HALP! 86 Coupe Front end

[jmonetti@us.net (Jonathan Monetti)]

I'm pretty frustrated over a suspension/steering problem that has yet to be solved despite some 
pretty significant (read --> $$$) repairs.  Hope I can get some ideas from the group. 

The car is an 1986 Coupe GT with just under 85k on it, and I just can't get the front end right. 

I bought it in January--it handled & tracked great.  But soon, the LF bearing started to go 
(noise, vibration, etc.) and I had it replaced.  

Pertinent facts: 

1) After a week, the car started to produce  front end & steering wheel vibration.  Gradually 
became harder to control, lane changes became nightmarish (esp. over a crown or rut in the 
road).  These bad characteristics began to present themselves at all times, not just during 
braking or slowing. 

2) Wheels were balanced only 6 weeks ago.  Rims are the 16 spoke OEM (and pretty darn straight), 
and tires are newish Yokohama directionals (less than 15k on them).  The KYB shocks & struts are 
fair-to-good (<25k on them).

3) Last week I had new control arms, bushings, tie rods & ends, and ball joints put in.  The 
only obvious omission was inner sway bar bushings, as they were unavailable when he was (present 
ones not too bad).  You may have seen my joyous post (short-lived victory dance). 

4) I had the car aligned (on a Hunter machine) and drove away, anticipating happiness. 
Improvement was vast and immediatetly noticable, but certainly not perfect. 

5) There is still a vibration in the front end, slight but more pronounced when braking.  The 
car still wanders some, and there suddenly seems to be what feels like excessive body roll in 
turns, and it is producing more and more road noise.  Going into turns feels like a tire is low 
(not so) and is loading up very quickly. Conditoins are worsening, apparently every day of 
driving. 

6) The rear bearings do have a bit of play (about 1 mm) and need eventual replacing, 
but this definitely feels like all in the front end.  


Any ideas?  Are there suspension/steering  quirks on the Coupe I'm not going to cure with 
standard shotgun-blast Repair/Replace techniques?   

TIA