Steering wanders, looking for ideas

[goingballistic]

Howdy,
the only complaint I've ever had (actually two but HP is being fixed right now) is the steering in my '81. When I first got the car a few years ago I noticed that it wandered. I replaced the power steering box ( not pump) and took it to the Chevy dealer where they aligned it and adjusted it. It got better but not what I would like in a car like a Vette, I kind of expect "snappy" steering. It responds OK but at highway speeds, it wanders around more than I would like and sometimes feel comfortable with :eek and when it's not tracking right, it's down right scary when you're in traffic.

I've read a few threads about several steering options, "yellow77" had one about a front end project and it is now 2.5 turns, lock to lock, sounds good to me but I'm curious what else has been done. I'm leery to replace all the bushings etc until I figure out if there is a better way............I'm looking for options, price is not overly sensitive ( if I don't let the wife find out ).......she's gona kill me when she finds out how much this stroker is.

Any help or insight would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Paul.

 

[black_81_vette]

Hello I had the same issue with my 81 but to me the steering felt overly sensitive I.E. real light feed back to the wheel, and touchy.So what I did was tell the allighnment tech to dial in a degree or 2 more of positive caster. Caster is a non ware angle and with a couple more degrees the straight line stability improved alot!! Hope this helps.

 

[GTR1999]

Do an inspection first, Starting at the rag joint work down while someone moves the wheel. You shouldn't have any lost motion throught the joint or box. If you do investigate further. Check the tie rod ends, idler arm,control valve stud,wheel bearings, and alignment.

 

[81 Corvette]

when the budget allows, perhaps in 2008, i'm gonna go poly bushings all around with steeroids

 

[goingballistic]

Steeroids????? What is/are those/that?

This is kind of the information I'm looking for. Basically if I'm driving the car straight it drifts and requires "correction" steering from side to side, this becomes tiresome after an hour or so as it requires constant attention ( no comments). I have noticed that if the car is parked I have about 2" side to side travel in the steering wheel while sitting in the garage before the tires start to move ( 1" on either side of center). I suspect the bushings/tie rods etc and after the motor comes out replacing all that stuff.

What I'm looking for is what "other" options are out there to tighten this up.......you guys have a lOT more information than I do about this......I'm looking for an education before I sink more money in just to find there is something better......again.

when the budget allows, perhaps in 2008, i'm gonna go poly bushings all around with steeroids

 

[yellow77]

Hi Goingallistic,

I started to replace steering components, and the more I looked, the more I found worn on the original equipment (27 years old). So I bit the bullet and replaced the upper and lower ball joints ( about $200, then ordered the Steeroiods kit through Mid America Motorwerks $1150 ish, and spent a long 4 day weekend installing the new system. B asically, you remove the old steering system, keeping only the column and hub assemblies, and power steering pump, and replace everything else with a rack and pinion power steering system. It took me 2 1/2 hours to remove the old equipment, and about 4 hours to install the new kit, with some help from a very good neighbour. The result is a quick ratio steering system with very little bump steer, and much better feel from the road, and minimal wander. Look up steeroids on the web, the kit is shipped direct from 'Speed Direct' and is very professional, aluminum parts look brand new, and all steel parts are powder coated.
I cannot speak too highly of this kit, it fits exactly as advertised and works brilliantly.

Hope this info helps

Cheers

Richard

 

[norvalwilhelm]

Replacing bushings is not a big deal, quit easy. You said you replaced the power steering box? what is that. We have a control valve? Is that it?
As for the steering box itself I find even rebuilds do not go far enough. The pitman shaft is the main shaft through the box and it rides in 3 bushings. A used box can have up to .006 clearance, you want .001 maximum. Replacing the bushing with factory bushings gets you down to about .003 , still not enough. To really tighten the box you need to have custom bushings made, installed and honed for that .001 fit. While this sounds hard the bushings are easily bought in blanks from any bearing supplier since they are a common size and need very little turning on a lathe to produce a tight clearnance.
This is the only way to really tighten the box, I also replace the rag joint, go through all tie rod ends, 4 of them and the ball joints.
Toe also greatly affects how the car feels and you do not want 1/4 inch toe in. YOu want 1/16 toe in, 1/8 maximum with as much caster as possible.
Good luck

