1952-59 Ford Made an odd discovery last weekend...while watching it snow here in MN...

I was out in the garage, putting in the grease seals on the '53, gave every zurk a little grease and was just sitting back admiring the rebuild job I did on the front suspension...when I noticed that when the front end is off the ground and I crank the steering wheel completely to the left, if I go down and grab the left front tire at 9 and 3 o'clock and try as if I'm going to turn the wheels straight, that wheel moves about an INCH OR BETTER!!! There's that much play! But the right front wheel is fine at this point. So when that left wheel was bottomed out on the little metal turning "stop", I can pull it off that stopper and inch or more!...

So I panic and go crank the steering wheel all the way to the right, then go do the same thing with the right front wheel. EXACTLY the same amount of play! But now the left wheel feels nice and tight at this point, as the right front wheel did earlier. Is that normal when the wheels are cranked in one direction?

I've replaced everything up front(outer tie rod ends, steering link, shocks, etc)... The only things I haven't replaced are the inner tie-rods and the centerlink, but those looked like they were in fine shape so I didn't bother...

If the steering is in ANY/EVERY other position at all, the wheels are perfectly tight and solid!

There's no "up and down" or "in and out" or "wobble" or anything at all other than this...it's only when the steering is cranked fully to one wheel's direction. If cranked to the left, then left wheel has the play, and when turned fully to the right that the right one has the play, and it's the same amount of play on both sides, like it's supposed to have that much "slop"...


...puzzled...

 

Did you replace the idler arm? They are poorly designed and I have a couple go out. (lowered car seems to compound the wear) They don't cost much, just a bit of a pain to align properly.

 

Yep, I replaced the idler arm too, I bought the "kit" from Dennis Carpenter. It sure seems to be aligned right, like I said the wheels are "solid" except when cranked fully one way or the other.

When the wheels are cranked fully to the left, and the left front wheel "bottoms out" against the stopper, I can pull it at least about an inch off of that stopper, but if I straighten the wheels out just a little bit, it's completely gone, and they feel perfect...no play what-so-ever. So I wonder if it's just a "when the wheels are cranked all the way to one direction" sort of thing...I wouldn't think so though.

Maybe I should replace the two inner tie rod ends after all...