Hi, I looked into replacing the axle (cheap), but the cap on non drive side come off easily and the bearings fell out, I don't see any seals, skewer is bent, I can still find the parts on biketooletc.com.
but I remember the rear brake bind fairly loud every revolution, so the wheel is not just a little out of true and it is bent.

The shifter is just a lever, no clicks, there are numbers and an arrow but I never look at it very much. Can I just get any Shimano 6 speed freewheel if I want to do it "right"? Other than that I don't know how to check for freewheel wear, the freewheel doesn't have any in/out play that I can tell.

Is there some way I can do a dropout check on my own Without the tool? At least get a rough idea? It's a steel frame.
I don't even have a car and my bike is missing 1 wheel to go to the LBS