82 Malibu Wagon in New Zealand

Davenz · Thursday at 9:43 PM

So i've got big issues with this old girl that no one can figure out, turn right full lock drivers wheel hits the sway bar & chassis. Turn left you can easily put your fist & more between the wheel on full lock, tried a few alignment shops. One thought today to loosen the pitman arm & re center everything but you cant as theyre double key wayed pretty much, this was the same on the stuffed steering box & now the old ones back in & sorted its still the same. So yeah at a loss as to what to do next, photo 4 shows full lock to the left. Anyone got any suggestions or pointers be much appreciated Cheers

Ugly1 · 2024-12-20T03:23:10-0600

Measure the depth of the stock rims to the aftermarket ones and see if it’s to much?

Sweet_Johnny · 2024-12-20T06:35:08-0600

I'm sorry to say that I fell behind on this thread and need to go back and read all the updates. Has the steering center link ever been replaced? What you describe sounds very similar to what happens when people swap to the Camaro link or the "improved geometry" G Body version from Afco- they bottom out turning the steering wheel one direction and can't turn near as tight the other direction but nothing touches.

If it's not the actual alignment, steering box, or column then there are only a few potential culprits.

Davenz · 2024-12-20T11:29:02-0600

Sweet_Johnny said:
I'm sorry to say that I fell behind on this thread and need to go back and read all the updates. Has the steering center link ever been replaced? What you describe sounds very similar to what happens when people swap to the Camaro link or the "improved geometry" G Body version from Afco- they bottom out turning the steering wheel one direction and can't turn near as tight the other direction but nothing touches.

If it's not the actual alignment, steering box, or column then there are only a few potential culprits.

Yeah somethings out of whack there somewhere, steering box & drag link are original to the wagon - there's got to be something different with the drop arms i bought, going to drop the arms out of the parts wagon this morning & do some comparing & see what's not matching up. Bought the steering kit off ebay a couple of years ago so could have been sold the wrong parts im picking...

Davenz · 2024-12-20T11:30:44-0600

Ugly1 said:
Measure the depth of the stock rims to the aftermarket ones and see if it’s to much?

Hi bud it's got to be something in the steering arms - got way to much lock turning right & sweet bugger all turning left. Going to do some comparing this morning

Davenz · 2024-12-20T13:30:46-0600

Found it drag links longer on one side than the other, teach me for not taking pics when I pulled it apart. Swapped that around & she’s mint, glad I’ve got that parts wagon here for comparison

scoti · 2024-12-20T15:53:25-0600

Davenz said:
Found it drag links longer on one side than the other, teach me for not taking pics when I pulled it apart. Swapped that around & she’s mint, glad I’ve got that parts wagon here for comparison

Interesting.... A drag link that can be out 180°.

I've seen many C10 (63-87 era) trucks have steering clearance issues when the draglink is installed backwards as it's a common oversite. It's crazy that the g-body idler & pitman connections are similar in size allowing the possibility for it to be installed 180 off. I'll have to keep this one in mind for reference.

Davenz · 2024-12-20T16:15:28-0600

scoti said:
Interesting.... A drag link that can be out 180°.

I've seen many C10 (63-87 era) trucks have steering clearance issues when the draglink is installed backwards as it's a common oversite. It's crazy that the g-body idler & pitman connections are similar in size allowing the possibility for it to be installed 180 off. I'll have to keep this one in mind for reference.

Yeah tricked me good, lucky i had the parts wagon there to compare off or would have been still scratching my head lol

Ugly1 · 2024-12-20T18:30:34-0600

At least it was a fairly quick fix afterwards. And only cost time in fixing it! Glad it worked out

ssn696 · 2024-12-20T19:15:58-0600

Davenz said:
Yeah tricked me good, lucky i had the parts wagon there to compare off or would have been still scratching my head lol

It would be interesting to know how many Malibu wagons exist in NZ. Could you own the only two?

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82 Malibu Wagon in New Zealand

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