hey all,

looking for some input. i just literally rebuilt my entire front suspension and brake system. i installed stock height, after market spindles that came with a disc brake conversion kit. i replaced the A-arms with tubular arms with PST bushings and ball joints. from there every tie-rod, spring, shock, pitman arm, ilde arm, steering box, etc was replaced so the entire front end was starting with a clean slate.

since then the car drives like absolute sh*t. my first issue is the "memory steer" thats happening. the wheel wont re-center itself and its tougher to turn than it was. i noticed this even before installing the new tie rods and steering box. it seems like the ball joints are VERY stiff. They have been thoroughly greased but they are still very stiff. prior to this i was able to grab a tire (when the car was jacked up) and turn the steering. cant do that now and I can hear the pump is working harder than normal.

aside from an alignment is there anything I should seek out and double check?


my second issue is the passenger side tire now rubs when making a left turn (tire turning in) its pretty bad and I cant understand why since the other side doesnt do this. i measured everything and matched it up the best i could as well as put the same amount of shims in on each side. this also makes me suspect something other than what i did beacuse only one side is doing it.

anybody ever see either of these issues or have some advice?

Is everything greased?
Sound like ball joints are binding up.

Chief,

Everything was greased thoroughly. Some of them I went too far and its seeping past the boot. Either way its greased . this is driving me up a [censored] wall. I also tried alignment myself to get it driveable but everytime I get it straight , I drive it and magically the wheels are bent in or out again. i agree something is binding but iI can't figure out what. I have a feeling this iisn't gonna be a cheap fix either.. definitely need a pro to align it and figure this out before I take a match to it!

This censors [censored]??

Guess so.. geez. Four letter d word with an amn at the end.

One thing about suspension part replacement...it's best to snug things up when assembling, then once you get the car back on the ground jounce the suspension a few times and then torque things to spec. If you tighten things up while it's in the air you're bound to have some binding.

I was thinking the same thing.

i could definitely back everything out and try that. ive never replaced ball joints before but have had suspension apart on many cars before and never had this issue. they were substantially stiffer than the old stuff i removed. should they have been that stiff with both wheels off the ground?

The sure fire way would to be jack up the front and disconnect the outer tie rods from the spindles. You should be able to move the spindles by hand easily. Also check that the center link is not rubbing the frame.

i can tell you before i lowered it and before i connected the tie rods, the spindles were stiff. very tough.

UPDATE: It looks like there are 2 things at play here.

1. somehow my fender on the passenger side is nearly 2 inches further back (towards the glass) than the driver side is.. this is why the fender rubs. using the tubular arms the shop measured everything and the subframe looks within spec. his machine thinks the alignment is good. for now i am just going to roll the fender enough to drive it.

2. the steering not returning to center, i was told is most likely the worm gear in the steering box. he said due to it being a rebuilt box they are known to crank down on the worm gears when they replace them and they have to wear in.. not sure I'm buying into that as things were pretty tight without the steering box connected but ill give it a shot.

Since the fender ties into the radiator support and the subframe is within spec, the rad support may not be square side to side on the subrame...there is a fairly large amount of play available.

Also, the steering gear is adjustable.