Hey, I've come across my first problem with my Camaro.

When I turn the wheel all the way to the right (full lock) and roll forward/backward I get a nasty kinda clunk/knocking noise. It only does this under full lock and it only seems noticable when steering to the right.

My friend and I jacked the car up and checked all the suspension and steering bushes and they all seemed ok. wheels bearings needed adjusting but that was it and they're fine now.

Any ideas?

Also while I'm here my brakes are rubbing slightly giving an annoying squeak each time the wheel rotates but the noise goes away under braking. I was going to upgrade the brakes anyway, so is there any discs/pads you recommend? I was thinking green stuff pads and i've also heard the Corvette discs and calipers fit?

Thanx

 

look at the lower control arm where the steering makes a stop at the spindle, it rubs hard sometimes. you can put some wheel bearing grease on it

 

i have the same problam regarding the knocking sound but it happens when i turn it full lock both ways. also, the noise you're hearing from the brakes is a sign the your pads are worn down and need replacing. the pads on our cars have a c-shaped clip on the sides of the pads and make contact with the disc when the pads have worn down thin. replace the pads with new ones (i always change wheel bearings at the same tim0 and the noise should stop.

 

Thanx for the replys, I'm going to jack in up today and have a look.

Jack: Any Idea what the noise is? mine sometimes sounds like a creaking noise also, I did a U-turn last night on full lock and i felt like the front wheels slid a little, felt kinda weird.

 

i have no idea what makes our sars do this!! but my car does excactly the same thing yours does! id love to find out why!! bloody anoying sometimes!

 

check your lower ball joints;
I had mine changed out even though my alignment shop said they were tight;
this fixed my knocking issue!!

best of luck

 

The following link may provide some food for thought:

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/tech...ck-judder.html

JamesC

 

Reading the link above, the wheel skipping is tire scrub and it's the result of a design flaw in the front suspension/steering geometry. The steering box issue is another matter altogether, it has to do with the fact that a box can transmit much larger leverage forces than a rack and it's mounted on one side of the car, to a single frame rail. The problem with keeping the wheel full lock is that the assist piston is applying all the time, you can hear the bypass valve in the pump buzzing when you do that. This puts tremendous stress on the box mounting, it's best to not keep the wheel at full lock, back off till you do not hear the pump bypass valve buzz anymore.

 

Hey Andy,

Didn't you have a similar problem a while back? My IROC-Z used to do this whilst turning at low speeds, also when on full lock the front wheels used to 'skip' slightly. I got the wheel alignment corrected and this stopped the skipping but I still got the clonking, I think it may be a feature!

As for the brakes you might need some grease or copper-ease on the rear (calliper side) face of the pads. They are also supposed to have anti-rattle clips, they could be missing. I changed my IROC-Z front pads and followed the manual to the letter and they STILL squeaked, although only when applying the brake and not when driving normally. Could be a build up of deposits on the disc or as someone else said the brakes could be worn and you're hearing the audible wear indicator.

 

Yeah I've still got the clonking and skipping, although I've bigger issues at the moment...in the middle of changing the fuel pump, hopefully will all be put back together tomorrow and *fingers crossed* will run without cutting out!

Once it's up and running I may take it to get tracking done. Brakes are ok now as I've had to change the pads for the MOT (one of them had come apart at the rivets! and they were only a few months old) So now I've got some new ones that are bonded rather than riveted, also the new ones have the anti-rattle clips you mentioned.

 

Mine does the same!
Thankfully, new job means more money.
Which means I can finally afford to source a Wonderbar and a couple of new ball joints, as well as making sure all the bolts on the K-member are as tight as they should be.

 

Glad to hear it!
Picked up a wonderbar as well/Ball Joints and GM teflon coated front sway bar bushings [keeps them from squeaking and the need to lube/poly rides too hard] torque to specs and I'm good!!

 

Had a poke about - stock Wonderbar, K member braces.
No obvious signs of anything dodgy going on around the steering box, but to be fair, I've not been under the car for a while.
So... just the new ball joints then I guess.

 

The ball joints will certainly help;
three items total to work on at some point; wonderbar/subframe connectors/strut tower bar. What a difference on my 84; these also support the ball joints so they don't have to work so hard;

 

When I was taught how to drive I was told never never completely turn your tires all the way tight. Very hard on steering components. I find my self when parking, turning shape to remember not to stress my car..
I think it makes sense!

 

i had a similar noise on my 89 and i just tightened the driver side lugs up a little more and it went away. hope this was a simple fix to the problem noise.

 

i'm having problems with the rear hatch on my 89 iroc. think i found the relay in the center consol by the e-brake does anyone know if that is the correct relay?

 

Glad too hear your was simple!! Mine are torqued prior to every drive. AR breakers, taking no chances??

 

Lug nuts? Interesting, but it was doing it before I had the front discs replaced, and it's still doing it after.
No harm in checking though.

 

Hi mate,

My '86 did it and quelle surprise so does my '88. One of those things- I never use full lock to help her out.

 

Yeah - I do try to stay off full lock, not always entirely practical down here, especially parking!

It's one of those things - in my mind, it means there's something wrong. If I went to the doctor and told him I had a stabbing pain in my knee when I stand up quickly, I wouldn't expect him to tell me not to stand up quickly, if you see what I mean.

I'll hopefully get to the bottom of it one way or another. Nice to know it's not just me though!