I started to notice last fall I was getting some play in my steering, I could turn the wheel slightly without any movement or car turning. Now it seems like the car is moving forward and it's creeping into the other lane, then I turn the wheel a little and she feels sloppy need to have 2 hands on the steering wheel to control. Is my steering box going or I may need an alignment?
I did think the same thing too, I did replace it, all the ball joints and tie rod ends are about 10 yrs old with about 20,000 miles on them. I also replaced at the same time the body bushings too. I had an alignment check done, they couldn't do one because the machine doesn't go that far back.
I’ll second that one! The knowledge base doesn’t go back that far!
Mine was done by an old-school front-end tech using the latest/greatest 4 wheel alignment machine. When he had all four wheels set up, I asked him how the non adjustable rear wheels came into play. (He pulled a young guy off of a job, and had him watching/helping because it was a good learning experience.) I never really understood, so my best translation was that he assessed the overall 4-wheel footprint because of the default settings. Next, he split the difference of the rear, or compensated for its reading. Somehow he calculated it into the front wheel specifications, and he said that it was a hell of a lot easier to do on the 4 wheel system than on an old-school machiene. Also, it’s spot on because the car feels/handles better than it ever has since I owned it, and if you research my post history, that has been for a long time.
Ball joints can wear out in 20k. Wide/oversized tires can eat them up in a few thousand miles. It’s also a textbook example of a worn idler arm.
99.9999999999% of the people, including professional mechanics, have ZERO clue of the proper preload on the front wheel bearings (they’re supposed to flop around like loose teeth) so it could also be caused by chewed up front wheel bearings. A good front end tech should be able to pinpoint the problem.
I have used both alignment racks. Back in the day 4 wheel was not really needed except for independent suspension cars like corvettes. But we just used the alignment heads on the back wheels to set camber. The 4 wheel machine will show you the front to back offset on non adjustable rear drive vehicles. Cheap suspension parts do not last. I have changed ball joints and tie rods that were only a year old.
I had a set of tires done and it came with an alignment, so I was BS'd it's ok, So before I touch any adjustments I need to look for worn out components. I am thinking the idler is bad, it was replaced back in '93 with the pitman arm. Hell they have cheap parts for this car where? I don't shop at AZ those store have crap.
