The Ford Barn

Keith True · 10-30-2016, 12:32 PM

A ground up restoration from 1983 will most likely have egg shaped steering balls,bad brake tracks,and overtightened worn out steering box parts.With a few exceptions cars done back then got parts cleaned,painted,and put back together to run around town at 35 MPH.They were made to look pretty,not restored to original specs.One easy thing to look for on yours are the kingpin bearings.Grab the bearing with your fingers,if you can rotate it the weight of the car is riding directly on the spindle,not on the thrust bearing.That makes for a hard steer.There's a couple of dozen things in the steering that can cause hard steering,and I don't believe I've ever found just one or two things causing it.It usually seems to be 8 or 10 things combined.

10-30-2016, 12:32 PM	#13
Keith True Senior Member Join Date: May 2010 Location: Epping N.H. Posts: 3,423	Re: Hard Steering A ground up restoration from 1983 will most likely have egg shaped steering balls,bad brake tracks,and overtightened worn out steering box parts.With a few exceptions cars done back then got parts cleaned,painted,and put back together to run around town at 35 MPH.They were made to look pretty,not restored to original specs.One easy thing to look for on yours are the kingpin bearings.Grab the bearing with your fingers,if you can rotate it the weight of the car is riding directly on the spindle,not on the thrust bearing.That makes for a hard steer.There's a couple of dozen things in the steering that can cause hard steering,and I don't believe I've ever found just one or two things causing it.It usually seems to be 8 or 10 things combined.