I have a 79 camaro and the steering feels very loose on the highway. I checked the outer tie rod ends and the left side has a noticeable amount of verticle movement. Would that be the sole cause of the looseness? How do I check the inner tie rod ends, centerlink, and idler arm for wear? What are the chances that and inner tie rod, center link, or idler arm is causing this problem?

Thanks,

Jon

 

I rebuilt the entire front end of my 79 Z-28 and still have some play. Next is the stearing gear box.

 

Was there an imporvement after the rebuild? I was thinking about replacing the coil springs and the control arm bushings as well.

 

I did all of it springs and all. It improved it pretty good but not totally. Go with poly bushings when you do it.

 

any verticle movement is a sign it needs replacement, grab each piece and attempt to move it up and down any movement up or down is bad, they should only move in the direction designed ie, back and forth with your gear box, any loosness is cause for concern, chances are it is a combination of several of those things worn causing the problem, also place the vehicle on jack stands under the frame and use a floor jack under the spring mount for your lower controle are and take the tension off of the spring by raising the jack just enough to barely keep that corner of the car on the jack stand, then grab the top of the tire and the bottom and try to move it in and out in a wiggle motion, if it has noticable movement look to see if it is in the ball joints or in the bushing for upper and lower control arms, replace any that show in and out movement.

life begins when the kids leave home and the dog dies