Steering issue, Help

[cj69RR]

Took the Runner out to one of the local car meets and on the way did a lane change and it got quite eratic! I believe part of it was the road but it should of been much easier to control. Front suspension is stock with sway bar that has Polly end links. Manual steering box, also have 70's a body front disc brakes. Wheels are 17" with 245/45/17 BFG tires. Also noticed if I catch a seam or anything like that it acts like the road grabs the front end. Any advice? Alignment seems very good except in this situation. Thanks for any help or advice?

 

[Big John]

Check the toe in.

You can check with a string or a tape measure.

 

[A12]

a correct or better alignment makes all the difference..............along with a good set of shock absorbers.... I hate to say it but my '69 GTX does the exact same thing as you describe. I've been holding off on doing an alignment to the GTX until I change/replace the upper and lower control bushings/ball joints so I just did the "string" and tape measure alignment. I had the '68 road runner done by two older service guys from back in the day at a local Dodge dealer and one in Albuquerque, NM (Zangara Dodge) when I drove it back to Ohio in 2003. On that trip from NM it was exactly as you described and I thought is was very windy and that was causing the left and right "darting" the rr was doing over road breaks and over passes/bridges. The best alignment I've had on the road runner that stopped all of that was at the local Dodge dealer and I had the guy print out the specs if I ever need to align the car or another again. If you want I can probably find the print out and post it?

 

[cj69RR]

Thanks guys, I'll get the tape measure out and check the shocks out. And most likely try and find an old guy who can do an alignment.

 

[A12]

Thanks guys, I'll get the tape measure out and check the shocks out. And most likely try and find an old guy who can do an alignment.

Don't think you need an old guy to do the alignment, I just mentioned that because that's what happened by coincidence. I don't even know if the last alignment on the '68 road runner was even correct to what is in the Chrysler shop repair manual but I asked for a print out of what it was set to in case I still had the problem and low and behold it was great!! Drove straight and no darting and you could take your hands off of the steering wheel at any speed even over bridge and overpass breaks in the road. Even if it isn't correct I'm getting the GTX set to these EXACT same specs. I posted this on another Mopar site and out came the comments that it wasn't correct or "that not how I set them up" and yada, yada, yada by the so called experts. All I know is it worked perfectly AWESOME for my '68 road runner with 225/60-15's on 15x7 BFG's and that's what I setting the '69 GTX to.

'68 road runner is a manual steering car

 

[cj69RR]

A12 thanks. I want to be able to enjoy the drive and not have unexpected exciting driving from some issue like I'm having. I'll take the specks you got there and do some research and give some feedback when I get it done.

 

[MadBird69]

Mine did the same thing when I first got it. Driving down the road, and hit a little bump and the thing would dart to the left or right and go wherever it wanted to. Needless to say, it wasn't very safe. Turns out it not only did it need an alignment badly, but the steering box was shot. Might want to check into that too. Just my .02

 

[cj69RR]

Update. Put the original wheels with some 205/14's and issues gone. Front tires were about worn out. Put some 235's on the 17 inch wheels and no issues as of now.

 

[Sixtynine_Bird]

Glad to here that the problem is solved enjoy again

 

[Coyote]

Just read post, glad it got fixed! Scary! Set up correctly(!) our old cars are just fine. Back in the day, B body cop cars ran 135-140 mph on public highways stable as a rock. I think the "antique" torsion bars scare some of the new "technicians". Find a decent front end mechanic! As a last resort, I'll bet you have a large truck alignment shop in your area that would not be intimidated by anything you bring in.

In Columbus, we have several GREAT shoppes that can do anything!

 

[cj69RR]

Yes I agree. Have a buddy with a 440 duster that needs the torsion bars set up right. It's very light feeling and squirrelly even at 20 mph. Have a shop that has been around forever and very good. Just need to get him there to sort it out for him.