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Hard Steering 1992

timotheous

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 8, 2004
Messages
50
Location
Toronto
Corvette
1992 Quazar Blue Coupe
At the end of last season, I had a rear-end leak. Took it in for repair (friend owns a transmission shop) and they did a good job but afterward the steering wheel was way off center. I took it in for an alignment and they fixed the steering wheel issue, did a 4-wheel alignment, etc. After the alignment, I noticed that while alignment seemed okay, it was harder to turn right than left.

This season, I took the car out only to find evidence of a small power steering fluid leak on the garage floor. I think it's coming from the rack as the spot was center front of the car. Taking the advice of other guys on the forum, I added some Lucas stop leak (temporary solution, I know) and it stopped the leak. But STILL I have this hard steering right issue - driving me nuts!

Any ideas? Bad alignment, toasted rack, something else? The car only has 30,000 miles on it but age is always a factor in these things I suppose. Any help would be much appreciated as always.

Tim
 
could be a bad alignmnent.
if they do not find the center thrust angle and work off of that to find the baseline for the wheels,. one can be looking at curbs while the other 3 are headed off the other direction,

go get them to do a 4 wheel thrust angle adjustment, it will cost $250 or more, but the car will be right without the dealer drama....

might have a bent inner tie rod also. that will cause binding in one direction.
 
Thanks boomdriver, going to take it in for another alignment this week (different place though - apparently one of the best in the city). Will let you know what happens.
 
I know that many shops claim 4 wheel alignment but in reality they are just 2 wheel parrallel alignments that align the fronts off the rears. A real 4 wheel goes off the frame. The key to getting the vette "right" is the thrust angle which positions each wheel in the same line as the frame and makes all 4 wheels the same. Its more involved and takes longer but the results are worth it. I just had a new rack & pinion installed and need to get that done myself.
I do know that a severe inpact like a crater sized pot hole can bend things in the steering.
Hope you get it straightened out.
 
The front wheels are aligned to themselves. Never are they aligned "to the frame", though their toe adjustment may take the vehicle centerline into account. Keep in mind that the vehicle CL is not necessarily "the frame" due to collision damage or production tolerances. Finding the vehicle CL uses the suspension as an index not the frame.

The rears are aligned to the car's structure.

The fronts are not "aligned off the rears".

The definition of "thrust angle" above is not quite correct, either. "Thrust angle" is literally just that. It's the angle, off the car's centerline, at which drive torque is applied. In the case of a Corvette (rear wheel drive vehicle), thrust angle is primarily an issue with the rear wheels. Hopefully thrust angle is zero but in some cases it might be slightly more (right or left) than that. On a C2 or later Vette thrust angle is easily adjusted by changing rear toe. The only time thrust angle involves the front wheels is if the rear wheels are not adjustable for toe, in which case a less desireable fix is to change the front toe figures, using asymetrical tie rod lengths, to eliminate the thrust angle problem and center the steering wheel.
 
The front wheels are aligned to themselves. Never are they aligned "to the frame", though their toe adjustment may take the vehicle centerline into account. Keep in mind that the vehicle CL is not necessarily "the frame" due to collision damage or production tolerances. Finding the vehicle CL uses the suspension as an index not the frame.

The rears are aligned to the car's structure.

The fronts are not "aligned off the rears".

The definition of "thrust angle" above is not quite correct, either. "Thrust angle" is literally just that. It's the angle, off the car's centerline, at which drive torque is applied. In the case of a Corvette (rear wheel drive vehicle), thrust angle is primarily an issue with the rear wheels. Hopefully thrust angle is zero but in some cases it might be slightly more (right or left) than that. On a C2 or later Vette thrust angle is easily adjusted by changing rear toe. The only time thrust angle involves the front wheels is if the rear wheels are not adjustable for toe, in which case a less desireable fix is to change the front toe figures, using asymetrical tie rod lengths, to eliminate the thrust angle problem and center the steering wheel.

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:thumb:beer
 
apologies....I could have choosen better words. All I was interested in was getting the point across, which it seems was done.
 

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