Front end geometry

I have had 2 summers of driving the Demon. The whole time I have suspected that I have a front end problem, but couldn't find it. Here are the symptoms.
1. When I drive down the road the car will twitch on it's own. Mostly to the left but sometimes to the right.
2. When I hit WOT from a dead stop the car will pull hard to the left and when I let off it wants to go right.
3. On some corners the front tires will squeel.
4. Even though the front end was lined up the steering wheel is off of center to the left.
I suspect this is a bump steer problem. Although I have not been able to check the lengths of the tierods due to the cold weather lately, that is where I am going to start this time. If they are not the same length, would that cause this problem? What are other things I should look for? Is there any way that the home mechanic with out special tools can cure or at least get it close and then get an alignment done?

I have standard steering with a stock steering box, radial front tires and M/T Sprortsman pros on the back. I also have a spool rearend. I don't drive the car in the rain and I am used to the understeer caused by the spool. All of the frontend joints and bushings were new less than 2000 miles ago except the Pitman arm which was good.

I pretty well eliminated the spool being the problem last summer when I had a 2.94 peg legger in for a weekend and the problem was still there.

Any help would be greatly appreciated as this car is a real bear to drive right now.

Jack

Mismatched tires would be my first idea as to the problem. Radials on the front and Mickeys on the rear is a disaster for handling. All the tire manufacturers (Michelin,Dunlop,Mickey) will tell you if you are running a mismatched set the radials need to be on the rear. If that is not the case the steering wheel not centered could be a clue. Since the pitman can only line up one way on the box shaft, the wheel should be centered unless one side tie rod length is longer to make the wheels appear to be pointing straight. One side longer tie rod length will make that side tire in jounce(extension) tilt in from the top and steer you sharply that way.

I have run mismatched tires from front to back before. Always radials in the front and had no problems. I am leaning towards the tierods not being equal. If that is the case then I figure I should be able to measure each one from center to center, add the 2 lengths, then devide by 2 to find out what they should be and then set them both at that length. Then take the car to be aligned by a shop. Hopefully taking care of the problems I am having.

Jack

The steering wheel not being centered is a fairly simple fix and is the last adjustment on a professional alignment. It is just shortening one tie rod and lengthening the other.

As for you problems, it could be that you don't have enough positive caster or a worn steering box or .............

I would check th toe to see if it's toed in or out,then measure the tie rods center to center on each side. If it's out you might be able to adj. the side thats off and be able to center the str. wheel. You can hang a plumb bob off the fender on center line of the wheel to tell if the camber is close. Measure the difference between the top and bottom of the wheel.This should tell you if you're close. Top measurement and bottom should be close with wheels straight. Caster is harder to check, but man steering cars don't have much.

I would check the upper control arm bushings. Might even have to take them out to check.

I would bet that the bushing is allowing the upper A arm to move under had accell, causing the car to move one way, and under decell causes the car to move back the other. I would say only one side is really bad.