Steering is a nightmare...

[Xp29h]

That's quite the situation you had yourself there haha, must've been a pain to figure out that problem for sure, thanks for the help

Why yes it was., lol! Once steering column came out and I measured it, made it easy to figure out.

I even called the previous owner and gave him the bad news (he did want to know) I almost didn’t because of the money and time and energy he spent on it for it to be just that!

Anyway good luck!

 

[1967coronet]

I appreciate the help, I live in the Houston area up north closer by cypress. I have a few buddies that live near me but dont know jack about cars lol. I'm gonna have trouble checking my suspension partly because I have lowering blocks on my leaf springs and lowered the front a while back, can I just put my car up on blocks and check?

Mason, Reading your post and looking at the pics.
You mention lowering the car, From the pics I see the rubber frame/suspension stop has been making contact. Cranking down the torsion bars makes it look cool but really screws with the front end settings. That car needs a grease job bad. Even if all the joints are fairly tight the combo of dropping it in the weeds by cranking down the T bars then adding the fat wheels/tires to the front is going to make it drive like crap.
If you add in mabey just a pair of worn tie rod ends or drag link ends ect it will compound the problem.
You need to ck the wheel bearings.
jack up the front , tires just off the floor , let them hang. grab each wheel and try to move it in and out top and bottom to ck the bearing play. Should not be any.
Now while its still up grab a light and a 2 or 3 ft pry bar, slip under the tire with the end and lift up , now your checking for ball joint play. you can get by with a small , small amount but not no 1/4 " ect.
lower the car.
wheels on the floor. grab your light and have someone turn the wheel slow back and forth with the engine off. watch each pivot point one at a time. Tie rods, pitman , drag, ect.
just a start, but there is ton more here at play than a steering box.
Box may be fine, we just want it safe for you.

 

[Mason]

Did you replace the old tires with new and properly inflated tires, yet? That should make a big difference.

I used a modern Jeep PS box on the El Camino; cost about $100 from NAPA and bolted right on and is firmer than my FF stage 2 on the Coronet. Anyone know if the Jeep box will bolt on to a B body?

Yes i replace the tires but they're low profile and take a lot of hammering on these texas roads

 

[Mason]

T

Why yes it was., lol! Once steering column came out and I measured it, made it easy to figure out.

I even called the previous owner and gave him the bad news (he did want to know) I almost didn’t because of the money and time and energy he spent on it for it to be just that!

Anyway good luck!

hanks i appreciate it a lot!

 

[Mason]

Mason, Reading your post and looking at the pics.
You mention lowering the car, From the pics I see the rubber frame/suspension stop has been making contact. Cranking down the torsion bars makes it look cool but really screws with the front end settings. That car needs a grease job bad. Even if all the joints are fairly tight the combo of dropping it in the weeds by cranking down the T bars then adding the fat wheels/tires to the front is going to make it drive like crap.
If you add in mabey just a pair of worn tie rod ends or drag link ends ect it will compound the problem.
You need to ck the wheel bearings.
jack up the front , tires just off the floor , let them hang. grab each wheel and try to move it in and out top and bottom to ck the bearing play. Should not be any.
Now while its still up grab a light and a 2 or 3 ft pry bar, slip under the tire with the end and lift up , now your checking for ball joint play. you can get by with a small , small amount but not no 1/4 " ect.
lower the car.
wheels on the floor. grab your light and have someone turn the wheel slow back and forth with the engine off. watch each pivot point one at a time. Tie rods, pitman , drag, ect.
just a start, but there is ton more here at play than a steering box.
Box may be fine, we just want it safe for you.

This helps a lot! I was wanting a response something like this that categorizes stuff i should look for...someone else sent one similar but they want someone steering while I am under the car looking for slop, problem is that its too low to get my head under there while its on the ground. I'll do what you said to do. But if I am looking for slop while the car is on, can I just do it while the car is on blocks?

 

[68Moparmaniac]

Bushings, ball joints, pitman and shocks first. Get it aligned and then make your decision on the box after everything is where it should be.... just sayin

 

[Fran Blacker]

Aunt gave me a 69 Coronet 500 with 50k on it in 1974. Put another 10k on it noticed slop in the steering. When doing an oil change had a friend turn steering wheel to see whats up, steering box was loose. Guess factory didn't get it tight enough .

