P-on

I have a 1982 SC which is in overall great shape. I just put in new torsion bars front and rear, shocks are relatively new, new turbo tie rods and recent ride height/alignment. My pre purchase inspection a few years back said the steering U joints "might" be worn slightly. I feel a "bumping thumping" over rough terrain, such as going down my packed crusher run driveway and over road irregularities/joints. It is most certainly not bottoming out, but almost a little play in the steering. Before tearing this apart to inspect it should I look for anything else? When I did the tie rods the rack looked and felt to be in great shape, and the PPI said it was fine. I did a few searches and can't seem to find the steering column U joints anywhere. I can barely wiggle the steering wheel sideways, but a little more fore-aft movement with effort. The bushing in the column is new when I put the 930 steering wheel in. Any advice?

newsboy

Pull off the floorboard . You can see the U-joints. Turn the wheel while you look at the joints. Any side to side play should be visible. Not sure what you mean by fore aft play? Have you checked to see if the steering wheel nut is tight?

TT Oversteer

"Bumping thumping" over rough terrain sounds like a suspension travel issue. How are your upper strut mounts? How many overall miles on this chassis? Try parking the car with the front wheels against a curb to restrict left to right travel. Turn your steering wheel left to right and see if you can feel any play or hear any noise. If not I would suspect something in the front suspension rather than the steering u joints. Seems to me it would take quite a lot of miles to wear these out!

P-on

Thanks Newsboy and TT Oversteer (great name). I will do as instructed and re-post. The chassis has 125K miles. I did check the upper strut mounts and they do seem fine but I'll do the "curb" test.

ron mcatee

P-on, make sure the gland nut holding the shock in the strut is very tight. If loose it can make those sounds.