Hello I have had my 3rd Gen for about 6mo and it has always squealed when pulling in or out of a parking spot and even more during a tight u turn. Now it's to the point where it almost feels like when the wheels are all the way turned the car just skids or slides it feels like. Also the tires looked pretty good up until about 2 weeks ago and now they are totaly bald on outside edges. Any ideas where to start?

89 RS 5.0 Iroc 16 inch stock wheels 245/50r16 all around

 

Yup; since it's inherent in the front end geometry by design (after all, this IS a "sports" sort of car, not a grandma's shopping cart kind of one), and they ALL do that, the place to start is, by avoiding that type of maneuver as much as possible.

 

Have the steering parts and alignment been checked lately?

 

first thing is to ck the alignment you should get your new tires and align at the same time . are the front breaks locking up . sounds like it ,by your squeeling symptoms the front pads have (squeeelers ) on them to warn you when the breaks are going bad so you can replace the rotors before the rivits on yhe pads eat them up so 1-breaks 2-alignment 3- tires with correct air pressure. these things should take care of your problem . depending on hou you drive locking the breaks from40 mph into a turn , will always give you trouble .

 

it's the ackerman angle that's designed into the front suspension- the front wheels don't follow the proper arcs relative to one another at sharper steering angles, so the tires are always fighting each other.
i think you can bend the steering arms to fix it, but i don't know the specifics..

just pretend you are driving a race car and it will be ok.

 

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 that reinforces the steering box mounting area."

The brace mentioned in the last paragraph is a steering box brace, aka, the Wonderbar.

JamesC

 

Thanks everyone for the information. This has helped me to understand whats going on with my car.