Way Too Much Steering Play by Center Link

[slack]

Hey Guys,

If you've glanced through my reader's ride post, you would see I've basically replaced everything in my front end steering and suspension. Now that the slop is out of the suspension I'm noticing the play in my steering even more. It's basically to the point I don't think I'll drive the car more than around town until I can figure this out.

On my lunch break today I put the front of car up on jacks and shook the tires side to side. (No play in any other direction). There was a good amount of side to side play. Looking under the car it looks like the play is coming from where the driver's side inner tie rod connects to the center link as well as where the pitman arm connects to the center link. It's almost as if the hole in the center link is too large for the studs.

The only thing I didn't replace in the steering so far has been the gear box (I have a new one floating around somewhere) and the center link itself. I didn't replace the center link because I was under the impression that it wasn't a wear item... Idler arm side is solid no play in the arm or the passenger's side tie rods.

Any ideas?

Thanks,
-Erik

[Lincolnmania]

did you replace the idler and pitman arm with quality replacements?

your right the center link is a non wear item

if all else is good, i would suspect a worn steering gear and or linkage

[slack]

Thanks for the reply. I just double checked my email for what I installed. Looks like I went middle of the line on the pitman arm. Idler arm was a little more price and is a Moog.

MEVOTECH MK8290 Pitman Arm $ 18.69
MOOG K8283 Idler Arm $ 50.79

The thing is, the pitman arm doesn't really seem to move at all. It's like the center link moves around the stud that sticks out of the pitman arm.

I wish I took a video of it. haha. I feel like it's sort of hard to explain easily.

[sly]

if the prior parts were severely worn and flopping around already, the might have worn out the holes in the centerlink.

[Lincolnmania]

can you tighten the nut any?

mevotech, hmm how old, have had spotty results with that brand, i think it depends on the quality of pig iron from day to day in mevotech city china. maybe there were too many mistakes and contours in the pig iron mix and it got bad juju.
you did grease it after it was installed and at every oil change i assume?

[slack]

if the prior parts were severely worn and flopping around already, the might have worn out the holes in the centerlink.

That's what I'm thinking. I guess I'll have to remove the castle nuts and see how much space is around the stud and the eye.

can you tighten the nut any?

mevotech, hmm how old, have had spotty results with that brand, i think it depends on the quality of pig iron from day to day in mevotech city china. maybe there were too many mistakes and contours in the pig iron mix and it got bad juju.
you did grease it after it was installed and at every oil change i assume?

lol Oct 2013. Yeah, since ordering that I've read about hit and miss quality from them. Probably explains the price. I just the other day put on Mevotech stabilizer links and they seemed to be okay.

Yep, greased the holy hell out of them.

[85crownHPP]

The only way for the holes to egg out is if the castle nuts back off, it should be super obvious too. The wear is in the ball socket, so it can create the illusion of play in whatever it is attached to. They are supposed to move and twist a little bit when you push/pull the wheels, all parallel link steering joints do that. Ball socket slop is very different.
You can also grab each point right at the ball socket and push/pull in the direction of the stud, this sometimes shows you more slop than the other way if its bad-bad. I did this once to a 90's Townie that I could feel had play in the wheels, and when I grabbed the center link where it attaches to the pitman arm, I swear I could have popped it right out if I tried.

If you can post the video it would help

[Piece-it pete]

If I was hurting for cash I'd take a hard look at TRW 18833 on Rock. A gamble but I bet better than Mevotech or similar, who knows? There's also a NOS Motorcraft on ebay for around $45.

Pete

[slack]

The only way for the holes to egg out is if the castle nuts back off, it should be super obvious too. The wear is in the ball socket, so it can create the illusion of play in whatever it is attached to. They are supposed to move and twist a little bit when you push/pull the wheels, all parallel link steering joints do that. Ball socket slop is very different.
You can also grab each point right at the ball socket and push/pull in the direction of the stud, this sometimes shows you more slop than the other way if its bad-bad. I did this once to a 90's Townie that I could feel had play in the wheels, and when I grabbed the center link where it attaches to the pitman arm, I swear I could have popped it right out if I tried.

If you can post the video it would help

It doesn't look like castle nuts backed off, the cotter pins are still intact.

So you're saying that the play is most likely in the tie rod and pitman arm sockets? I guess I may have gotten duds right out of the box and they've failed already. Bummer. I'll give the thing a good tug on the center link itself and see what type of play I'm looking at that way. I'll also try to get a video of it. The play by the wheels feels like a good 15+ degrees left or right (if you were looking at the car head on). No bueno.

If I was hurting for cash I'd take a hard look at TRW 18833 on Rock. A gamble but I bet better than Mevotech or similar, who knows? There's also a NOS Motorcraft on ebay for around $45.

Pete

Awesome. Thanks. I'll check to make sure the pitman arm is busted first... if so I think I'll just suck it up and go Motorcraft this time. Not having control where you're going on the highway has scared the cheapo out of me.

[sly]

the previous castle nuts, not the current setup. You'd have to watch the center link and the studs through it. If any of those move counter to the center link (or any direction at all that isn't exactly with the center link's motion), that would indicate the center link being borked. There should be movement in the joints themselves though. They should not however have any slack in the their motion, meaning the ball should not have any slop in the socket. they should have about an eighth inch or so of slack in the entire system (typically from the idler arm's bushing).

[slack]

Well, I figured out what was wrong with my steering. I was under the car taking a video so I could show you guys and just for shits and giggles tried to turn the offending castle nut with my hand and it was indeed loose. I was able to turn it.

I went around and removed the old cotter pins and made sure all the other joints were tightened down securely and installed new cotter pins. I must have under torqued the nut when I installed the tie rod and it somehow loosened up a little over the past 6 months.

Much safer now. Thanks for the help guys!

[gadget73]

yeah, that would do it. Might be worth pulling the thing apart at the loose joint to make sure the hole is still round. If its egged out, you really ought to replace the center link. Its not a wear item, so probably it would be a junkyard item.