> the rebuilt steering and front suspension on my '58 tr3a is extremely stiff
> and the car has a tendency to wander just a bit. recall seeing a good
> online account of how to adjust for these problems but can't find it now.
> anyone have some info on this?
Did you check each assembly for stiffness as you assembled it ? How were the
clearances in the steering box set ? Are you sure it's full of oil ?
Don't know which website you were looking at, but my suggestion would be to
start by disconnecting the tie rod ends, and checking for stiffness with the
steering disconnected, ideally with the car supported under the spring pans so
the suspension is near normal ride height. The vertical links should turn very
easily, basically flop under their own weight. If not, you may have a bent
vertical link. The steering box should also turn very easily with no detectable
binding at all, even in the center. (The correct amount of tightness in the
center is so small that at least I can't feel it using the steering wheel to
turn it.) If the box is tight, start loosening things and retesting until you
find what is binding. Could be the box itself is misadjusted, but IMO other
problems are more likely, like having a bent shaft or the two halves of the
columns misaligned.
In my case, it turned out that the paint that had gotten inside the idler arm
bracket had balled up and made the idler arm difficult to turn.
Randall
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