Steering my Ford

[Guest Dukie]

I've had a lot of Mopars but fell in love with a 55 Fairlane. Been sitting a while. Got it running but it takes 2 men and a horse to turn it! what can I do?:confused:

[Guest Jim_Edwards]

I've had a lot of Mopars but fell in love with a 55 Fairlane. Been sitting a while. Got it running but it takes 2 men and a horse to turn it! what can I do?:confused:

1st: Check all the suspension/steering related bushings including control arm bushings, replace all that are cracked and/or missing chunks. Sway bar bushings are probably gone and fresh ones are in order.

2nd: Check the upper ball joints and have the front end aligned. (that era of Ford lower ball joints rarely fail if lubed periodically)

3rd: Give it a good lube job.

4th: The horrors of all horrors for some, put a fresh correct set of BIAS PLY tires on it and inflate to owner's manual specifications.

It will never steer easily with radial tires and manual steering. It will steer acceptably with BIAS Ply tires, that's what it designed to have on it.

Jim

Edited December 23, 2010 by Jim_Edwards (see edit history)

[Marty Roth]

Jim's comments are right on target. It wouldn't hurt to check the oil in the steering box, and to adjust the free play. Radial tires will be harder to steer when parking and in slow-speed maneuvering, but the additional effort required is not too objectionable when driving - handling will be improved at the expense of ease of steering.

[Rusty_OToole]

Take it to a good front end man and have it checked over, worn parts replaced and get an alignment. When they were new they were not hard to steer and shouldn't be hard to steer now.

If you want to have a real masterpiece of a Ford, have the wheels checked and trued up and tires balanced. New shock absorbers all around. And here is a real trick, get a steering damper and have the caster set to 0 or close to it. This will reduce steering effort and sharpen up the steering. German cars like Mercedes, BMW, and VW were set up this way for years. You have to have a steering damper or else some caster, to prevent shimmy.

If you use radials pump them up to 32 PSI for easier steering.