onadraw

So, my front end doesn't feel right at highway speeds. Feels like out of balance wheels or bad wheel bearing. I checked balance and bearings, no problem there. But, my steering has a bit of play in it. When moving the tire in and out to check bearings, I noticed that the tie rod moves in and out of the rack about an inch. This shouldn't be like that, right?

This old car is new to me so I don't know any history other than that I replaced the Engine, Transmission, and Exhaust.

Please help me learn about the front end steering and suspension as this setup is new to me.

2000 Mustang V6 Convertible

fastbackford351

If your tie rods have slop in them, replace them, pronto. A tie rod coming apart at speed is a catastrophic failure that will not end well.

Have somebody you trust take a look at it because this isn't something you want to mess around with.

Many years ago I buried a friend because he "didn't have the money to replace them (tie rods)" in his '70 square back Mustang. He was hauling *** up over a little rise and when the car came down one of the tie rods let go and 75' of the galvanized tubing that runs along the top of a chain link fence wound up going through his grill, the carb, the firewall, the dash, his heart, the front & back seats and the trunk before he hit and uprooted a fully grown palm tree finally stopping the car.

onadraw

Thanks for the reply. Sorry for your loss.

I definitely do want to fix it before I put the car into use. Just trying to learn how it should be under there.

From what I've learned today. It seems that I have severely worn inner tie rods on both sides. While it may not be necessary, I think I'm going to replace the whole rack as it comes with new inner tie rods installed already.

Urambo Tauro

Not a bad plan! Don't forget to top it off with an alignment.