80 coupe with sloppy steering

[BaldEagle]

I've searched quite a bit, and couldn't find exactly what I was looking for. I'm looking at buying a 1980 Eagle coupe, that the owner describes as having sloppy steering. I know that's not much info to go by, but would like some insight as to what to look for when we test drive it. The owner also said that the car was run through a barbed wire fence, and he believes that may have caused the damage.
Thanks,
~Eric

[IowaEagle]

Could just be a worn or disconnected stabilizer.

[AMC of Houston]

And/or a worn out pitman arm (very common).   If he went through a fence, may have messed up the toe setting (like bent a tie rod or something).   If the tow is way off, can make it "feel" like sloppy steering when driving.

[mudkicker715]

with the car off, have someone sit in the car and wiggle the steering wheel back and forth. the "tension" to make it hard to turn will be the force of turning the tires. that will make any worn/loose parts visible. just follow the linkage from the steering box to each tire and look for movement. also x2 on the tow. if it is a loose pitman arm, the big nut holding it on the steering box should turn, while the arm doesnt. good luck!

the little nut as the big nut has the splines.

[79eagle]

My 80 4dr. had very scary steering with a badly worn pitman arm.  Later replaced the ball joints and tie rod ends; Drives like new.
Alex Wade

[mudkicker715]

Casper. anything is possible i guess. i just fought to pop a piarm off the splines. ended up cutting a split. so was really thing it would be impossible to get slop there.

[BaldEagle]

Thanks for all the ideas, this was the soonest I could get back on here with father's day going on's. It would sure be nice if I could tighten the pitman arm nut just to get it home! I believe they've already replaced the control arm bushings, to no avail. There is included in the sale some other new parts that may fix the issue, but we need to get it over 200 miles home first. It must be bad enough, that the owner mentioned possibly having to tow it back. Speaking of which, since this is basically an AWD, would I have any problems using a tow dolly, or is there anything such as the drive line that can be disconnected to do so?
~E

[mudkicker715]

It takes a double look to see any taper.

[BaldEagle]

It takes a double look to see any taper.

I'm assuming you mean to determine which nut on the box is for the pitman arm? If it's slightly tapered like a pipe thread, and has the smaller of the two nuts, I should be able to locate it. Further research tells me that the stabilizer may help as a band-aid for death wobble, but prob has no effect on steering slop?

[captspillane]

Further research tells me that the stabilizer may help as a band-aid for death wobble, but prob has no effect on steering slop?

I consider the steering stabilizer critical, but certainly it won't do anything for steering slop. If a component is damaged and about to break you don't want to be on the highway when it happens. If the person who said the comment noticed a sudden change in steering behavior after years of driving it, then you can trust that something somewhere is damaged and must be replaced.

I do suspect that the person who described it as steering slop had no actual clue what is underneath the car. I've had a friend of mine say that about his father's Cherokee once. His daily driver was a quick ratio, direct drive sport car. The Cherokee had a variable ratio steering box. He condemned it as unsafe to drive because the one time he drove it he didn't understand the concept of 17:1 in the center and 13:1 at the sides for quick and responsive turns without the jittery straight driving. Consider the source of your information.

[BaldEagle]

Good points, Cat............I got the impression that the current owner hasn't had the car for long, and wasn't the one who put it through a barbed wire fence. He just may not know how it's supposed to handle. Our dilemma is the 200 mile trip to go check it out and possibly buy it. If we knew it safe to drive home, we could take a much more economical car than the truck needed to tow it. Probably better to be prepared for the worst.
~E

[carnuck]

I usually go with a car then rent a truck and trailer to bring both back if needed.

[BaldEagle]

I may just do that. After all, the coupe could drive home just fine.

[milliard431]

Where is it located?

[BaldEagle]

It was in Pasco, WA, but sold before we could get the insurance money for it.
Bummer..........it looked really nice, too!