Best place to start on front end suspension bushes

I definitely have a little travel left and right in the front end. The steering wheel does not have much play but my front left wants to wander a bit. Suggestions for starting locations? I really don't want to do kingpins if I can avoid it.

Basics..Ck outer tie rods, at each wheel...ch drag link tie rods...have front end aligned..(set toe)

Yep, looks like tie rod ends which is simple, but not cheap of course. $98/ea at Boos. And so it goes with classics...

Have you checked the wheel bearings? On the ground, grab top of tire and see if you can move it. Jack up and see how much play you have. Should be a little, but not much, and should spin freely without noise. Also, when jacked up move the steering wheel back and forth, shouldn't be any notches in steering gear. King pins sometimes wear as well. If you suspect the rod ends are bad, put vehicle on secure stands, watch from underneath while someone turns the wheel. Should not be discernible play. Does car squeak when you go over a bump? shock links may need replacing.

Abe

I will do that. It would not surprise me if wheel bearings needed at least to be repacked and adjusted. Easy enough to check them out. There is no squeek that I noted on my short drive. The tires are old as well, but in pretty good shape. Hoping they will round out fully when I get it back on the road a bit.

Thanks!

Boos Herrill is nice, and has to make cash to finance the operation..but that is high...You can find em elsewhere

1/3 price..mostly just generic ford parts..I have hard time understanding these prices..but if you dont

have time too look, then pay triple list!!

I did bearings and seals all the way around and got everything from Alan Whelihan. Cheaper than Boos. He's got a parts and price list on the LZOC sources page.

Thanks BC, Will give him a call.

Trying to resolve exessive slop in the steering of my '41 Zephyr. Installed new tie-rod ends and removed shims from the steering box, which seems tight now. I suspect worn kingpins but will be checking wheel bearings. I bought a set of kkingpins for a '41 Ford but it looks like they have a smaller diameter - 0.810" vs. the 0.933" that I measured after removing the lower retaining screw and cap. 

Merv Adkins used to offer them but he's been out of the game for a few years. Trying Whelihan and Boos-Herrel but they've been slow to respond. Seems like our old reliable parts sources are slowly fading away.

Dave

To determine where the slop is in your steering, jack up one wheel, grab the front and back of the wheel and try to turn left to right. If you feel movement, get an assistant to either turn the wheel or crawl under the car to see where the movement is. To check the kingpins, grab the top and bottom of the wheel and try to move the top in and out. If you can then check the wheel bearings or see if the spindle is moving. A moving spindle means worn king pins.