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There is something you can do for your shocks at practically no cost.

Clean away the dirt and grease from around the shafts where they leak. Take some string and wind it around and around the shaft as tight as possible. The idea is to fill the space and create a makeshift seal.

Then fill the shock with jack oil. You may have to refill them every few months but the string will help to keep the oil in.

Thick oil won't help. It will still leak out.

I have considered motorcycle fork oil. It does basically the same job and it comes in various thicknesses for fine tuning suspension. It is going to cost more and I doubt it would be worth it.

Check your tire pressure. 24 PSI all around will give the softest ride. 32 will make the steering easier. It's a compromise.

Another thing worth doing is giving the car a thorough lubrication. Your car is supposed to be greased every 1000 miles.

You may find some of the joints won't take grease. In that case unscrew the grease fitting and put in a new one. If the joint still won't take grease you may have to heat the joint.

Grease until you force fresh grease out of the joint. Even then it may take 2 or 3 full lubrication jobs and a few hundred miles of driving to free up all the joints.

Then you find out the front end is worn out. But that is a subject for another day.

What a great forum this is.

I understand more now about steering boxes, for a start. I was able to adjust my steering box (Thanks, Eric) for minimal play in the shaft, and now almost all front end noise is gone. No more banging noises on rough spots. It eliminated entirely all play in my front wheels, which had been substantial when pushing and pulling at 9 and 3 o'clock.

I re-lubricated and couldn't believe how much grease the fittings accepted. Thanks, "Owen". I see what you mean about needing it redone until it is sufficient.

The front shocks were indeed down on oil. I've refilled them. I haven't done the string thing yet, but it makes perfect sense and will do it next weekend. I'm having some surgery on my knee today and it's going to have to wait.

Overall, the car rides substantially better now. I think I'm going to replace the rear shocks when I can afford it, though. They're original.

Thanks to all. What a big improvement!

Glad I could help Jay!