steering,, wander

[Kim K Kaiser]

Hi all,, i have had a bit of steering wander for the life of the car as I have owned it,,,,63 cdv,  i have chnged the outer tie rods, the steering gear box and the power steering pump box that holds the fluids,  and yet i still have that 5 or 6 inch play in the wheel when it moves, but he wheels dont move, and it seems i must look like a drunk driver sometimes as it seems to wander in the lane,,   

i have forgone any further purchasing and decided to fix the two Cads i have to very good running order,, and this, adn the AC (at very minimum comprssor needes work)   are the priortiy as of now..

the car has 160k miles, and the bushings and stuff look cracked, and in poor shape,, the rag joint looks pretty good, not worn looking at all.. so what would be the first thing to do,, just get one of the steering kits and make the replacements of worn beareing and bushings,,,?  i read the manual,, and while the info is there, its vague to me where to start,,,

[Kim K Kaiser]

10 4

[Kim K Kaiser]

i can say that of all the records i have on the car,, nothing has ever been done on the steering suspension of the car, it has 160k total miles on it,,,dont know if that has any bearing or not,,,

[Kim K Kaiser]

i got the car to the shop to have them look at that steering wander,,, i must admit, that i dint have the wheels alignned after i changed teh outer tie rods, but anyway, they got under and said the center link has a little bit of play in it and felt it should be changed,,, now,, should teh center link (the long metal bar) be changed or the bushings that it attached to or the perifery parts, appears to get a center link is several hundred dollars..so i am wondering what about a metal bar could be bad or is its the end pieces that go out that need to be replaced...

[3ft7bqmb7dryo]

Change the center link. I get the part from ebay. 

[Kim K Kaiser]

Do i need any bushings or other parts to make that change?   Are these new parts or rebuilt or both? Is it doable from a home mechanic standpoint, or bettr to let them lift it up.

[3ft7bqmb7dryo]

No bushings and I do not know of any remanufactured drag links.   You will need a tie rod puller so you do not damage the boots on the tie rods.

[Kim K Kaiser]

igot one ordered, supposed to be in next week.. let you know how it goes...hopefully, between this and an aliginment, the wander willl be gone..its a real driving hazard as it really looks like im driving drunk,