I had a spare k frame from 1988 Diplomat Police car, filled with poly bushings. I drove the car before it was parted out, and it drove well. Steered and handled well despite old ball joints and pitman and idler arms. Not even any surface rust, so I decided to swap it into my '80 Aspen Police car. The Aspen drove pretty good too, but the k frame had surface rust and old bushings. So before swapping it in, I put new balljoints, idler arm, pitman arm, and tie rods. So now, everything is new or almost new. Now it doesn't steer well. It also feels like it wanders, but that might be ride height (I am tinkering with that). I notice that in turns the wheel doesn't want to come back to straight position on it's own. It just stays kind of locked in the turn position I stopped turning. It turns back to straight easily enough when I steer, but not on it's own. I checked thoroughly underneath, and nothing is binding. The steering gear sat for several months connected to the k frame before I installed it. Could it go bad just sitting? It's strange that the car drives worse now then it did prior to all the new parts and used but good (when removed) steering gear. Thanks.

Have you had it aligned?

Yes, supposedly was aligned by shop that did the install. But, I don't think it's properly aligned because it feels like it pulls slightly left and after a short drive I noticed some cupping of front tires that was not there before (this was before I adjusted ride height up because it was waaaay too low).

Can improper alignment cause wandering and the wheel not to return? I thought improper alignment might cause the cupping but I wasn't sure about the other issues. Btw, shocks are fairly new KYB ride adjusts. And the front tires on the parts car were VERY evenly worn.

I know I am going to have to take it back for re-alignment. It's a good shop, but the last time I had one of my cars aligned there, I had to take it back with tire cupping, and have it re-aligned. Father and son shop, and dad does the alignments, and his eyesight is getting bad

I feel like there is something else going on too though. It'd be nice if an alignment fixed everything, but I don't recall improper alignment ever causing the wheel to fail to return after a turn.

not sure it is related, but does the assist feel different turning one way over another?
does it stick only turning in one direction and not the other?

if so, put the front end up in the air and see if it steers itself.
might be the gear box adjustment where the high pressure hose comes in needs to be tweeked to center it?

but if it is equal sticking turning either way, then probably not it.

I would jack up the front till the wheels are off the ground & with the wheels pointed straight ahead (st wheel should be centered at that point) start it & let it idle & see if the st wheel stays put. turn the wheel all the way to the right and all the way to the left then back to center & see if it stays put. Then count the # of turns lock to lock & see if it takes the same number (1/2) of turns either way. Other than that see what the alignment guy says

Caster issues will cause one not to return to center and cause wandering so that is where I would start. Changing your ride hiegth will change your camber so now that is off too. Cupping is typically shocks, alignment generally causes edge wear. If Pop & Son's don't have a modern alignment machine with print out then I would go somewhere else, not because you cant do it right without one but because they have proven they cant do it right without one. Get the print out.

Good luck!

Oh yea, a steering gear adjusted too tight can cause one not to return to center but generally not the wandering, that happens when one is too loose, pretty much cant be both at the same time from a gear.

If I take a vehicle in for an alignment and have to consistently take it back for readjustment, I'm not going back there. If Pop can't see well enough to do the alignment, and the son knows it, there isn't much concern for their customers cars. If the son doesn't know, have you told him? Gene

Headers? I know you said you looked underneath and nothing was binding but>... Years back I had a situation where the combination of a bad motor mount and close clearance between the collector and drag link would cause the steering to not return in sharp turns. The bad motor mount allowed the engine to lift up causing just enough contact between the center link and header that it would not straighten out of a sharp turn without a little help on the wheel. Scared the poop out of me a couple times until I found the problem.

That aside, I would bleed the power steering just to make sure nothing is gunked up inside. I can't imagine one going bad just by sitting. Usually "going bad" for steering means leaking seals or excessive play from wear.

Then have it professionally aligned before worrying about it too much. Toe and caster (if I recall) play a large role in controlling wander and pulling the wheels toward center while driving.

Thanks so much to all for the guidance. I am glad to hear that alignment and adjustment of steering gear/hose may be the problem and will be going back to shop soon. I've had lots of alignments done at this father/son shop, but the last two were off. Son made a comment about his dad's eyes the last time. I am going to have to find a new place. That isn't easy to do around here.

No headers on the car. It came with dual exhausts from factory, all the way back to tailpipe, but someone along the way put a Y pipe on it. I plan to switch it back to duals soon. First area I checked when I jacked it was the Y pipe to Idler Arm clearance, and it looks ok, although close.

