When I go to turn sharp into a parking space or something my tires squeal and I gotta give the car more gas to like make it turn. Is this a normal 3rd gen thing? or is there something wrong? could a bad wheel bearing be the cause or something? BTW its a 85 Iroc with no special mods all stock and prolly the original steering parts underneath.

 

its a design flaw in the front steering, this is normal, and more prevalent on cars with 16x8 and wider wheels.

A poorly done alignment, or car being out of alignment, will make this worse, so something to have checked.

 

Are you sure it's the tires squeeling and not the power steering pump belt? Maybe your PS pump, or belt, or both need replaced.

 

ill have to look into that. how do you check them to see whether they are good or bad?

 

If your car is 'pushing' or 'hopping', I'd suggest that you maneuver the car so as to avoid the issue (which stresses the steering box area). IROC's have the Wonderbar, but for protection's sake....

The following is from How to Tune and Modify your 1982-1998 Camaro by Jason Scott:

"The problem stems from high forces transmitted from the steering box to the chassis, especially under low-speed cornering, such as when maneuvering around a shopping mall parking lot. Fat performance tires present a great deal of resistance at low speeds, which imparts considerable stress into the steering system, and ultimately attempts to rip the steering box from its mounting surface--especially during "full-lock" turns, where steering torque is greatest. Over time, these forces weaken the chassis surface around the steering box and can result in torn metal.

"Whether the chassis is weakened or torn at the steering box, the result is the same--steering actions are delayed while the chassis flexes, leading to unresponsive and erratic steering. Ironically, though the damage stems from low-speed steering, the resulting problem is far more serious at high speeds than low ones.

"It is possible to repair the damaged area, though the best solution is to avoid the problem in the first place by installing a brace [Wonderbar] that reinforces the steering box mounting area."

JamesC