Ok, so i was driving my 84 TA and have come to notice that the steering is kinda loose, and my car rides like a boat. i say this as i own a 66 bel air(all stock) and it rides much the same.

what i want to get my car too

-Firm steering, little to no play(ie i turn the wheel alittle and the tires turn alittle, not i move the whell around alittle and the wheels dont turn)

-Firmer ride, i dislike the floaty feeling of my car

Im guess something with the springs as im sure they are original but anyone with any suggestions or explanations as to why my ride is this well please post, it will be much appreciated.

 

Try a front end rebuild kit, and new strut and shocks will go along way to improving your ride.

JamesC

 

ok, any brands i should buy over others? id rather not buy something that is about the same quality or marginally better than OEM, or will OEM parts that are new fix the problem as the less money i have to put into this the better as i didnt exactly plan on this.

 

monroe are very good.also check the tie rods and ball joints .there is an adjuster screw on the top of the steering box that you can turn and tighten the play in the steering box as well...food for thought

 

i might just take a look steering box.

 

i did it with mine and it made a big difference .i only had to do about a half a turn for my liking,but play with it a little to get the feel you like.good luck Greg

 

If the cars seems like it's floating then it's usually the shocks.

On an old car though probably lots of stuff that needs replaced.

 

My car had this same feeling when I got it but check out PST, I got a front end rebuild kit with the bushings, tie rod ends, sway bar bushings, and ball joints. The whole rebuild kit and KYB gr2's and gas-ajust shocks/struts was only about $400 and the improvement was amazing. The car rides firm but its not bone jarring just enough to let you know its a performance car. I really like the way mine rides now

 

I had this happen with my GTA... It was very floaty at highway speeds. A new set of KYB shocks made things as good as new again.

 

Haha, no. I don't reccommend Monroes unless that is all you can afford. They are a decent stock replacement, but aren't a performance shock by ant strech of the imagination, die very fast with any type of lowering/increased spring rate, and don't dampen the suspension of these cars well at all (unless you never break 65 and never turn over 30). I've had them on my car and I really didn't like them... especially after the ProKit went on.

Most of the float comes from the wear on the shocks/struts. You'll need to look around and see what the best you can afford is, and go with that. Moroe/Gabriel, KYB, Tokico, KONI/Bilstein are the most common brands seen on these cars, starting from the cheapest/worst to the most expensive/best. Shocks are like tires- they are some of the most important components in the ride/handling equation, and you don't want to skip on either of them. Not saying everyone needs Eagle F1 GS-D3s and KONIs, but you need to decide what you want from the the car and spend the most you can in this department.


A good rebuild kit (like the one from Spohn) will help things alot if your steering is in disrepair. If you don't want to spend all that cash, you could go through and only get what you need... but that might be everything lol. You might also want to look into a new steering box. Not a rebuild from Advance or something, as you are taking a chance as to what you'll get. I've heard some people that are happy with their's and some seem to think they are worse than the stock one. You'll also want to check all the bushings and such in the suspension and replace it. Just be careful where you put polyurathane.

 

Wait, can someone tell me where this screw is to tighten up the steering box? I've got alot of freeplay, 11-1 o'clock without wheel movement and I was considering just replacing the steering box alltogether, but where is this screw to tighten it?

 

The screw is on the top but it's not a magic bullet sort of fix and there are other adjustments - if you don't know what you're doing you can really mess it up. Search around and read some threads on steering box adjustment before doing anything.

 

There's an article from BMonteSS that's online somewhere (google it) and it should help you out. But, like was said, you can make things worse instead of better, so be careful.

 

Could you link me to a helpful thread that will answer my question? I'd love to fix this problem without having to #1 buy a new steering box, and #2 tear my current steering box apart.

 

I'll see if I can find it, but be forewarned, adjusting it is only a bandaid- it helps, but it won't fix the problem. I've been there and done that.

Here's the link

 

Thanks for the help, what do you mean by it's only a bandaid? Will the problem only be fixed for a short amount of time and get bad again, resulting in frequent adjusting?

 

No, it just doens't fix the problem-worn seals, internals, leaks, etc. It just adjusts some of the slop out, but I don't think you can get all of it out.

 

Correct on the struts. And I'm sure other parts are worn enough to replace.