Front wheel won't stay aligned

[sputnik 440]

Prior to changing out the oil pan on my 440 the 67 Satellite ran fine. Tracked good, no movement from left to right or right to left at any speed. We only removed the steering cross member to remove the oil pan. Now, I cannot get the wheels to stay aligned. I can get the alignment close with the string around the 4 tires method, and as soon as I take it out on the road, the alignment goes off enough to make the front tires scream. I took it to a shop that an old mechanic has. He is known for doing good alignments, enough for me to get the car to an alignment shop. I bought new tie rod ends and new control arm bushings. I thought the ones on the driver side may need replacing. (the passenger side are clearly new. The old mechanic said that the entire steering system was new. (2,000 miles) I drove his alignment for 2 miles and again the tires misaligned and screamed.

I can take the left wheel and I have no movement from top to bottom. If I take the tire from side to side, it moves a good 3/4" when my hands are anywhere from 7 to 11 o'clock. Something has to be broken or loose. I replaced both wheel bearings and still movement side to side. It tightened the top to bottom and both sides. Still movement side to side.
It seems that the entire control arm and the torsion bar moves. Why? All bushings are new and all bolts tightened and the cam washer is correctly positioned. In fact the old timer put a light spot weld on each. Could this be a torsion bar problem? I assume that any problem with the torsion bar would have been corrected when they rebuilt the steering system. I have 15 miles to drive the beast to the alignment shop. Right now I do not trust it.

 

[Darthomas]

Look for movement in the pivoting shaft of the idler arm.
You might need a helper, but something is moving enough you should be able to see easily.
Adjusting must be done on the ground.
Toe in is way off somehow if your tires are complaining audibly.

 

[YY1]

I had a 73 Challenger with a cracked K frame.

Hard to see at the LCA pocket.

 

[Dennis H]

Don't know, but I was going to change the pan. Not now.

 

[RT K_line]

Where did you jack the car up at? And where did you support it?

 

[RT K_line]

I reread your post and the only thing you didn't mention is the condition of the lower control arms.

 

[RT K_line]

I mean lower control arm bushings.

 

[WileE]

What is the condition of the LCA bushing ? What about the strut rod, strut rod bushing & the k-frame, both where the LCA mounts & the strut rod bushing ?

 

[miller]

We only removed the steering cross member to remove the oil pan.

You do mean the steering link bar, under the pan, right? Don't even think it's possible, but no chance it went back on 'upside-down'? Holes in it, if I remember right, are tapered. That would sure throw things off.

 

[Darter6]

Check the steering box attaching bolts to the K frame.Also look for cracks in that area.

This is a odd one that all was OK before...PLEASE post your findings when you get it figured out..

 

[sputnik 440]

Where did you jack the car up at? And where did you support it?

I jack it up at the joint of the frame about 18" behind the front wheels. I put the support next to the jack between it and the wheel. I keep some pressure on the jack after I touch down on the stand.

I can see where someone once jacked it up in the middle the cross member (below the fan). I can tell there is a "slight" distortion in that spot. Not enough to effect the height of car and I see no other distortion all the way up to the bolt and nut joining the frame to the member.

The steering link was never removed, it was just swung away and swung back and bolted down. Strut rod is OK and the bushings are new and look to be assembled correctly. The lower control arms look like they should, no twist, damage or mis-assembled.

I looked for cracks in the K frame and see none. I examined the movement of the lower control arm where the torsion bar goes through it. I swear the bushing is shot. That is where my movement is coming from. I don't know if it is the cause or just a victim of some other cause. I am going to have it towed to an alignment shop and have them go through it. I don't want the hassle of dealing with removing and installing the torsion bar. I need to find out what it is that would make a bushing go bad after only 2,000 miles. Any thoughts?

 

[RT K_line]

The bushings in line with the torsion bars are the lower control arm bushings. If the nuts are tightened with the arms dropped the bushings won't last long. They must be tightened with the weight on the tires. Good luck.

 

[sputnik 440]

Thanks to all for your comments and advise. It was evident that this is something I wish not to repair myself. I took it to the alignment shop, actually I had it towed, where the manager said no problem we can fix it. When he got a look a the torsion bar and gravity of the undertaking, he backed out. He was nice enough to call a shop 2 miles down the road. They said they could do and had done several other mopars. So, I drove it there. We will see what happens. I will let you know. Thanks again for your input.

 

[Moparsmitty]

Years ago I had an old Chevy do this and it was driving me nuts. I finally figured out that the adjustment sleeve on one of the tie rods was so rusty inside that the threads were almost gone. Every time you put any pressure on it by turning the wheel while the car was stopped it would move the tie rod end inside the sleeve even though everything was tight. It's worth a look. Hopefully the new shop can figure it out.

 

[Daves69]

You might check the idler arm mount for the hole being egged out also.

 

[RT K_line]

Any update on the problem yet?

 

[sputnik 440]

First, thanks for all the input. Yes, as suspected, we found that the lower driver side lower control arm bushing was shot. The rubber was even coming out of the sleeve. That's fine, but I wanted to what caused it to go bad after only 2,000 miles. Well, I had it towed it to the alignment shop and he put it on a hoist, saw the problem and said he wasn't going to do it. Too much work for him to interrupt his schedule of alignments. He hooked me up with aa shop two miles down the road. I drove the car to the shop and he put it on a hoist and agreed that the bushing was gone. I asked him why it failed. He said that indeed all the steering components were recently replaced, but they did not replace the lower control arm bushings because of the big job it was. Makes sense. He called me the next day and said the cause was a leaky steering box. That fluid was inline with the bushing and over time it attacked the rubber in the bushing. So, I get a new steering box too. Might as well replace the passenger lower bushing. Hate to see the bill on this one. I still need new tires and total alignment. Recall if you will....all I wanted to do was to drop the oil pan and make sure there were no pieces of metal in it after I did the complete valve train replacement. Does it ever end????

 

[miller]

At least you finally found out what the problem is. Sorry about it.
Wow on the no time for a big job??? What the hell do they think an alignment is???
(Yeah, replacing parts!)

 

[Darthomas]

At least you finally found out what the problem is. Sorry about it.
Wow on the no time for a big job??? What the hell do they think an alignment is???
(Yeah, replacing parts!)

Were I at the shop that refused the job, I would have said, "Why are you even IN this business if you don't work on front ends?"
If you don't know them personally, find a local business recommendation website to advise the public that this business is not equipped or prepared to do normal alignment work?
They must be pretty darn special if they are too prissy change a bushing!
Warn the public to shun them if they have no faith in their own abilities.

 

[miller]

Crummy thing about it all...probably not in their computer!
But, I learned the hard way...is there any other way...to do my own.

At least that thing didn't come apart while running down the road!