 

[1967coronet]

This helps a lot! I was wanting a response something like this that categorizes stuff i should look for...someone else sent one similar but they want someone steering while I am under the car looking for slop, problem is that its too low to get my head under there while its on the ground. I'll do what you said to do. But if I am looking for slop while the car is on, can I just do it while the car is on blocks?

Mason, the wheels need to sit on the floor or a drive on ramp / hoist while someone turns the wheel to locate loose parts.
Just a rocking back and forth will show whats loose. You do not have to make full turns ect.
The weight of the car acts to hold the tires/wheels in place so the loose joints will show.
Have the car shut off while doing this.
Negative camber on your tire /wheel is what is going on with the torsion bars lowered down like you have them. The more tire width you have the more the situation compounds. Sitting down on the rubber stops not only affects the way the car drives it will trash your tires in sort time. Yes you can have the low / real low look if you like but you can only go so far with the Torsion bars. To get were you like you may need drop spindles. Then you start running out of ground clearance. LOL each action has a reaction.

All the different parts work together , bushings , box, joints , tires , shocks , toe in, camber , castor.
https://www.bridgestonetire.com/tread-and-trend/drivers-ed/tire-alignment
Look this link over it will explain alot.

 

[66 Sat]

Mate we're 5 pages in and going around in circles...if you can't get anyone to help then ask around (maybe on here!) for a reputable suspension shop in your area, and get them to have a look for you. Preferably a small one-man type old school place, where the guy will let you stand under the hoist with him and explain to you what's going on. Then diagnose which bushes or ball joints need replacing first and change them...but budget on doing the lot over the next few years, if you want it to drive with more precision. The shocks look new, but having read your description of the car's history and having seen the photos of the car in your other thread, and the suspension photos on here, there has been a fair bit of neglect over the years and there will likely be a few different issues. Hopefully it is something simple, but until it's checked over properly it's all conjecture.

 

[Mason]

Bushings, ball joints, pitman and shocks first. Get it aligned and then make your decision on the box after everything is where it should be.... just sayin

For sure will do

 

[Mason]

Mason, the wheels need to sit on the floor or a drive on ramp / hoist while someone turns the wheel to locate loose parts.
Just a rocking back and forth will show whats loose. You do not have to make full turns ect.
The weight of the car acts to hold the tires/wheels in place so the loose joints will show.
Have the car shut off while doing this.
Negative camber on your tire /wheel is what is going on with the torsion bars lowered down like you have them. The more tire width you have the more the situation compounds. Sitting down on the rubber stops not only affects the way the car drives it will trash your tires in sort time. Yes you can have the low / real low look if you like but you can only go so far with the Torsion bars. To get were you like you may need drop spindles. Then you start running out of ground clearance. LOL each action has a reaction.

All the different parts work together , bushings , box, joints , tires , shocks , toe in, camber , castor.
https://www.bridgestonetire.com/tread-and-trend/drivers-ed/tire-alignment
Look this link over it will explain alot.

Yeah i already have it lowered to where i like it for the most part, my exhaust is already scraping the ground haha, but thats mainly from the low-profile tires i have on it. Im gonna switch them out for taller ones.

 

[Mason]

Mate we're 5 pages in and going around in circles...if you can't get anyone to help then ask around (maybe on here!) for a reputable suspension shop in your area, and get them to have a look for you. Preferably a small one-man type old school place, where the guy will let you stand under the hoist with him and explain to you what's going on. Then diagnose which bushes or ball joints need replacing first and change them...but budget on doing the lot over the next few years, if you want it to drive with more precision. The shocks look new, but having read your description of the car's history and having seen the photos of the car in your other thread, and the suspension photos on here, there has been a fair bit of neglect over the years and there will likely be a few different issues. Hopefully it is something simple, but until it's checked over properly it's all conjecture.

Yeah I had put in new shocks for my suspension but aside from that nothing else suspension wise had been replaced...I've kind of gotten sidetracked for the past few days on my carbeurator because I think there is a vacuum leak and my timing is a bit off. My car is running like a dog at the moment but I've done about everything you can do to make an engine as wicked as it is. The demon carb i have may be choking it from getting enough gas...its 525 cfm on a 360 that way far from stock. I might need a 650 to 750 not sure yet. This is way off topic but I'll have to get to work on my suspension a little bit later in the week