underside suspension parts with a rubber mallet and noticed when I hit the drivers side outer tie rod I had a metal clunk but not on the passenger side. It looks like a bad tie rod (not sure if inner or outer) however, the steering is rock solid and, with the wheel up in the air, I can not notice any slop when push-pulling at 3 &9 o'clock.

Anyone ever have a similar gremlin with a tie rod?