Diagnosing steering problems (wander etc)?

[Kerpal]

I've been trying to pinpoint the cause of my steering issues but I'm not sure what I should be looking for. I have a wander at hightway speeds, it's worse the faster you go, but bumpy roads are what makes it the worst. Bumpsteer is noticeable at lower speeds, ie city driving. Just recently I noticed that getting on the brakes fairly hard coming to a stop causes the steering to pull to the right, and I can almost feel a little play if I stomp on the brakes from under 10 mph. I'm pretty concerned about that and don't want to drive until I fix whatever is wrong.

I am also wearing the inner edges of my front tires, and you can see there is a lot of negative camber and toe out just by looking at the front wheels.

I don't believe the car is lowered, should be all stock suspension. Will all whels on level ground the outer tie rods angle upwards a bit, is this normal?

Any ideas what could be causing my problems? What specifically do I need to look for when inspecting the suspension and steering? I have the car on stands to swap my H pipe right now, so I figured I'll pull the wheels and take a close look at everything at the same time.

 

[bhuff30]

Toe out will definatly cause the car to wander around on the highway. Get the alignment done, and have the inner and out tie rod ends inspected while your at it. Don't worry, no shop would let you leave with bad tie rods without asking if they can fix it first.

 

[Carney Woods]

Toe out will definatly cause the car to wander around on the highway. Get the alignment done, and have the inner and out tie rod ends inspected while your at it. Don't worry, no shop would let you leave with bad tie rods without asking if they can fix it first.

+1 sounds like a bad alignment let the shop check it out.

 

[90mustangGT]

Alignment suggestions on previous posts are accurate.

If you get play up and down, put your hand first on the back of the spindle, if the spindle does now move, repack berrings, if it moves too, put you hand on the ball joint, then the strut while wiggling it and if they move togeather the there is a problem with that part.
Side to side play, put your hand on the rear of the spindle, if it stays still, repack berrings. If it moves, put your hand on the outer tie rod, the the inner tie rod, once again, if they stay still, replace, if they both move, and it wiggles to the other wheel, it may be a rack, if the whole rack moves, it's the bushings, if it only internally moves, it's the whole rack. The tie rod angled up? It should be level mostly. Check for sagging springs, or a siezed strut. Keep in mind this is an old car. If everything checks straight, get an alignment.