I was recently having problem with my front end in my 81 245 GLT. The problems were clunks and loosness in the steering wheel/ Bad PS rack. I replaced all my control arm bushings tie rod ends and PS rack. and i still have a loose steering system and i can't figure out why. Any help would be great because i am at a total loss. Thanks in advance

Mark
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1981 245 GLT (NON-Turbo) 2.1L B21f 95,000 Original Miles, Borg Warner 3 Speed,(soon to be M46) Stock Virgos with 195/60/15's

I'm assuming from your post that the clunks are gone now, and the only problem is looseness. I'm thinking it might be ball joints or inner tie rod connections.

Here's one way to check the inner tie rod connections: Put the front of the car on jackstands. Make sure it is as solid as a rock. Then you can pull back the boot, get a good light, and really watch the ball and socket connection while your assistant grabs the wheel at 9:00 and 3:00 and moves the system back and forth. The ball should not be sloppy at all within the socket. If you are very careful, you can also feel play through the boot sometimes without pulling the boot back and without exposing the actual ball-and-socket connection. With your fingers, squeeze down, through the boot, on the exact spot where the ball dissappears into the socket and have your assistant move the system back and forth. If you can feel the ball moving in and out of the socket a little bit, you have play that should not be there. Personally, I don't think the through-the-boot way is as good as pulling back the boot, exposing the joint, and visually looking it over while your assistant moves the wheel. At this point you can also grab the the spot where the ball dissappears into the socket with your hand without the boot possibly masking movement of the joint. There should be no in/out movement of this joint.

Good luck.
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Thanks everyone for all the information and advice, Doug C. 81 242 Brick Off Blocks, stock, B21F (non-Turbo), M46; 86 244, B230, 140k , auto.

DougC, were you able to solve this problem?

Check the 2 u-bolts that hold the rack to the X-member. 13mm nuts accessed from below.

Also there are 2 large bolts on each side, going straight down thru the lower lip on the front fenderwells, and into the X-member. Supposedly they can loosen and cause front end noise.
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Bruce Young
'93 940-NA (current) — 240s (one V8) — 140s — 122s — since '63.

Before you check anything else, the first thing to do for clunks is to tighten all of the bolts that have to do with suspension and steering. Especially the end link bushings and sway bar mounts.

You could have bad ball joints, or perhaps the inner tie rod ends are bad. Another source of clunks in the steering are bad strut bearings. Hopefully the rack isn't bad.

What sort of effect on steering does the looseness cause? Wandering at speed? Squirming over uneven surfaces? Can you turn the wheel without moving the tires? Are the "clunks ... in the steering" due to column u-joints?
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Art Benstein near Baltimore