Quote:
Originally Posted by RocktimusPryme
Ive said more than once that spending roughly $350 on the front end of my Firebird had a bigger effect on me having fun with the car than $10k in the engine did.
I replaced my: - Steering gear with a 3rd gen (non IROC) box
- Pitman Arm
- New Rag joint to match the gear to the stock shaft.
- All the tie rods and steeing linkage from a cheap, probably chinese kit. I dont recall what brand.
- Proforged Idler Arm.
- Sway Bar End Links
- Paid for a common front-end alignment.
Car overnight went from borderline sketchy to drive, to feeling more or less like any modern car. Night and day difference. Huge bang for the buck in my opinion. If you think its probably time, and your steering feels a bit sloppy, you should do it. Im confident you wont regret it.
I have since also rebuilt the A arms with new bushings and added taller-than-stock upper ball joints. May have tightened up a bit more, but nothing in comparison to the improvement I got from rebuilding the linkage and getting a proper alignment.
I cannot rememeber if a center link came in the kit that I bought. That may be new as well, or may be the only original part in the steering linkage.
I would love to do the same for my 62, but linkage parts arent as common and cheap as F body parts. If you have a common A or F body, there is no excuse. |
This. These cars didn't drive terribly when new. When I hear people say you should throw a rack and pinion in them because they drive like crap otherwise just tells me they drove a 50+ year old car with worn out everything.