I have an 84 Z28 that wanders when the pavement leans a little. It doesn't pull the steering wheel or anything. It just goes wherever the road leans. I have replaced every steering and suspension part I know of except the spindles and pitman arm. All of the front end alignment guys in my area, (and I've seen all of them) say everything is tight and in good order, but it still wanders all over the place. If the road leans right a hair I'm fighting out of the ditch. The other way I'm fighting the yellow line. I also noticed that I have no camber adjustment left. All of the techs say "It's within spec", but the strut tower adjustment is all the way toward the engine and it still cups the outside of the tire with no excessive wear of the inside. I've been fighting this for several years and I'm about to send this bucket to the scrapyard. It vibrates like an air hammer over 70 mph and drifts wherever it feels like. What the hell is wrong with this thing?

 

sounds like something is bent, control arm, k-member, ect. Car was probably slid into a curb at one point and moved something out of place.

 

It had a bent control arm, and I bought new ones, replaced the bushings and ball joints, and put all new hardware under the front. Is there a way to repair a bent k member, or should I just scrap it. I don't think I really have the give a damn left to put a new subframe on it. I'm really frustrated. I've probably spent $1000 on the front end and it still wanders anyway it wants to. Thanks for the k member idea though. Would frame straightener be able to fix the problem?

 

well, the wandering is not related to the possible k-member damage. Could be wear in the steering box, you can adjust it a little with the nut on top of the box, but there is a procedure for doing it that you HAVE to follow, or it would ruin the box.

the k-member is more for the tire cupping and alignment issues.

whats the condition of the strut mounts?

if its wandering that bad it should be pretty obvious what wrong, can you jack up the front of the car, grab a wheel and move it in any direction?

 

That's what I'm saying. I have replaced every single front end suspension and steering part new except spindles and pitman arm. New kyb struts and mounts. I even have a new rag joint. I bought a new gearbox. New bushings. New ends. New joints. Everything is new in the last 2 years. Could the body be loose from the subframe? The bolts are tight. I've inspected every part at least 20 times. Alignment people say it looks fine. Are they giving me an alignment for my dad's old pickup truck?? I took it to a goodyear service center for alignment. Surely they would see a problem that they want to fix if they could.

 

Wheel bearings tight enough? Add some toe in with the alignment.

 

My car does the exact same thing. If the road leans at all I'm fighting to keep it from hitting the ditch. The previous owner did tell me they ran it into a curb so I guess I'll have to look.

Subscribing to this topic to see what your fix is.

 

I've checked the bearings many times. No wobble from the wheel. It has no loose travel when I jack it up and pull on the wheel. Will an alignment shop use specs from a manual? I want it set up like it's supposed to be. I have a service manual. Do they reference that, or just put a general alignment for a passenger car?? My 06 GP handles fine with an alignment from there.

 

They should. Different specs for different cars--IIRC, the specs, for example, are different between a Z28 and an IROC. What size tires/wheels are you using? Fatter tires have a tendency to track the road.

JamesC

 

245/50-16 for the tire size. My IROC with those tires handled like it was on rails though.

 

like i said before, if the strut towers are all the way in to get the car to "stock specs" something is bent still.

do you have the alignment specs by chance that the car is currently set to? did they add any to compensate for the crown of the road?

 

I just told them to align it properly. I don't have an alignment machine.