What would cause torque steer on my 62

[IH2LOSE]

Been a while since I have posted, as some of you know I built a 62 with a tubeular chassis running a c4 suspention in it.

Today I went to the last car show of the season here in NY. I put my foot in the car gently on the way to the show and it seams as if as I laid into it it had torque steer from the right rear (this is the side it always come out on if I give it alot of gas) the best way to describe this torque steer is just like if you floor a front wheel drive car but its not as pronounced.it really just very slight.

I have checked all nuts bolts and fastners again.I have checked motor mounts,trans mount,rear diff mounting.I have checked wheels and tire mounting including air pressure.I have checked all welds on the frame,Brakes are all ok none are grabbing. is there any thing in the rear diff that could cause this as the left side is holding back and thats why the right side feels like its steering this way.?? just to double check the rear is sill working I left a hole shot and both marks are the same.

What does a independent rear feel like when its failing

 

[studiog]

Larry was this the show at the Garden State Plaza? Not to distract from your thread but thought this might be of interest to you. Friday was a very nice day here and I was seriously considering taking the 61 for what I thought would be my last chance for an outing in the car this season. I was going to go for a nice fall leaf peeping cruise on my way to a camp in the woods up in Indian Lake for the weekend. Somehow I thought better of it and decided not to take the Vette... Now I'm glad I didn't take it as this is what we woke up to this morning.

Five inches of wet heavy snow! Larry get your snow machines ready!

 

[cbernhardt]

Larry:

Has this "torque steer" been happening since you put the car together or is this something new?
How about the rear toe in?
A more unlikely cause may be a bad tire. Try swapping them around and see if anything changes.

Charles

 

[John Mcgraw]

Larry,
It sounds like a rear alignment problem to me. I would get it back over to the alignment shop and have them take a look at it. The camber is about the only think that can change without an adjustment being made, so I would slap a bubble level on the face of both rear tires and see if they both look about the same. The rear not only has to have the toe-in set, but also has to have the thrust angle set as well. That is to say, you must assure that the angle of thrust is pointed in the right direction. Even a small error in thrust angle can make for a pretty ill handling car. My 59 has not even been to the alignment shop yet, but I am experiencing none of the same problems. My car tracks straight and true regardless of the ammount of foot into the loud pedal. Of course, that is until the rear tires go up in smoke, and then it is a real wild ride! Suprisingly, even with the tires really spinning, the car still accelerates like a rocket. Most of the cars that I have had in the past, traction is almost non-exsistent once the tires started spinning, but this setup still pulls pretty good even with the tires going up in smoke. Once it starts to go sideways a little however, you better get your foot out of it, because it can get away from you in a hurry!
I did my own alignment using old school techniques with levels, string lines and trammell points, and it appears that I have it pretty well dialed in. One of these days, when I have the time, I will get it over to my buddy that has one of those fancy computerized alignment racks, and have him give it the once over. About the only real difference between your setup and mine is the toe-in links, but the Guldstrand ones that you used should be an improvement over the original links that I use.

Regards, John McGraw

 

[Tom Bryant]

Sounds like an alignment problem to me. Toe in is set so that the wheels will track straight when the power is applied. If it is set too straight ahead initially then it will toe out when you put the power to it and steer the rear of the car. Before you take it to the alignment shop check all the rubber bushings in the rear suspension to make sure they are not pushed out of place or damaged. You may need to have them set in a little extra toe in to compensate for the installation not being exactly as it was in the donor car. Wheelbase, weight distribution and even horsepower can have an effect on the end result.

Tom

 

[IH2LOSE]

Five inches of wet heavy snow! Larry get your snow machines ready![/quote]

Yup it was the garden state plaza show.

Boy what a treat you had.I did alot of riding up in indian lake. I forgot the name of the place we used to stay at but it had cabins right on the lake and then a large 2 story hotel or lodge. I almost went in the lake on a sled there.

 

[IH2LOSE]

Well you have me thinking here it may be an alignment problem also.I replaced my rear springs from 140/250 to 300 and raised the ride hieght quite a bit in the front and rear.I knew I was going to effect the alignment slightly with the change but I did not think enough to effect ride quaility. I will deal with the torque steer until I finalize the ride height.

And yes Charles this is a new problem (I just noticed today) as I was showing a gt3 pourshe what an old vette can do.Boy was he suprised

but I have not put that many miles on the new springs

I am going to up load a photo of my top when I had the car at speed today.I thought it was going to come off the car.

On both sides of the car the top was opening up with the windows closed and the cowl vent closed.is this normal for a c1 top? I wont say how fast i was going but i am sure a c1 was never designed to go this fast

 

[Tom Bryant]

I have had other convertibles that have done that even when all closed up. I think that the air passing over the top of the windshield and top causes a low pressure area pulling the top up even when you have all the air inlets closed. At least that's my theory and I'm sticking to it. :L

 

[studiog]

Larry, been thinking about your torque steer problem and was wondering if it could possibly be the posi rear not feeding equal torque (momentarily) to both wheels when you jump on it?
Just a thought.

 

[IH2LOSE]

Larry, been thinking about your torque steer problem and was wondering if it could possibly be the posi rear not feeding equal torque (momentarily) to both wheels when you jump on it?
Just a thought.

This was my original thought,But these guys said alignment wright away,I did mess with the ride hieght (that does effect alignment ) and I never fealt this feeling before I monkyed around with the ride height.


Lastly


This forum has been "DEAD ON" with all of the previous problem I have had. So to me this problem will be solved once I get an alignment

 

[old-hot-rodder]

Steering problem

I agree with studiog. I had a 63 split that everytime I jumped on it, it tried to go into the woods. I changed the rear end and it "ALL" went away. I know this was my problem after many weeks of reasearch. Hope this helps!
Al Whittier