Wandering front end...

[TimAT]

Sounds like a "toe-in" problem....
The front-end shop may not have set the toe (around 1/8" toe-in) if there is no toe-in the car will want to wander all over the road. Have a front-end shop check it before you spend a lot of money.

This is the FIRST place to look, (past your old tires). If the toe is set less than 1/8" it will make the steering feel "twitchy" at speed. Kind of re-defines sensitive.

I had a very similar problem with wandering when I got my car. The first thing was taking almost all the "slop" out of the steering box with the adjustment screw on top. Be careful, and tighten it slowly until you feel just a little resistance. Too much starts ruining the internals in the box. when you feel just a little resistance, stop and turn back 1/16 of a revolution or so. I had to do this three times to find "The Spot", but the car handled great after that. If you tighten the screw too much on a non power steering car, you will notice increased turning effort immediately. On a power steering unit, it's not as evident. That's why you need to be careful.

The other thing is to look at is the front end bushings on the a frames. They are probably shot, just from sitting. Replacement is probably needed if they are 20 years or so old.

The proper way to adjust a steering box is with a torque wrench and the procedure in the shop manual. If it's adjusted by "feel" there's a really good chance it'll be too tight or too loose with the same result. Destroyed gears. Too loose and the gears get hammered by the excess slop. Too tight wipes them out.

 

[J.G.L.]

Thank's TimAT , I will have it realigne toe in 1/8

 

[Hib Halverson]

Never been a big fan of the "Steeriods" conversion because of its inordinate amount of ride steer (aka bump steer), but if you put that system on and the car still wanders, take the advice given earlier and have our front toe checked. If that's ok, look for:

1) Worn upper or lower ball joints
2) Bad tires
3) Cracked frame, either around the steering box bolts or at the joint between the front frame rails and the front cross member.
4) Rear toe out of range
5) Toe change at the rear due to worn strut rods, worn T-arm bushings, worn rear axle c-clip grooves or worn rear axle c-clips.

 

[aaron1]

I am one of those that does not have a wandering issue with my vette. My 78 has had everything but the control arms bushings and springs replaced in the front end.

Someone mentioned tires size could be the cause. I agree. I just put new 245/60-15 on my car and I have just a very small amount of counter steer as with the 235/60-15 that were on the car before I had zero counter steer or wandering. The reason for tire replacement was that the 235 were about 20 years old!

I just point my car down the center of the lane and have a light grip on the wheel and there is no wandering. It's a lot nicer to drive than my truck!

aaron1

 

[upinsmoke]

I cured the problem with alignment also. Checked everything first to make sure then had it realigned. No problem since.

 

[SR'71]

steering

oK...i just picked up my 78 about a month ago from my grandma (Family heirloom). I drove it home from reno to the bay area cali, and noticed pretty much the whole way that the steering on it seems to wander. What i mean by this is it seems to jerk left and right on the road when just driving down the freeway. Now at first it really worried me, it was jerking so bad that it was scaring me thinking i was gonna hit a car in the next lane. I learned to deal with it after a while, and I just really have to relax my grip on the wheel and let the car do its own thing, whereas before i was trying to control it.

Well the tires were at least 8 years old and the car had been sitting for a long time, so i thought that this might be a part of the problem. I put more air in the tires, and made sure they all had the same pressure...this seemed to help a little bit.

The whole front end suspension was just completely rebuilt a week before i picked the car up. Im just wondering what might be causing this??

My grandma said the cars always been like that and you just have to get used to it...anybody elses c3 drive like this? Is it just old? Or is there something wrong?

You need to read Jim Shea's tech papers on corvette steering . I followed his advise on in car adjustmemt on my '71 . Night & day difference ........... http://jimshea.corvettefaq.com/?page_id=4 Keep selecting the menu on the right till you find corvette. Shea is a GM steering GURU

 

[SR'71]

steering

Never been a big fan of the "Steeriods" conversion because of its inordinate amount of ride steer (aka bump steer), but if you put that system on and the car still wanders, take the advice given earlier and have our front toe checked. If that's ok, look for:

1) Worn upper or lower ball joints
2) Bad tires
3) Cracked frame, either around the steering box bolts or at the joint between the front frame rails and the front cross member.
4) Rear toe out of range
5) Toe change at the rear due to worn strut rods, worn T-arm bushings, worn rear axle c-clip grooves or worn rear axle c-clips.

Jim Shea .............. had a lot of dead /bump steer. tightened the "gland" nut at the steering in box . Night & day difference.

http://jimshea.corvettefaq.com/?page_id=4