Floating front end

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SwingerSteve

SwingerSteve

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Highland,Il.
On my 70 Swinger the front really seems to "float" on these uneven city streets. When I get it on the highway it's alot better. And has alot of play in the wheel, tightened up the power steering box a half turn but didn't help a bit. Any ideas?
 
There's a boni fide procedure for adjusting the steering gear and arbitrarily tightening it up ain't it.

First you need to figure out WHAT is wrong before you go changing anything. The gear box adjustment is not there for road feel. It is there to adjust the play out of the output shaft bearings and that is ALL.

I suggest getting a factory service manual for your car, as there is a correct procedure on how to do everything.
 
46 y/o Torsion bars. They are a spring and have a service life. Old shocks? Play,Sounds like you need a front end rebuild
 
GeorgeH said:
46 y/o Torsion bars. They are a spring and have a service life. Old shocks? Play,Sounds like you need a front end rebuild
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Has all new front end parts including front end alignment,,, ball joints, tie rod ends, idler arm, shocks.
 
SwingerSteve said:
Has all new front end parts including front end alignment,,, ball joints, tie rod ends, idler arm, shocks.
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This is all information that should have been included in the original post to keep from wasting good suggestions. It's always helpful to include as much information as possible when asking for help.

That said, I would also lean toward either torsion bars of possibly even defective or insufficient shocks. What kind of shocks did you install?

Only two things control the jounce and rebound on a Mopar front suspension. Torsion bars and shocks. That's it.
 
RustyRatRod said:
This is all information that should have been included in the original post to keep from wasting good suggestions. It's always helpful to include as much information as possible when asking for help.

That said, I would also lean toward either torsion bars of possibly even defective or insufficient shocks. What kind of shocks did you install?

Only two things control the jounce and rebound on a Mopar front suspension. Torsion bars and shocks. That's it.
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Sorry for not giving all the info.. Not sure on the shocks,, they were installed by the guy I bought it from,, I'll just try new heavy duty shocks first,,, wheres a place to get new torsion bars?
 
RustyRatRod said:
This is all information that should have been included in the original post to keep from wasting good suggestions. It's always helpful to include as much information as possible when asking for help.

That said, I would also lean toward either torsion bars of possibly even defective or insufficient shocks. What kind of shocks did you install?

Only two things control the jounce and rebound on a Mopar front suspension. Torsion bars and shocks. That's it.
Click to expand...

I was going to mention bushings and tie rods, but now I won't. :D
A good description of "float" could help though.
Heck, some tire types and alignment specs could even come into it.
 
You should really do some diagnosis. It will save you money and you will learn something in the process. Throwing money at something rarely has positive results.
 
TrailBeast said:
I was going to mention bushings and tie rods, but now I won't. :D
A good description of "float" could help though.
Heck, some tire types and alignment specs could even come into it.
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"Floating" meaning I'm going down an uneven street and it just veers off a little going with the street,, I do have way too much play in the steering though,, Not sure if the 46 yr old power steering box is bad or what.
 
TrailBeast said:
I was going to mention bushings and tie rods, but now I won't. :D
A good description of "float" could help though.
Heck, some tire types and alignment specs could even come into it.
Click to expand...

Absolutely. I agree 100%. What he should do is diagnose instead of getting the pocketbook out. It could be anything, because we don't know what he means by floating. This is the internet, not the Chrysler proving grounds.
 
RustyRatRod said:
You should really do some diagnosis. It will save you money and you will learn something in the process. Throwing money at something rarely has positive results.
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I understand your theory but when I bounce the front end I can tell the shocks are weak,, but newer.. and as far as diagnosing , I have no idea so thats why I joined you guys .
 
SwingerSteve said:
"Floating" meaning I'm going down an uneven street and it just veers off a little going with the street,, I do have way too much play in the steering though,, Not sure if the 46 yr old power steering box is bad or what.
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That's not what most refer to as floating. Floating is generally agreed to be where the front end floats up and down going down the road.

What you describe almost sounds like bump steer or something similar. You should get the front end checked by a reputable shop.
 
SwingerSteve said:
I understand your theory but when I bounce the front end I can tell the shocks are weak,, but newer.. and as far as diagnosing , I have no idea so thats why I joined you guys .
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I understand, but you have to know this is the internet. It's impossible to get a diagnosis online. Although we may can point you in a direction, you are ultimately going to have to do your own diagnosis.
 
I call that tracking (meaning it finds a track and follows it by itself)
That can be as simple as the toe setting.

Sounds like starting with adjusting, and maybe even replacing the steering box is in order.
Probably the very first thing I would do is to get helper to kind of yank the steering wheel back and forth without the car running while I got under the car to see what moves.
One part moving when another it's connected to doesn't as much is a big clue.
 
Do you have radial tires or possibly bias ply tires?
 
RustyRatRod said:
I understand, but you have to know this is the internet. It's impossible to get a diagnosis online. Although we may can point you in a direction, you are ultimately going to have to do your own diagnosis.
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I appreciate all the relies,,, Maybe the word floating was wrong,, my scenario is,,,, the steering has too much play where it causes the car to swerve to the left and right going down uneven city roads,, smooth highway runs are pretty good.. It does not float up and down like it does when shocks are bad,, everything under the front end is new regarding steering and suspension except for torsion bars and steering box... Does this help to narrow it down to where to start diagnosing??
 
TrailBeast said:
I call that tracking (meaning it finds a track and follows it by itself)
That can be as simple as the toe setting.

Sounds like starting with adjusting, and maybe even replacing the steering box is in order.
Probably the very first thing I would do is to get helper to kind of yank the steering wheel back and forth without the car running while I got under the car to see what moves.
One part moving when another it's connected to doesn't as much is a big clue.
Click to expand...
Just had a professional front end alignment done,, did the jerk test,, everything seems tight as it should be.
 
Adjust that steering box per the manual, then go from there if it doesn't adjust out.
 
SwingerSteve said:
Just had a professional front end alignment done,, did the jerk test,, everything seems tight as it should be.
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Professional doesn't mean they did it to the specs that work best for these cars with radial tires.
If you put radials on an A body without using the modded specs it can certainly cause your problem (outside of the loose box of course)
The loose box will actually make it worse.
Do you happen to have the settings printout?
Did you happen to use offset upper control arm bushings.

Sorry RRR, I guess I jumped in where I might not be needed. :D
 
TrailBeast said:
Professional doesn't mean they did it to the specs that work best for these cars with radial tires.
If you put radials on an A body without using the modded specs it can certainly cause your problem (outside of the loose box of course)
The loose box will actually make it worse.
Do you happen to have the settings printout?
Did you happen to use offset upper control arm bushings.

Sorry RRR, I guess I jumped in where I might not be needed. :D
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I took it to a shop that I know,, the owner has a Cuda that he built and said he had all the correct specs for my car too,,,, just took his word for it.. All I know is it took 3 hours to do it and the tech adjusted and checked everything out under there.
 
3 hrs?

The fact that he said he had the specs is promising, sorta:D
These are the accepted specs for radials.
Not to put anyone down or anything, but in 3 hrs you could rebuild the entire front end.

Do the box adjustment first and then go from there I guess.
My car did what you described when I first got it, then one day I hit a reflector in the road and the car changed lanes into an oncoming left turn lane with other cars coming down that lane. (bushings)

alignment-specifications.jpg
 
Had mine aligned twice by a shop "with specs" and had the same floating, veer off from ruts and grooves problem. Ended up being a toe setting issue. Took the above specs had it reset and it drives like it should now.
 
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