I replaced all of the linkage, ball joints, and bushings on my front end. It's really tight and I am really pleased with the results but there now seems to be what I only know to call drift. I'm constantly correcting the steering while driving down the freeway. Not really bad but just enough to make it seem wrong. I think the steering box is a bit too tight 'cus the car will not totally straighten it self out at the end of a turn. I do have just a touch of play in the steering (maybe 1" of wheel travel). Any ideas?

 

Dude...I've done tons of suspension mods (STB, SFC, WS6 sway bars, aftrmrkt springs, wonderbar, boxed-in LCA's, panhard rod, and all poly bushings) and I can give you some wisdom; whenever you tighten up one particular component, you ALWAYS highlight another area that needs to be tightened up. Its kind of frustrating

After doing your steering upgrade, I'd install a wonderbar and STB to match. That should help. Go to a yard and find some fat sway bars. Took me many dead f-bodies to sift thru before I found the WS6 bars.

SFC's are always a good suspension foundation. I'd prob work on that before I touched rear end mods.

 

It's possible that something else is wrong... but usually you just need an alignment after replacing front-end parts.

 

Definatly did the alignment thing. That's when I found out that I was out of camber adjust on my right side!

 

Excessive road wandering and steering not returning to center are both indicators of lack of caster. Did they give you the alignment sheet?

 

Nope, they sure didn't. I guess I should have asked for it.

 

i replaced almost every bushing up front plus greased all the steering components, and i still get pulled all over the road. i even had a wheel alignment and my tires balenced. nothing seems to fix this problem for me. roads that alot of truck/trailers travel down that have big grooves in them are almost dangerous for me to be on because i cant drive in a straight line. mabey its my wide tires but i dont know.... i have a bad feeling i need a frame alignment

 

I have the same problem, buddy. After installing a STB, following grooved pavement got worse for me. I thought it'd def help decrease alot of that. I do get less bump steer though. Go figure.

Did you replace your tie-rod connectors (don't know if I called it correctly...the piece holding the inner to outer tie rod)? Stock piece is supposedly much weaker than the forged pieces they now make aftrmrkt.

 

what exactly is "bump steer? that wouldnt happen to be that weird non-existant bump i keep hitting every time i corner hard at lower speeds would it? sometimes when im turning a sharp corner in a parking lot or something out of no where the font end will rock slightly as if i ran over something, is this what bump steer is? or is my front end completely screwed up?

 

If your car darts, or wants to steer on it's own when driving down rutted asphalt roads, this should be somewhat expected (within reason), especially if you have wide, short sidewall tires on the front. If the problem goes away when driving down smooth level concrete, then it should be considered as normal.

Psyte, bump steer can be defined as a change in your toe setting throughout the range of suspension travel. Ideally, you would like your toe setting to remain constant.

 

Nope, I didn't think they made any diff. They seemed to be in pretty good shape. What would happen if I loosened up my steerng box?

 

Sure...mine look good too, but the design issue remains. They're called tie rod adjustors, or sleeves. Spohn has them for our cars. I've been wondering about the benefit. Stock pieces are stamped metal with a couple screws to hold them on.....which means lots of flex/torque under hard driving. Check them out. Some people swear by them.

Motor city mike gave a good def of bump steer. I like to think of it as when you hit a little bump and you have to re-adjust your steering to go straight again.


Loosen up your steering box? I've not much experience with that....but it sounds like you'd loosen your steering up more with that. I have a feeling that your steering gear may be a little worn and maybe stock replacement wouldn't be a bad idea. Supposedly, GM used the stock steering brace (aka wonder bar) to prevent cracks/stress on the steering box mounting, as this area is very susceptible to wear and tear.

After 10 or more years of abuse, its probably time to replace your box. But I can't recall anyone making a big deal out of doing this. Try a search here and let me know what you find.

 

I loosened the box up a bit and it solved my problems. I still have a bit of play but the steering is definatly MUCH more managable. As soon as I have the funds I'll be replacing the steering box.

 

Being a avid offroad enthusiast, as well as a hot rod guy ) I thought of something tha might crossover for the f-body guys.

4wd trucks have the ame issue with the wide tires, and semi grooves in asphalt. How I over came mine wa a steering stabilizer.

Do any f-bodys come with the stabilizers? I know you can get the aftermarket. Heck even the Volkswagon bugs came with them.

I loved the handling on all my cars/trucks when I either added or repaced my stabilizer.

For those of you who don't know, it is like a shock absorber for your steering.

One end of the shock mounts to something hard that does not move. the other mounts to anything in the steering that travels left to right. cushioning and dampening everything

The effect is that return to center after a turn is smoother and no longer jerky. Bumps in the road, and curbs (ouch) don't jerk the wheel out of your hands anymore or cause you to swerve. If your haullin' arund a corner, the front tire hits a bump, and lifts a bit, the wheel won't spin out of your hand. Let me know what you guys think. It might not be feasible butI think i am starting to like the idea, at least for autcross/rally driving.

Here's a pciture, and a link toa kit,

 

Cool idea....question is...how do we mount them in an f-body?


SGT SKIP:: How exactly did you "loosen up" your steering box? Glad it worked...let me know.

 

There's an adjustment on the top of the box. I just loosened the lock nut, loosened the hex screw about 1-1/2 turns, and tightened the lock nut.

 

Most come with universal mounts. you can clamp it on say your sway bar, or anything else permanentaly affixed, and then clamp it on to your centerlink/tie rod sleeves