closer

After my car being off the road for over two years I've finally got it driving again. The car is an '86 IROC stock springs/height and 18"front and 19"rear C6 rims. I have new inner/outer tie rods, pitman arm, and just had the car aligned before I quit driving it last time. But It's all over the road on uneven highway over 50mph. I do have adapters all the way around(which I've triple checked on them being tight). But I can't find anything loose in the front suspension. My tires are wearing normal, and the steering has no play in it (but the steering wheel is cocked to the left while going straight).
However... When driving around town and going over rough pavement I can hear a rattle coming from the passengers front. I've checked the ball joint and can't get any play, all original bushings but none are dry rotted and the car also has newer monroe struts up front.
I regret getting rid of my stock 16" IROC's because the problem was still there, just not as bad.
So, in short...to me, I think it's the ball joint (I for some reason just can't find any play in it). I'm trying to make sure I narrow it down before I take it back in for an alignment, just for them to say it's in spec and still drive like poo.

JJR82

Check the sway bar link for the rattle clink noise. just a thought.

closer

After some searching. I'm going to check out the upper strut mount afterwork. It does kinda pop as I'm backing up and turning. If I don't see anything loose I'm just going to bite the bullet and start replacing a-arm bushings and ball joints. I was looking for complete arms on the cheap...But it's a lot cheaper just to change all of it in my existing arms. I also have a 10 ton press.

JJR82

I work in the shop at a dealership so I have can use my lift and any shop tools. I need to start changing that stuff on mine also.

closer

I guess I'm going to replace the main drag link. I looked at the last alignment bill and they only replaced the tie rods. I picked up an idler arm for $10 on sale. I started to take it off, and as soon as I got it loose from the frame, my drag link is pretty loose. I couldn't get any play with it all attatched. Who knows

GCrites80s

I've been told that my driver's strut hat is loose by a shop. My car seems to be acting the same as yours but not as badly. Popping in parking lots too. I'm saving up for Konis for "while they are in there" fixing the hat.

closer

Well.. I parked the car for awhile because of financial issues. And now I've put it back in to driving duties because of financial issues, LOL! I went through my rear-end and put all new bearings in it, I also added an adjustable track arm, put a new torque arm busshing in the trans mount, put all new inner and outer bearings and races in the front hubs. And of course none of it fixed my handling. But I was shooting to fix it with that stuff...it was just stuff that I wanted to change for years.
But, I do have about an 1/8 of play in both upper strut mounts. So I'll be changing them soon, along with new ball joints.
Weird thing is...If I loosen my strut mounts up, and push them as close to the engine , and as close to the firewall. The car seems to drive better (Well... I can actually almost keep it in a straight line at 60mph). Around down it drives like new. About 45mph is the threshold.
I've also borrowed a friends stock iroc wheels and it doesn't change anything other than the ride is a little smoother than my 18/19 C6 setup.

no new tires

sub-

plum92_camaro

Do you have the print out from the alignment? Make sure they gave you 3/32's toe in. zero toe or toe out will cause it to be all over like that. wider the tire, the worse it will be. even the stock 245's are wide enough to cause darting with an improper toe setting.

Most alignment shops just make the numbers on the screen turn green. Not necessarily giving you ideal settings for your car. Here are some good specs for our cars.

closer

You bring up a good point. It's been awhile since the alignment. But they didn't give me a print out.
I'm going to wait until after christmas to order my strut mounts and ball joints. I'm looking at a total of $150 to change what's left of the old stuff in the front end. Then I'll be on the search for an alignment again.

RubberDucky

iTrader: (4)

Is the rubber inside the strut mount good?

willexoIX

If stock, probably not. New strut mounts fixed a similar rattle I had years ago.

firechicken_3

iTrader: (4)

I had a strange twitchy darting and poor return to center after doing poly bushings, ball joints steering box, strut mounts and a few other things, there was no slop that could be observed during a shake down, and it was on an alignment machine at firestone 4 times in one day because it just wasnt right. On a whim and suggestion from an old timer we changed ball joints again. once they were out you could feel the grit and slop very easily. They (a white box brand from rock auto) only had 7k miles on them and it drove strange from day 1 with them. Replaced with MOOG and no further issues.

closer

While it is only a bandage on my issue. I did pick up a set of stock IROC rims and tires and put them on the car.
A huge part of the problem is gone. And I can drive the car one handed now. But My upper strut mounts are in the mail right now. And as I tear that apart I will check everything as I put it together.
Hopefully in two weeks I'll get the ball joints changed. Because I know these tires didn't fully fix the problem. I'll keep this thread updated... I, like everyone else. Hate it when you search for a problem on any forum...then the solution never gets posted.

closer

Well, I put the upper front strut mounts on today. I've made another small step in improvement. However... I did find out that my drivers front strut is blown. Which I wasn't expecting since they still have the Blue paint on them from being replaced at sometime. But it has no rebound or compression anymore. So, that will be my next purchase before ball joints.

peterc005

I've got an IROC too, which came with red Koni's on the front from the factory.

They were fine, but I got them rebuilt for about $120 each and they are like new.