Hard to turn left

Disconnect the Pitman arm. See if the bind is in the box. That will also isolate the wheels (somewhat) so you can move them back and forth. If necessary, take a tie rod off to move each wheel thru its range.

My bet would be on the box.

Speedy Jim

Speedy, you forgot the obvious! This could be a Republican Beetle! It would be cruel and unusual to force it to sway to the left. ;)

hehe...that made me laugh...

Best laugh all day! Jim

Everybody: I found the problem- it was the brakes !

I noticed my right rear wheel got very hot after a short drive. After removing that drum, I found that the wheel cylinder was sticking open, causing the brake shoes to drag. This caused the car to be very difficult to turn left. Sort of like those dune buggies with the separate rear brake handles to assist turning.

I couldn't find any issue with the cylinder, as when I opened up the bleed valve, the cylinder retracted properly. The real issue was the rubber brake tubing that connects to the metal brake lines. These were very old and collapsed over time. They would pass brake fluid OUT because of the high pressure from stepping on the brakes, but would not allow the fluid to come back IN, hence locking the brakes on. Replacing the rubber lines fixed this problem, and the 'hard to turn left' problem completely. THe car also has more apparent power without the brakes being constantly on !

Keep an eye on the ground around that wheel for a while to make sure that oil does not start to collect on the ground when it is parked. Sometimes excessive heat can mess up the rear wheel seal - maybe damage the o-rings on the wheel seal or something.