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All the old timers probably know this however I post this for general information.
I picked up a 1989 240 a year ago for a song with 108,000 miles from the second owner. The car pulled to the left and the he was told by three shops the car was bent and nothing could be done. It is in great shape (except for bad tire wear), all body lines were perfect and it showed no signs of damage so it was worth the gamble.
I could find no looseness or front end damage. The first stop was the local Les Schwab for new tires and an alignment. The report said the distance on the left side was 5/8" shorter than the right side and rivets would have to be cut and welded back up to fix it. Only a frame shop could do this.
The next stop was to the local frame shop and the put the car on an alignment jig and all points on the frame were measured and found to be perfect. Their report stated the left side was short and it must be a bent ball joint.
(Now 5 shops have missed the real problem)
I had confirmed reason for the pulling issue however nothing could have got hit that hard without leaving damage.
Might as well start with replacing the ball joints so I got them on order. Hmm, there is a left and right part number, they are not the same. Here is a big clue.
The day came to replace the ball joints and you probably guessed by now that the car had a right side ball joint installed on both the right and left side! I measured the difference and it is 5/8". Installed the proper parts and the car drives like new.
Happy Bricking,
Mike
Laharview Farm
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1984-244 GL, 1985-244 DL, 1989-244 DL, 1989-760 Turbo, 1967 Mustang (271 HP 289) and 62 F-250 4x4 (262 - 6 cylinder)
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