Steering following road?

[73EStroker]

Punisher - your tires (you must be downunder or from Europe spelling "tyres") with the stiff walls will most likely be a big problem. When radials first came out they got rid of wandering because they could flex more and allow for imperfections in the road surface. I use G Force TAs on the front and believe me our roads are crappy and the car does not wander at all. All stock except for Edelbrock shocks and poly bushings throughout.

[punisher72]

  Thats right mate  i am from the good land of down under. I have been told that could be the case,so when i get the chance i will try different TYRES . Thanks for all your replys and i will get back to you all when i have tried a few things.

[73EStroker]

  I am a kiwi and I did my time in Aussie before coming to Canada. Hope that is all it is with those tyres. Mind you rubber is dear down there right, so hope you don't have to change too much? 'One idea might be to get a hold of someone with a Mopar or a Valiant Charger, Pacer (or similar) and just borrow their wheels for an hour or so. That way its free to find out if the tires are suspect. Why did you need the run flats? - I drove the Nullabor 3 times in 1974 - 75 and never had a flat, but they had check points then and they made sure you had 2 spares.

[punisher72]

Wow kiwi ozzi now canada? I heard its cold there  I do have access to other wheels thats a good idea. I bought the car from chevy thunder on the gold coast and they are the tyres he recommended.

[HP2]

Well, that only leaves three things that are unchanged, upper arm bushings, steering box and steering coupler. I'd recommend what 73estroker suggested, try some different wheels/tires to see if that makes a difference. If not, then I'd suggest a coupler rebuild. There are two small steel shoes in the steering coupler that wear and are often overlooked during the rebuild process. Stateside these rebuild kits are only around $10 or so, so they aren't an expensive update like a steering box replacement would be.

Thankyou HP2. The parts i had replaced are 4 tierod ends,pitman arm, idler arm,lower ball joints,upper ball joints,lower control arm bushes and swaybar bushes. The rest of the rubbers bushes were all fine. Also the rear spring bushes were replaced. Im not sure on wheel alignment specs. The guy said they use lasers and dont do printout sheets? But he also said bring it back and they will go over it all for me    Before i finish the front tyres are some never go flat ones? When punctured you can still drive on them as they have a very stiff wall either side.

[punisher72]

Cheers HP2. I will look into the coupler as well.

[mopardave]

there is an allen head adjustment screw with nut on top of the gear, that can be adjusted.

[punisher72]

Coupler looks good. I had a mate turn the steering wheel for me today and the shaft going into the box moves in and out as it is being turned left to right! I guess this means i need to adjust the box slightly to take up the slop. This could be the problem?

[73EStroker]

Be careful how much you adjust that allen screw. It is not the complete answer to sloppy steering. These boxes are sloppy feeling at best. I have a rebuilt unit in mine and it is a slop bucket, but to be fair, compared to more modern cars. The car still handles good with the other changes I made but the steering is lacking.

Something a littkle hijacky on this thread here - The beef I have is that they produce a TA/AAR setup only for those cars and never offered any alternatives for the Rallye or R/T packages. I wonder if someone started producing a longer TA style casting (or CNC) with matching swingarm - would there be a market? The swingarm would have to drop a little lower to clear headers as most people use these now. Would bump steer be a problem then?

[punisher72]

 Thanks 73estroker. I adjusted my powerbox approx 1/4 of a turn and it hasnt made any difference? Havnt tried different tyres yet! Been busy working and all the excuses lol. To me it does feel like there is slop in the box as the front just pulls to suit road. Bit nervy when u gas her up and need to pull up in a hurry. When braking quickly she steers all over the place  By the way my brakes are very touchy,i have to squeeze them slowly otherwise i go through the window??

[Chryco Psycho]

as long asyou are in the center position in the steering box you may be able to turn the adjuster screw 2 full turns or more , the clearance is tighter in the center than anywhere else though so the box has to be centered when you adjust it

[nqkjw]

Hey , another Aussie here.
I think I can help with your problem.
Check your front and rear track width.(centre to centre of tyres)
The front should be wider than the rear otherwise the car will tramline.That is,follow ruts in the road,seem wandery,etc.
Most cars have the front track width roughly 1" wider than the rear.
With aftermarket rims it's pretty easy to get it wrong if you don't check this little detail 1st.
XA to XC Falcons (like the MadMax car for US readers )and particularly hardtops were very susceptable to this problem.Because they had such huge rear guards you could fit massive rims under the rear and upset the front to rear track measurements.
Doesn't take long to check it out.

[HP2]

Bit nervy when u gas her up and need to pull up in a hurry. When braking quickly she steers all over the place 

This sounds like the strut rod bushings may be soft and allowing the control arm to move around, especially under hard braking.

[punisher72]

Thanks guys! I will try adjusting the box even more but just a bit worried bout going to far and causing excess wear, anyway of telling chryco? hey aussie,where do u live buddy? I will check the track! But im not gunna race out and buy new tyres and rims after the exspense i outlayed    Hp2 whats a good bush to replace the strut bushes with? Do i go with rubber or some nolathane type material? In the next week im going to have the car re aligned again and see if im running around 3 degrees camber. I think thats what it is? A mate drove her last night and reckons its the wheel alignment?

[Chryco Psycho]

If you go too tight  the bolt will tighten up & the steering will not center justy back it off until the steering self centers again