Lets talk steering

[Ian Ranchero]

Ok folks i have something driving me totally crazy. My 67 rancher has some DARTING going on in the steering. Its all manual steering setup. There seems to be some new parts in the steering and additional linkage from the previous own. I just installed brand new heavy duty rear leafs and coil over shocks so the rear is perfect and solid. I had someone on a facebook group describe my problem as DARTING and it seems to be spot on. also at slow speeds when i hit a small bump i can hear a sort of KNOCK in the front. I am trying to learn here so I would love to hear some options of what you guys think and where and how i should start to diagnose my problem. Thanks so much. Also if there any mechanics near Denver CO you can recommend? thank you

 

[tos]

Welcome.
The most likely culprit would be a worn out ball joint and if its knocking then you need to get it or them replaced immediately or you'll be in a ditch or worse when that thing comes apart. Other possibilities would be tie rods, control arm bushings (more like upper control arm bushing) or if you are lucky, maybe something is just loose like upper control arm where it bolts to the shock tower. I had a young kid pull in to a garage I worked at years ago with a shreaded front tire and told me he goes thru tires a lot and the car doesn't steer very well. I pulled on the top of his tire and could hear it thumping and could move it quite a bit. His upper control arm was loose so I tightened it up for him, put a used tire on (cause he had no money) and he was amazed at the difference. First grab the top of your front tires and yank and push them in and out to determine if that's where the thumping is. if you hear or feel movement/thumping then it is either a ball joint or upper control arm bushing. Report what you find and we can go from there.

 

[Ian Ranchero]

today i yanked on tires, went over all of the nuts on all suspension parts. seems everything is good. i am leaning to the steering box as its original. Can i safely tighten the nut on the bottom of the box? seems to be some space between the nut and the box. also what is the best outlet online for purchasing a new box? thanks for the help

 

[WORTH]

you can test the box by watching the movement of the pitman arm as someone moves the freeplay in the steering wheel left to right. there should be very little wheel movement, approx 1" or less. also while the car is on the ground look at each individual tie rod end and idler arms as he plays with the steering. there should be no clunking felt or seen. You can also jack up one front wheel with a floor jack under the lower control arm, then use a prybar to look and feel for play in the lower ball joint.