 

[GTR1999]

Norval is correct, the steering boxes can be made much better then stock. Some call it blueprinting, I prefer to say they're rebuilt the way they have been the first time. You should be able to go through the entire suspension and make it better then new without installing an aftermarket system for $1,100-1,200. But hey, it's your money. I'm doing a box now for a guy who was thinking along the same lines until he saw the price of the aftermarket system. Remember corvette boxes were pretty much the same from 63-82 and they worked pretty good off the showroom floor. I can get you a rebuild procedure if want,just PM me.

 

[mvftw]

Had the same problem, I replaced the steering kit...
http://www.zip-products.com/Corvette_Early/productr.asp?pf%5Fid=SC%2D595&gift=False&0=dept%2Easp%2Cdept%5Fid%3D1603%26menu%5Fid%3D%26Tree%3D%2CSteering%20Systems&1=dept%2Easp%2Cdept%5Fid%3D1606%26menu%5Fid%3D%26Tree%3D0%2CPower%20Steering&2=dept%2Easp%2Cdept%5Fid%3D1613%26menu%5Fid%3D%26Tree%3D1%2CRenew%20Kits%20%28Valve%2CRam%2CHoses%29&Gift=False&HSLB=False&mscssid=00E0E8A26382834D79B6933BFA8938C4

 

[mrvette]

Sorry guys, but when it comes to upgrading an olde shark to modern standards there are very few of us with any real time practicle experiences....


I am one of the few.....some years ago....2001 or so, when steeroids was still testing their setup, I found out the rack source of a northern European fellow...Idan Androsen (sp?)....anyway, he sourced it as a Saab 900? rack, which is the same as a Gran Prix '92 vintage rack....which is now in my car courtesy of a junkyard, and home brew mounting brackets and input linkage...

I can say with relative impunity that the improvement was/is astounding, there is NO stockish type system capable of keeping up with it......period....

you can rebuild/tighten/replace everything in the stock system, and guess what?? that stock-ish controll valve has feedback from the road....

NOT an ISSUE with the olde tyme bias tires the car was designed for....BUT when you switch to more modern radial tires...even 60 series....the freeways have a tendancy to show up the shortcomings of the olde tyme design....

now IF you have lower profile/larger rims on your car with wider width...guess what?? your effects are greatly exagerated....

Sorry, but time has passed and a newer tech steering design is in vogue today for ultimate performance.....

case closed....

GENE

 

[GTR1999]

Well Gene I'll disagree that stock systems can't be made to work better. I'm sure your setup and the steeriods one is fine,I'm not knocking them,just the cost.

If someone wants to buy the kit it's up to them by all means. I've driven many vettes with bias and radial tires-mostly radials,60 or 70 series, and they handled fine- as long as the components in the front suspension and the box was setup correct. Now I'm not talking about a race prepped system only street use.

 

[mrvette]

Coupeman, it all depends on your local roads, the rutting form trucks, the speeds you travel, and of course your tires....that's the whole issue far as I see, the tires at 60-70 series are easy 15 inch and tall sidewalls....you just don't get the road feedback like with a 17 inch 40/50 series tire.....for instance, I have '92 vette wheels, sawblades, and they are 17x9.5 all around....

constant monitoring the wheel on freeways, varies from road to road, of course, BUT, allways a consistant PIA.....I think it's the controll valve in the linkage off the pittman arm, that thing induces road feedback into the system...not real sure of just exactly HOW that affects overall road feel, BUT, I can assure you with modern tires in modern sizes.....yeh, the changeover to r/p was worth it...

BTW, my way cost me time and effort, surely...but cost less than 200 bux....

GENE

 

[GTR1999]

Well Gene I wrote 2 lengthy responses and both times the system didn't accept the post! So I'm not posting anymore. Good point on the wheel size,all the vettes I drove had the stock 15" wheels. That might be the difference.

