I have an 87 Trans am and I purchased this car about a year ago. Initially the car pulled to the right and you could see the front driver side wheel was straight and the passenger side wheel was out as if you were taking a slight turn to the right.
I took the car to a local mechanic to fix the problem as I am not a mechanic.
They told me the wheel bearing was slightly loose tightened the spindle nut, and aligned the front end. Problem seemed to go away for a while but came back. Since their fix did not last, I figured time to check it out myself. I read posts on Thirdgen.org and purchased a repair manual and dug in. I replaced both inner and outer tie-rods on both sides, front struts, rear shocks, sway bar bushings and end links, and had the car re-aligned. All was well for a while, stored the car over the winter, took it out recently and the problem is back again.
The manual says to raise the front wheel 1” off the floor and push from side to side and check the movement of not more than .108? I can tell it is more than that and I can see the idler arm moving as well as related components.
Before I get into this next round of “spend money and find the problem” is there any help / guidance that could be given to help narrow down the cause?
Thank you all for any help.

 

sounds like it could be a bad wheel bearing. a bad wheel bearing will cause the wheel to have a lot of play(or "wiggle room") in it. for example, you might be able to walk out to the car right now (not even jacked up) and give the top of the tire a good outward yank. if it budges you most likely need a new wheel bearing. your test with the car jacked up is also a good test. however I haven't heard of to many alignment problems when a wheel bearing goes bad. if the you have reason to suspect the wheel bearings are going out, I would recommend replacing them before driving the car much. if a wheel bearing goes out, it's possible for the wheel to fall off.

 

I checked bearings this afternoon per the manual, they seem to be ok. I do notice when I push-pull the tire while off the floor, I can see the tie-rods, drag-link, idler arm moving quite a bit. Could it be the idler arm not holding things tight enough? Maybe play in the steering gear? any thoughts?

 

I didn't see you listing the Pitman arm as being replaced, I would start there along with the idler since all the other parts are new.

 

The pitman is a non-wear piece, so unless it's been damaged, it's good to go.

JamesC

 

Yea I couldn't remember off the top of my head. I think it's a wear item on trucks then.