Wandering Vette

[john wilson]

Hi everyone it has been awhile since I have posted a question but with all the knowledge out there I know this is a small problem.I have a 1980 Vette that I race in the sandhills open road race and in other races locally. well I thought that I would jump up a class went through a lot of work putting wider tires on my vette. I put 285x40x17's on and the problem I am having is the car on the road wants to dart from left to right. The alignment shop says everything is fine and this is caused by the bigger tires and that there is nothing that can be done. Well guys and Gals I am pretty stubborn and nothing can be done sounds pretty negitive. JOHN

 

[topless82vette]

John

I had a problem like this on my trans am once it would do something very similiar turned out to be the power steering pump was the problem it was a (auto parts store special) don't know if you even have power steering but if you do you might want to check that I went through same things you did alignment even took it to pontiac they thought it might have had a internal steering box leak (or so they said) spent a total of over 400 bucks thats what I get I guess for trying to save money

 

[Stingray6974]

Hi John,
First make sure all the front end components are tight, mostly the idler arm. Since you have changed wheels and tires the stock alignment specs aren't any good. You didn't mention what type of racing so I'm assuming high speed.
Rear camber: 1/8 neg
rear toe: 1/16 - 1/32
front camber: 0 - 1/8 neg
caster: 4 - 5 degrees pos
front toe: 1/16 in
This is for high speed with moderate turns.

Mike

 

[lytemup]

does it happen on all roads, or just once and a while? check it on a new road, or a good concrete one. maybe this is too obvious, but many asphault roads have the two valleys from the tracks of where all the cars go. wider, stiffer (lower profile) tires can get 'caught' along the edges of these and forced to follow sometimes.
let us know what u find, my vette does the same thing once and a while now that i think about it.

 

[400hp_76]

Same here,

I am having somewhat of a problem. The ball joints on my car used to be worn and the car would dart, so i bought a kit from mid america and urethaned the front end up and tightened everything back up. The only thing is that my steering wheel feels a little loose. The car is really responsive now, but there is just a little play that bothers me in the wheel.?????what to do??comments???. T

 

[page62]

Steering wheel play

Once you've made sure your tie rods and idler arm are in good condition, do this:

There is a screw with a locking nut on top of the steering box. Tighten and test drive 1/4 turn at a time. Don't overtighten -- you'll cause the box to bind!

Did it myself last weekend . . . after an alignment shop told me I needed a new steering box. And no, he said, there's no way to tighten it (Liar, liar, pants on fire!)

 

[400hp_76]

Page62

It should be close. I have like 2 and a half threads, if that, on the steering box. I have adjusted the screw before, but that was before the front end rebuild. Hopefully it will solve my problems. thanks, T , o and why do mechanics try to lie. ive been working on cars ever since i can remember, so dont lie to me.

 

[page62]

Hmmm...I have lots of thread left. It'll be a while before I need a new box (unless it starts leaking!)

 

[JohnZ]

The 40-section tires will dramatically increase the car's tendency to be "darty"; try the alignment settings Mike outlined and it should improve, assuming all your front control arm bushings and rear trailing arm and camber strut bushings are in good shape.

The tires themselves are also part of reducing the "darty" tendency. The first-generation Vipers ('92-'95) had special Michelin XGT's, and were all over the road; we changed to same-size Michelin MXX3's in '96, and 90% of the "dartiness" disappeared - the Michelin Pilot Sports used for the last couple of years are even better. Shark Corvette suspension geometry (same as it was in '63) is definitely NOT optimized for wide tires due to camber gain and bump-steer issues that weren't understood in 1963.

 

[inferno-vette]

The tires themselves are also part of reducing the "darty" tendency. The first-generation Vipers ('92-'95) had special Michelin XGT's, and were all over the road; we changed to same-size Michelin MXX3's in '96, and 90% of the "dartiness" disappeared - the Michelin Pilot Sports used for the last couple of years are even better. Shark Corvette suspension geometry (same as it was in '63) is definitely NOT optimized for wide tires due to camber gain and bump-steer issues that weren't understood in 1963.

Yes, I read about that in a magazine once where it said that wide tires on a C3 wouldn't be good unless it had a 6 link suspension.
Paul