Guest johnnywolf66 Posted November 11, 2009 Share Posted November 11, 2009 I'm having a nightmare of a problem with the steering on my 56 Buick special. The car wanders all over the road. I've completely rebuilt the front end, adjusted all of the lash out of the steering gear, had it aligned twice, and even replaced all 4 coil springs. I'm running Coker radials, but this shouldn't have much effect. The steering wheel only has about 1" to 1-1/2" of play in it. Anybody else have any experience with this? Any ideas? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest B1rdman Posted November 11, 2009 Share Posted November 11, 2009 i would say have the toe in set, believe that is the problem.if set straight ahead it will wander.gene Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry Schramm Posted November 12, 2009 Share Posted November 12, 2009 I would take it to a good alignment shop for starters. I good guess besides wrong toe in is that there is no caster in the front wheels. That will have it wanting to everywhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rusty_OToole Posted November 12, 2009 Share Posted November 12, 2009 Just a wild thought. Have you checked the rear end? Buicks of that age have a coil sprung, torque tube drive. The only thing holding the rear end from moving sideways is a track rod with rubber bushings at the end. If the rubber bushings are shot it could allow the rear end to sway back and forth, resulting in strange steering.I don't know if this is possible or not but it can't hurt to look. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest mmikemitchell Posted November 12, 2009 Share Posted November 12, 2009 You need to be sure the alignment shop is checking the rear wheels with the front. If the car isn't tracking it will never go straight. What Rusty_OToole says was a good idea too. Your radials will not track like the bias ply tires did, but that is usually compensated by the driver getting used to them.MikeRebuilt Carburetors Auto and Marine at Discount Prices Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry Schramm Posted November 13, 2009 Share Posted November 13, 2009 The alignment of the front wheels to the back that Mike is talking about is called thrust angle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest johnnywolf66 Posted November 15, 2009 Share Posted November 15, 2009 The alignment of the front wheels to the back that Mike is talking about is called thrust angleThanks Rusty and Larry....I'm going to take it to a different alignment shop after Thanksgiving. I'll keep you posted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry Schramm Posted November 16, 2009 Share Posted November 16, 2009 Just be sure that they do not check just toe in like many low end shops may do. If the thrust angle is off you may see the car go down the road off line. Old term for that is dog tracking. Does not take a lot to have the car drive funny along with making it interesting to stop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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