JoeMacgruder

I drove my 69' the other day for the first time in 4 months and the steering seemed way loose compared to what i recalled. I may just not have realized how bad it was before i put it into winter storage. It only has 50k on it. Does this seem like a tie rod issue? If so how hard are they to replace and how much are the parts / tools i'll need? Thanks in advance for your help!

Joe :cheers:

Alwyn678

Maybe it is because you have not driven it for a while...Is it manual or power steering>??

Never Finished

I had the same problem. It was the rubber connector between the steering column and the steering box. Took about 2 hours to fix it. These things get rotten after a while. Hope that is what is wrong with yours because it was pretty easy to fix.

Robd

It could be a few things, place the in park or neutral with the e-brake on and have someone turn the steering wheel while your looking for the slop.

The_Dude

This happened to a friend with a '79. It turned out to be the power steering control valve.

The Dude

Sounds like a rag joint to me.
Is there a lot of slop in the steering when the car's parked?

norvalwilhelm

I can add something else to the list. Idler arm. I lost 2 in a few short years. Tie rods are easy to replace. Just measure the old distance before removing the old tie rod and install the new at the same length.
The best is to put the car on a drive on hoist and look from the underside as a friend rocks the wheel back and forth. The weight should be on the wheels to make the flex show up.
Also like others said it might be because you are not use to the sloppy steering. It doesn't have to be this way just over the years everything has woren a little so the overall effect is slop.
Both my idle arms went out suddenly without warning but lying under the car while the wheel was turned quickly showed it up.

JoeMacgruder

It's power steering. The rag joint appears to be solid. Any other suggestions? :crazy:

The_Dude

Your going to have to put it up on ramps and crawl under it and have a look while someone else moves the steering wheel. We thought my friend's 79 was probably the rag joint, but when we looked it was solid. When I crawled under it, the problem was pretty obvious. :cheers:

JoeMacgruder

The steering isn't loose when the car isn't running. Would this tend to indicate something with the power steering?