Someone Else's Problem: 1000lbs. Lighter! 1987 Mercury Colony Park

I hope that solves it!

Me too, I'm trying to stay optimistic...

Video from the mechanic shop showing the pitman arm play, it's not horrible but there is play.

 
A tiny amount of play can have a huge impact on things
 
A tiny amount of play can have a huge impact on things

Yeah, True.

Also to note, all that grease and dirt buildup is from the power steering. I brain farted when getting it and threw in power steering fluid when it was low, only to remember when it started to leak that you use automatic transmission oil on older Ford power steering pumps. Once that was cleared up, the leak stopped *mostly*. It should be done of course, but i want to focus on this first.
 
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I was bored tonight and decided to take a walk and see if you can at least see a difference in ride height, notably evened out. They kindly parked it inside as I told them it has a windshield leak so I could t asses. Tomorrow is alignment day and I should be getting it back.
 
It has returned! Supposed to be finished on Tuesday, I picked it up today (Friday).

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So now it needs rear spring to even it out. That’s easy enough because jacking the rear high enough let’s the springs drop out.

Was the the Parkinson’s fixed? Nope. I guess that means it’s going back. You can feel it in the steering and it will sometimes transfer to feeling it in your butt. Is that what cars used to do? Am I crazy for thinking everything would be balanced enough that this wouldn’t happen from new? Am I full of shit?
 
Is this a rack or steering box car?

Maybe you need a steering damper?

Its possible, there’s no play in the steering though. It’s just the typical overboosted power steering you used to get.
 
Another stupid idea, but those rims look original. Have you have them checked for trueness? Maybe after so many years they are out of round, or slightly warped.

Might be easy to do a imprecise check on your own. Get the car up in the air and rig some kind of fixture on the ground that points at the outer bead. Spin the tire and see if the bead visually wobbles in comparison to your fixed point.
If it doesn't, it just means it's not horrible though.
 
Another stupid idea, but those rims look original. Have you have them checked for trueness? Maybe after so many years they are out of round, or slightly warped.

Might be easy to do a imprecise check on your own. Get the car up in the air and rig some kind of fixture on the ground that points at the outer bead. Spin the tire and see if the bead visually wobbles in comparison to your fixed point.
If it doesn't, it just means it's not horrible though.

I can do that, these wheels are not original,I got them from @CraigB a few years back from a fox platform Lincoln hence the missing center caps up front, panther bearing hubs are larger than fox.

@CraigB, I can try rotation but I’m suspecting there may be Something up with how I put the bearings into the front rotors...
 
I can do that, these wheels are not original,I got them from @CraigB a few years back from a fox platform Lincoln hence the missing center caps up front, panther bearing hubs are larger than fox.

@CraigB, I can try rotation but I’m suspecting there may be Something up with how I put the bearings into the front rotors...

You don't think you got the races seated all the way?
 
Pull it apart and check.

Not exactly fun...

Anyways! After driving around somemore today since Hank needed a car ride, (he walks to the garage and sits at the door waiting to be let in) I drove around. Noticed the Parkinson's seems to be focused mostly on the rear with a couple of "shivers" so to speak that come forward and are felt in the steering and seen in the hood shaking. It's small, but it's there. Perhaps it's rear end bearing shit or my botched U-joints on the driveshaft causing problems. I hate guessing and want definitive answers. Maybe jacking up the rear end and letting it freewheel in D could give me an idea.
 
Before I finished reading I wanted to say driveshaft! How is it set up? One piece? Center bearing?

One piece. I replaced front and rear U joints a couple years back because over 70mph you would this growling noise. After replacing them, only on coasting above 75mph would get a growl, so something still isn’t right but I ignored it because I don’t go on the highway that much and it moved the problem out of the way for the majority of my driving.
 
Ever since I got this back, it always sags in the rear since they said they only replace the front springs. However upon closer inspection it looks like they replace the rear springs as well and did not note it on the invoice. So in advance I checked rock auto.com and purchase some rear springs so that I could replace them. It is very easy to do it’s a matter of jacking the car up taking the wheel off, unbolting the bottom bolt of the shock absorber putting a jack underneath the rear end and slowly letting it drop after I take the shock off the mount of the differential. Doing this means the spring has no tension on it so I can pull it out. When I did that and I put them next to the springs that I got from rock auto, I noticed there was a height difference so because the mechanic kindly left the met the manufacture sticker on I checked online and it looks like the springs they put in were for a sedan and not a wagon. So because of that, it seems they tried to put softer springs to soften the ride I am guessing because the invoice noted that heavy duty springs are in the back, no kidding! It’s a heavier vehicle than a sedan. Once I replace it it looks like it is now balanced. Off for a test drive now.

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Yeah, this is better. On to actual diagnosing instead of visual adjustments! I will call a driveshaft shop I’ve used in the past on the F-150 flareside I had.

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driveshaft out, now to drop it off. Will try and do it tomorrow.

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