when i turn a curve the car is very loose like i have slack in the steering. i currently have 15x8 rims on my car (front and back) i was told that my steering box was worn out from the mileage (166k), and needs replaced.

 

Check the drag link, if that is gone it will give you the same kind of symptoms. I have heard that "your steering box is bad" stuff before..

have someone turn the wheel while you are looking under the car to see if the pitman arm is moving without moving the draglink, any slop at the joint will be pretty obvious. You can also jack up the front and tug at the various components to check for play, though a careful eye with the suspension loaded will tell you more..

Keep in mind at 144k, you will have the pleasure of each of your steering components failing individually over the next few years depending on driving style etc.. when you have the time and money look into a front end rebuild kit..

 

thanks for your reply. back when i bought the car i had new rims and tires put on and the guys said that he could move my A arm up and down. what does that mean?

 

Probably means your A-arm bushing are worn and slopping. There is play in the ears tabs of the a-arms that mount to the chassis- replace the bushings and go from there.

 

Check that the steering box mounting area is not cracked!! Open the hood and have someone turm the wheel, look very carefully to see if the steering box moves! While your at it pull the plastic cover off the rag joint and check that for play too. At 144K either or both are possibilities.

 

i looked under the hood and my brother turned the steering wheel, there is no cracks around were its mounted to, but i have several bushings that are ready to fall out, they are dry rotted.
im just going to replace my struts, steering box, a-arm bushings.
my tyrods are good but i will replace thier bushings as well.

 

Tie rods do not have replaceable bushings, you have to replace the whole piece.

Can't tell if you have an 82 or a 90, if you have an 82 like mine you are also missing a few critical stiffening pieces that will save you later grief.. First a steering brace or "wonderbar" one that fits an 82 can be found at TDS linked at the top of the board..

Second there are three triangular braces that later cars had, two that stiffen the front corners of the subframe, and one that mounts on the other side of the steering box.. they can be had at hawks or fbodymotorsports.. in fact I ordered mine today, they wanted 10$ a piece from hawks..

 

thanks for the reply j's T/A i am working on my 90 camaro rs. the trans am project is on hold for now. how much was the shipping on your wonderbar? ill get one tomarrow.

 

It has whats called a conventional steering system. You need to perform a dry park test. Basically push up on the idle and pitman arm with the wiehgt of the vehicles on the wheels. Now spec for gm is 1/8 inch but because Chevy had to replace so many idler arms the spec for them is 1/4 inch (I would still replace it at 1/8). You can also check for excessive freeplay in the steering wheel move it back and forth within the slack and not to the ppoint of where the wheels turn. This lets you know if there is any perceptable movement in the centerlink or if while turning the wheels the centerlink moves up and down an 1/8 of an inch. Then you can jack up the vehicle and check the wheel bearings. If they have moment I would adjust them. Mine had 1/8 movement so I reseated it and adjusted torque level. With the vehicle use a pry bar and pry up on the wheel to see if the lower ball joint has any movement. If any vehicle equiped with short long arm you don't need a pry bar to check the upper. Also any movement in the tierods are bad. Hope this helps.

 

Can't help you there, mine is off an iroc..

 

Dont know if anyone is still responding to this post. But ive been messing with my suspension and its sloppy as can be so i got some junkyard parts and am unsure how to check them off the car. The one thing i noticed was that where the idler arm connects to the drag link its tight. But where the pitman arm connects to the drag link its all wobbly. Should it be as tight as the idler arm or is there supposed to be that sort of play in it? Which is bad then the drag link?