Shocks are pretty new, but I might replace them with the outer cupping appearing now.

It actually DOES seem to be worse when turning left. Right turns it seems to return to center a little easier. I really haven't driven it more than a few miles because it irritates the crap out of me to drive something "not right", so I am not 100% sure of this.

Hoping shop slows down about this time so he can take me soon and fix it right. He does alot of modification work, so I figure alot of people are concentrating on other things right now. Thanks again to all for always arming me with information! I'd be lost without you.

Robert; I am also going to jack it up again before taking it to shop and try suggestion. Thanks.

I have had over 10 old Mopars, and probably had 20 alignments over the years from them, and no problems. It is just the last two. They are good people that I have known for years, and do good work. The father is around 70 years old, and has developed Macular Degeneration. He is starting to struggle with it now. They know, and I am sure it is frustrating for him and sad for the family. The last time it happened (and first time), one of them did the alignment again, at no cost of course, and it's been fine since. I paid for the one just done on the Aspen, so I plan to let him or the son do it again, and I am sure the son will check it this time as he probably did the first time it happened.

So that means you request that Pop no longer does the alignments on your cars, right? Gene

As bad as I feel about it, I am going to have to say something if I go there for another alignment. I am hoping son will say something this time when I go back to have it done right on my Aspen. I feel bad for pop, but I can't keep going back a second time. When possible, I am going to take it somewhere else without them knowing to spare feelings.

Edit: after rereading your 2 or 3rd post I see you didn't do the work yourself? Anyway this is how I do it.

It sounds like you have neg caster and a messed up alinement? That will cause all of the problems you mentioned. You may not be able to get any positive caster with stock upper arms and bushings. Did you use offset bushings?

I went through the same thing as you.

The old guy who did them for me starting only working on Sat. That was fine with me as I always stayed with my car when he did them, so Sat worked for me. He let me watch and help and then I went for the ride with him driving it to see if it was good. That was a big PIA to be honest. And I couldn't make changes to experiment with handling

Then he retired all together now and there's not a tech over 30 in that shop now.

So years ago spent a whopping 200 bucks and bought my own alinement tool. Fastrax, It works great and is plenty close enough if not right on for our old cars. I have driven my one car over 25K miles now with my backyard alinement. The tire wear is even.
It is so rewarding to set it yourself and feel the changes when you go drive it. Then it's even more rewarding when you recheck it and it repeats the same readings, really gives you confidence in the tool and that it is not changing.

Got it from summit racing and used 4 pieces of scrap 14 ga steel with grease in between them. That's all you need and a level spot to do it.

4 pieces of 14 ga steel with grease in between them. Yes grease is better than sand or salt, because it stays put and I don't like salt all over my shop floor.
I leveled them side to side. One side is shimmed 3/4" and with them sitting right on the floor makes it easy to roll the car on and off during adjustments.

Here's my alinement rack and it works. If you do this kind of work? Then for 200 bucks how can you afford not to own a tool like this? How many alinements have you and I paid for in the past?

Wow, Challenger 1, that is great! I would LOVE to be able to align my own cars! I would gladly pay that for one if I had room! I have a very narrow single car garage right now, and no storage room. One car in garage, and two outside under California Covers. You're right; nothing more satisfying than doing it yourself and taking the time to do it exactly right. I envy you.

I went back to shop today and talked to son. He said he believes it's probably caster (just as I was told here). He thinks the steering gear is fine because adjustment was never changed. Just swapped it in with the k-frame. I am bringing it back at the end of this week and HE is going to take care of it. He mention that the idler arm came with a plug for the grease fitting so that it would clear the head pipe. You just remove plug, insert fitting when greasing, and replace with plug. I hadn't heard of this before. So we'll see what happens after he goes thru it again. Thanks all.

Well, I got the Aspen back after a second attempt at alignment. It is better than it was for sure, but it feels like it still pulls slightly left and the wheel doesn't return all the way to center after turns (mainly left turns). My old cars have never done this so I know it's not normal. Could it just be all the new suspension and steering parts? Everything is lubed and no binding. At least I can drive the car now and not be annoyed.

I am going to find a new alignment shop. Are there specific questions to ask of prospective shops, such as what type of rack they use? I don't want to just ask "do you know how to align old Mopars" because I will probably get all "yes" answers for the business. Not a huge city here with lots of choices. We do have Tire Kingdoms but I have always shied away from them for anything other than tires.