Thread: 73 charger squirrley steering

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Sorry, but I'm done on this one------------

I hate to be the bearer of bad news but there are no springs in the front of a 73 charger. If you don't know what your doing I sugest you get some one who dose. This is not going to get it fixed here. The slitest turn on the adjustments makes BIG changes in alingment.

Originally Posted by jerry clayton

Sorry, but I'm done on this one------------

Good idea, Jerry.

Sorry if I have stretched anyone's patience.

Yes, I know it has torsion bars on the front. I obviously miss spoke somewhere. They have been replaced with stock spec.

The rear leafs were engineered to give some extra lift, IE they were ordered as such.

I grabbed the rear of the car and shook it hard as I could side to side, the only movement was the side wall flex of the tires. Very stiff side to side.

Put it on the lift, and prioritized the replacement of the fuel sending unit. Got that knocked out, but still no guage function. Bummer. The old one was definitely bad, so more work needed on that.

As for the play in the steering, I think I have that nailed down, and it took all of about five seconds.

I grabbed the column just above the coupler, and rocked it back and forth. It has about an eighth of a turn of slop, but the coupler seems tight. What I saw was the input shaft of the steering box moving in and out about a quarter inch, with no movement of the pittman arm. The steering box was replaced, but I don't know if it was new or rebuilt.

Let's see, in post #5 I said the steering box was worn out. Try to find one in a junkyard and it's not because they are popular.

I'm feeling some definite negative energy building in this thread.

If yall feel I'm not listening, not true. I took everything you are giving me, and handing it to the (supposedly) professionals whom I've been employing to work on this car.

Yes, you did say gearbox, but it has been replaced, which tends to make one expect it's something else.

I sincerely appreciate the feedback. This is THE site I know I can get an answer when I have questions, even though my cars aren't really old enough for this site.

I had a 75 Duster that had the same problem and the alignment shop that did the work on the car the owner, who did most of the work had been in the business for over 40 years, told me that the box was a bad design and having a rebuilt put in would last a couple of years before it developed the same problem and sure enough it did. Had I kept the car I was going to change it over to rack and pinion after seeing an article in, I believe, Rod and Custom about a guy who dropped a Hemi in one and went that way because of clearance problems amongst other things.

Success. I dropped in another steering box. Still feels like there is some room for improvement. A world of difference, the car is now safe to drive! I'm going to swap in a new coupler and see if that makes it perfect.

A little follow up. I managed to make the rag joint I ordered work. I thought it was too small, but it fits ok. Better than a hockey puck I guess. The rag joint which I removed was hand made, and poorly. Still, no improvement, still a touch of wander, and I think it's the gearbox still. Doesn't anyone know how to rebuild these things properly?

OK apples and oranges time. I have a 74 vega which had a good bit of wander, and it was the gearbox. I know they're cheap and plentiful, so I figured I'd try an adjustment if I tore it up, then it needed replacement anyway. Well, I loosened the locknut and ran the screw in till it took out the slop, being careful not to bind it. Now the Vega tracks straight as an arrow. Time will tell if my adjustment will cause premature failure of the box.

So, I'm wondering how big a deal is it to make the adjustment on the dodge box? It will kill the warranty, but I don't think I'll care, if it will tighten it up, and won't damge it. I wasn't worried about the vega box, but this one is a lot more expensive and a beast to swap out.

Adjusting the box shouldn't void the warranty, they are made to be set every so often.

Update

A while back I twiddled with the adjustment screw, it seemed to get a bit better.

Yesterday I took it to a local shop, and he test drove it and said it feels like alignment, too much toe. Unfortunately, he doesn't have an alignment rack, so I'll have to take it to a shop in Columbus.

Reminds me of the trouble I had with an 86 dodge diplomat: not everyone can align these older dodges with the torsion bar suspension.

I found a shop to do the alignment. They said the toe was WAY out. It still pulls slightly left, slight oversteer to right. MUCH better though. I gave it back to them for round two, and last I heard they were swapping tires around, they are saying possible radial pull. I've not heard of that before. Maybe they'll have it done tomorrow.

I just re-read this thread. Looks like this car has been aligned SIX times now, and TWO gear boxes. Wow. There is something to be said for picking the right shop, something more to be said for knowing how to do it YOURSELF.

Who's that guy around here whom comments on education and expense?

I plumb forgot to update the thread: after the shop swapped some tires around, it drives pretty good. Not spot - on, but it handles ok.

However, the sending unit developed a leak, and the dash lights stopped working. Oh, and I plumb forgot the speedometer is noisy, or I would have swapped it when I had the cluster out.

I'm pretty sure this car hates me.

Sounds like a face in hands moment... aaarrrrggghhhhh....