my steering wheel has play from left to right before it catches to control the wheels its causeing me to have difficulty staying str8. Can anyone help me solve this

 

Since the OE steering components are decades old--if they haven't been swapped out--they probably need replacement (to include ball joints). You may wish to also consider a rag joint and a steering box adjustment or replacement.

JamesC

 

i have the same slop... mine was due to an accident tho. how does one adjust the steering box?

all my i have all already installed moog tie rods, UMI tierod adjusters, ball joints etc.

only thing original are the center link and the pitman/idler arm. how can i tell if one of these is bad? and how do u adjust the steering box to make up some of the slop?

 

mine was notorious for doing that, I had to take the steering wheel off and tighten of couple of bolts, and it would last about a month before those bolts worked loose. in the end i had to buy a whole new steering column.

 

those bolts are for the tilt mechanism, ive already tightened them and your suppose to use red locktight on them so they dont come loose again. mine actually are still tight and the problem isnt the up and down loose feeling... its all to the "left side". so u could grab the steering wheel and pull it to the right and its not budging.. then u can pull it down and nothing really then push it up and nothing... but when u push/pull the steering wheel to the left thats where the play is.

still havent figured out the steering situation, steering wheel is about 1/8 turn off to keep the car straight.

 

I had some slop in my 1987 Trans Am. Eventually I had to replace the steering box to resolve the problem.

 

steering box is worn, worn rag joint, also bad idler arm check those man.

 

I had the same problem...took it in and it was idler arm...lot better since that was replaced.

 

There's a nut on top the steering box. Loosen that, then you'll need an allen wrench to make any adjustments.
The centerlink and idler arm probably need to be replaced. Just have a buddy turn the steering wheel and look for play in the steering components while the wheel is turned from left to right. the front wheels need to be on the ground when you do this.

 

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