I'll still stay with the stock system with 15" wheels. I can rebuild it and it works very good for me. I certainly respect your opinion and my comments weren't posted in a negative manner,just another perspective.

 

[Buckskin7T7V]

Easy

I have a 77 and what really helped and did not cost a fortune, is to replace the "steering shaft flexible coupler" the rubber flexible material wears out and can add a lot of unnessary movment to the system.

 

[goingballistic]

I have a 77 and what really helped and did not cost a fortune, is to replace the "steering shaft flexible coupler" the rubber flexible material wears out and can add a lot of unnessary movment to the system.

Actually that the first thing I checked thinking that if the rubber bushing was worn/hardened that it may cause some slop in the steering wheel to pitman arm setup. Alas, the rubber was in good condition and as I move the steering wheel the pitman arm moves with it so I know of eliminated that whole aspect ( car off by the way so the power didn't play into it). This is why I chose to change the steering box and that tightened it up but not as much as I would like or expect.

So it appears that from tires to pitman is where the problem lies and may well be related to the steering damper or cross strut on the front, that's the next thing to replace and see if that tightens it up.

Thanks for all the input, it's been very educational.

 

[ARW]

One grim possibility - actually happened to me -- the welds in the left frame rail in the engine compartment cracked resulting in a frame that easily rotated under the torque of the engine. (The left motor mount bolts to an arm that offers a lot of leverage to the frame) The PS slave pushes/pulls off a bracket hanging down from the frame at the same location. That bracket was moving everytime the throttle was moved. Result was it wandered all over the place. All the new parts would not have helped me. Hope you never see this.

 

[MoeJr]

When I had my 77 it wandered a bit too. On mine it was a coupler one the steering shaft that comes thru the firewall. It is held together with 4 rivets and mine was worn to the point the rivets were almost snapped. Was an inexpensive part too.

 

[GetVette]

L-81 Steering vague fix-maybe?

I own 2 1981 Coupes, 60k and 35K cars, both are great cars but had multiple steering issues. If all is working as designed, your steering should be precise, smooth and should feel neutral.
Both my cars were fixed by reducing the lash in the box gearing by loosening the castle nut on the box top with a 5/8" open end wrench, then turn down the slotted screw about 1/4 turn at first, 1/16 turn after than until a very slight resistance is felt in the free input shaft after you re-tighten the lock nut. Unless your gears have tears, this should remove the fudge factor from the box. When you test, if any hangup is encountered, go back with the screw until the box turns without any such hangup. Next, check the stantion holding the steering cylinder rod end to see if the four 1/2" bolts and nuts are all tight. If you continue to have problems with vague control you may want to verify that the steering control is centered. This normally is a one-time adjustment but stuff happens. I have a 71 that liked to lurch to the right, twaz the control. If the steering drifts to right of left as if too much power is being applied, it's the centering of the control that is to blame. The 81 was a refined car, same steering gear since the first C-3's but slightly improved in other related areas. If still bad, the other threads offer good suggestions-try them too. Good luck.
Bg

 

[wishuwerehere82]

Goingballistic,

I have fixed the wandering and twitching on my '82 the first year I had it. It was really scarey to drive on the highway, and would slop all over the place. These are the most effective solutions that I found.
1) Tighten the backlash on the steering box.
2) Replace the rubber bushings on the steering assist rack rod.
3) Tighten the 4 bolts that hold the rod bracket to the frame.
All three of these were loose at 47,000 Miles/19 Years.
4) 4 wheel alignment. Mark's Alignment/Webster, NY.
5) New shocks.
It runs great now and not scarey at any speed.

 

[SR'71]

Try tightening your pin in the steering box. Follow your steering shaft out of the firewall. It goes into a black steel box with a nut held screw. Back off the locknut and turn the screw clockwise while you turn the steering wheel. The dead zone in your wheel should decrease.Watch your front tire for movement as you turn the screw. Don't over tighten. The wheel should maintain good feel while reducing play in the wheel. Good luck!