Driver's Tie Rod Shaft Play

[purg3d]

Having a bit of steering troubles with my 88 L.

I had hoped the LCA to body bolt fix would solve the pulling problem. While it did, substantially, I'm still getting a bit of "wild steering"- most noticeable when decel and accel.

Upon initial inspection:
CV's and steering boots all look in good shape for 200k.
1 control arm was replaced. The other control arm looks OK.
Tie rod ends are shot
sway bar body bushings shot

*Driver's side sway bar comes really close to plastic in wheel well
*Driver's side tie rod is loose, causing play in the wheel side-to-side. (~1/4")

Should I consider pulling the rack from a festiva at my local yard, or can I replace the tie rod ends and adjust the tie rod?
The PO said the transmission was replaced previously. Could this have been reassembled wrong as a result? Passenger side tie rod is very sold with no play.
If I took it to someone to get it aligned, would this be something they would adjust?

Thanks guys. Trying to get the most out of the new tires, and not feel like I'm driving my own casket.:thumbup:

Edit: Sorry, I'm thinking this sounds like a stupid question now. I have the FSM and Haynes. I see a bushing on the passenger side tie rod, but not driver's. Perhaps there's a bushing on the inner tie rod and the tie rod is replacable? anyway, I could still use some advice, and thanks again for bearing with me.

[zoom zoom]

Outter tie rod ends are cheap and fairly easy to replace, there's another ball joint on the lower control arms too, if I were you I'd replace them all one thing at a time over the next couple weeks or months, get some moog polyurethane lca/sway bar bushings, and some new front struts would go a long way too, springs also if the car is sagging. all this shouldn't cost you a penny more than 300$ if you take the time to search the forums and learn how 'we' do it. The piece of mind from having a fresh front end suspension for the next 100k will make it all worth it.



*Driver's side sway bar comes really close to plastic in wheel well

That makes me think either your plastic is loose, or your strut is completely busted and your springs are so shot its completely bottomed out while sitting still....which would also cause erratic steering while accelerating or decelerating. Post up some pics of your car lol, I want to see if its a lowrider.

[GenevaDirt]

Having a bit of steering troubles with my 88 L.

I had hoped the LCA to body bolt fix would solve the pulling problem. While it did, substantially, I'm still getting a bit of "wild steering"- most noticeable when decel and accel.

.

sway bar to lca bushings. If they are bad will give that exact effect. pulls one way when you accelerate and the other when you let off.

[eurotiva]

Most people do NOT know this, but your supposed to tighten the sway bar to lca nut till it bottoms out. Most people just run them tight. Thats why there is a shoulder on the sway bar.

Try tightening the sway bar to lca nuts. 17mm wrench is all you need.

[stonemaster]

Most people do NOT know this, but your supposed to tighten the sway bar to lca nut till it bottoms out. Most people just run them tight. Thats why there is a shoulder on the sway bar.

Try tightening the sway bar to lca nuts. 17mm wrench is all you need.

I thought there was a torque value associated with that

[Suburban Commando]

I've been having this same issue bought all new dlz lca's, inner and outer tie rod ends and some new Moog sway bar bushings all for less than $100 the bushings are less then ten bucks per side and they are the best $20 I've spent on my car so far you'll need a couple new cotter pins too the Moog bushings don't come with new ones.

[denguy]

My 91 Festy would pull to the left when I hit the brakes. Problem turned out to be the flexible hose going to the passenger side caliper. I disconnected it from the caliper and no fluid was getting through. Got new ones from
Rockauto for $12. I had to put in new metal brake lines too because the originals were rusted to the rubber ones. NAPA has complete made up metal lines in different lengths that you can carefully bend with your hands and won't kink.

[tkannegaard]

did u check your inner tie rod ends to make sure there was no play at the ball going into the rack

ps i was alignment tech for a long time and a lot of people don't think about tire pressure 5 pounds lower on one tire can make a car pull funny