OK Boys & Girls;

Here is yet another mystery to be solved by this sleuthful group!

I was gone for 2 weeks and had the car stored at 71Shark's garage on the lift.  On my return (last Sunday), we checked her over for any obvious issue and found nothing we didn't know about.

On the way home, she started pulling hard left, as if I had an extremely low tire.  I stopped and checked, but everything looked fine.  I checked all pressures and they were within less than 1lb of each other.  While I didn't get a chance to drive her this week, we took her out for dinner tonight and it took both hands to keep her going straight and that only with the wheel about 20 degrees to the right of center.

She was aligned by the local vette guys who do it the old fashioned way with the centering rods and stuff about 600 +/- miles ago. 

The steering is smooth turning (as in no power steering issues)  however, when it decides to pull, it could easily go 45 degrees left without a firm two handed hold.

I won't get a chance to put her up on the rack until the Sunday after Turkey Day.  Any ideas what to check from above until that time?

As always, any help is GREATLY appreciated.

Dennis

 My '71 started pulling hard to the right about two weeks after I bought it in '02. To make a long story short, had I run my hand around the front tires,  I would have found the right front tire separating before came apart and wasted the rt. front q-panel. Might want to check that.

Good idea longhorn. Also see if bleeding the brakes will help. Check brake fluid level first. The reservoir may have pulled air into the line.If air is in one side of the lines it will pull hard. Make sure no oil or grease got on the disk/drum.That will cause a problem too.

I agree with checking the brakes. The right front caliper in my '78 was sucking air and it pulled to the left since that was the caliper with grab. It suddenly went from a slight pull to no pedal at all. I was able to stop the car without using a building as a backstop and waited for the flatbed.

Also, if a caliper is binding it will pull, not just when braking depending on how bad it might be binding.

C3's are known for excellent brakes, as long as the car is driven regularly. It's not driving the car and therefore not keeping the brake hydraulics lubricated through use that's the enemy here.

Thanks guys;

I installed new calipers all the way around, along with new steel braided lines and a new front cross-over line about a year ago.  The calipers came from Lonestar Calipers.  I'll check the fluid level and bleed soonest.

Gunslinger, did yours pull left only when the brakes were on or all the time?  Mine is a full time pull that requires constant pressure on the wheel.

Again, thanks guys.

Dennis

It sounds like the front left caliper is sticking. Is the that wheel warmer or hotter than the other side after driving for a while?

uh...check to see if the ham-fisted tow driver you had a few weeks ago didn't bend something out of whack in the steering/suspension. That would be where I would start.
It may well be a brake problem, too, but the rear brakes can cause a pull, also....

Get back under there and check the sleeves that attach to the tie rod ends,they may have forgotten to tighten the clamps back down after adjusting the tie rod ends

Imagine my surprise when I looked down from the top after checking the front tires for tread separation and finding on the drivers side the lower A-arm shaft that keeps the A-arm attached to the frame to be about 3/4 of the way out the front!

I'll have to limp it to the barn to get it up on jack stands and it probably won't be till a week from tomorrow till I get a chance to do anything with her.  I found the A-arm bushing laying in my driveway and it looks to be OK, it has a groove around it and I will be checking it closely and asking a second opinion prior to reinstalling it.

Could the drop that pushed the lower air dams up into the nose have caused the bolts to come loose? 

I called the AAA claims guy again (you guys were right, he hasn't returned my calls for the last 3 weeks) to tell him he may well not be out of the woods yet.  I won't know until I get her up on blocks again.  If the bolts are sheared, then I would think he was responsible if not, then perhaps the vibration caused prior to the rear u-joint letting go could have caused it?

I'll post again when I know more. 

Thanks to everyone for all your help.  I knew this could be catastrophic, I just didn't know how catastrophic it could be.

I have to assume you have urethane bushings there, Dennis. There is no way in heck the stock type rubber bushings could come out of the control arm, unless the arm broke. Urethanes will come off if the bolt/washer comes off, tho. Did ya'll see any damage to the lower control arms from Gomer? It's is also a possibility that Gomer hooked onto the lower control arm when towing/dropping it, and ripped the bolt out, or broke the head off. Check that puppy out really well!