Ae71 steering not right..

[dk-dk]

Picked up an ae71 yesterday, drove it home 80ks basically the whole way and something is definitely wrong. the front end feels like its moving around under the car and wants to track with the road, like the rack has freeplay or something. constantly have to adjust the steering wheel a few cm each way to keep it straight cos its tracking with the grooves in the road. Doesnt feel particularly safe to drive at all although it is going for a rwc next week so it will be fixed, any ideas on what it could be? common problem? it also missing one rear shoccker which im sure doesnt help...

[Matt]

Jack the car up under the chassis rails and check the front tyres for movement, in terms of a clock.

3 - 9 o'clock push on the tyre , this will check for play in the rack ends
6-12 o'clock push on the tyre , this will check for play in the bearings
Lift the tyre up from the bottom to check the ball joint.

Also check the steering rack bushes are solid and the column is connected tight.

Missing a rear shock???

That'd be causing it to bounce uneven and could be your problem.

[dk-dk]

cheers for the reply, im gonna go use my mates hoist in an hour or so and do the following and have a close look at all the steering components.
yeah i agree that the shock wouldnt help the situation but theres definitely something else going on, will report back.

[dk-dk]

well the rack end is definitely shot on the left and side, has a good 2cm movement when i move the wheel side to side without actually turning the wheels.
Also the side on the rear that is missing the shocker appears to have movement in the axle? again about 60-70mm if i hold onto the wheel and push it in and out the whole drum assembly on that side moves, seems like an axle to me.

[Dylan]

If the whole axle as in the diff housing is moving side to side the panhard rod bushes are worn.

[dk-dk]

nah not the whole housing, just the drum moves in an out half an inch or so on the left hand side, any ideas?

[Matt]

rear bearing shot on the axle...