I've got an 83' Full size, 351, etc...

In the past several years, I've done the following:

New steering column u-joint
New steering box
New tie rods / ends
New ball joints
New U-joints
New Radius Arm bushings
New wheel bearings
New Springs
New Tires

OK, so she has / had been driving alot better, altho I never felt I had ALL the bugs worked out. Lately she's been getting worse again. I have the feeling it's not a new problem, but a consistantly worsening one (over the last 100,000 miles)

She's got 236,000 miles on her.
Possible things left to do might be:

New body gromets
New sway bars
Twin I-beam pivot bushings

This last idea is the one I'm leaning tward. All the other work has the front end passing inspections with out a hitch. However, I can feel something "slip" in the front end. I felt it drastic last night. I needed to turn around from a city street. I nosed the Bronco into a commercial parking lot entrance, then backed back out into the street. This action racked the frame gently, and as I started backing, I felt a deffinate 'shift' somewhere in the front end.

It's been an interesting problem, one that shows up almost more noticably in town at 15mph, than out on the open road.

My thinking is: The pivot bushings are loose, allowing the front axles to move side to side; and in doing so, changing the tow-in of the front wheels. This might explane the "ballencing on a ball" feeling I get when I drive...

So... Who else has had these replaced?
Is there a good way to check them for slop / wear?
Did you have a simmilar problem, and did it fix it?

Thanks for the input. I'm getting tired of throwing $$$ at it - not knowing whether a particular job might help...

 

If the axle pivot bushings are worn out, they will also move front/back and up/down. I just crawled under my Bronco with a worklight and looked closely. Mine were quite worn, but not as bad as other's have posted. I put in a new set and there is no shifting at all now. I also put in new radius arm bushings and ball joints at the same time too.

 

Those will definitly give you that weebles wobbles feeling running down the road, also with that many miles check the radius arm bushing brackets....I've had them start getting slack at the rivets but you can usually see where they're moving if you look close. Oh this is not an expensive part to replace, but with alot of wear the beam will be expensive to replace (admittedly it would take a heck of a lot of wear) I say not expensive, thats if you do your own work the parts run about 22 dollars for both bushing around here, I air chisel the old ones out and use a C clamp and a lot of patience to reinstall the new ones. Later Whit

 

They're not too difficult to replace and not expensive at all; even in Energy polyurethane. I have almost no vulcanized rubber on my truck now, except of course, the tires.

 

I, too, am in the process of replacing all worn, factory rubber bushings with polyurethane. I've completed the front, including the axle pivot bushings. I fabbed my own puller to get them out out of some 2-1/2"pipe, flat steel and an all-thread bolt. Got this "tool" as tight as I could, gave it a light rap with a hammer, and the old bushing popped right out. Try to get new ones with the metal sleeve around'em, so you don't have to re-use the original like I did. The rubber inside is very dense and took a while to press out. One bushing was badly worn, and I think it helped out with the front end slop by replacing both sides. I am close to going over the 200,00 mile mark on my 84 Bronco!!!.