81 vette steering problem...help!
 

Hello people!

I'm brand new here and just bought a 1981 Corvette. I had all 4 tires replaced, lower ball joints replaced and a 4 wheel alignment. All of the rest of the suspension seems to check out just fine. The problem I am having is difficult to explain... The steering seems super-sensitive to the left or right. Sorta feels like the car is almost balancing on a single wheel, centered, in the front of the vehicle and when you even think about turning left or right, it GOES- at highway speeds I'm pretty sure it would roll over if the driver wasn't gripping the wheel with white knuckles.

Any ideas? Please help!

Thanks,

Mike

RE: 81 vette steering problem...help!
 

Could be several things... top two in my book would be alignment (specifically camber if it doesn't drift when driving a straight line), and second would be in the rear end, trailing arms. If the trailing arms have loose bushings, or your rear suspension has too much play somewhere else, you will get over-steer.

bill.

RE: 81 vette steering problem...help!
 

Hi , do you have a before and after from the alignment, lets look at the numbers and see what could be the problem. PG.

RE: 81 vette steering problem...help!
 

Ya pg, a look at the numbers would help.
It sounds to me like too much toe in. Not every alignment shop can do a Vette. They can be tricky boogers to align.

RE: 81 vette steering problem...help!
 

Thanks for the replies. Here are the numbers:

Front Left
camber before: -0.3 after: 0.4 Specified Range: 0.0 to 1.5
caster before: 3.3 after: 1.7 Specified Range: 1.3 to 3.3
toe before: -0.52 after: 0.26 Specified Range: 0.13 to 0.38
sai before: 7.7 after: 6.7
included angle before: 7.4 after: 7.1

Front Right
camber before: -0.4 after: 0.3
caster before: 2.7 after: 2.5
toe before: 0.92 after: 0.28
sai before: 7.9 after: 6.9
incld angle before: 7.4 after: 7.2

Front
cross camber before: 0.1 after: 0.1 specified range: -0.5 to 0.5
cross caster before: 0.6 after: -0.8 specified range: -0.5 to 0.5
cross sai before: -0.2 after: -0.2
total toe before: 0.40 after: 0.54 specified range: 0.25 to 0.75

Rear Left
camber before: -0.1 after: 0.1 specified range: -0.5 to 0.5
toe before: -0.28 after: 0.09 specified range: 0.00 to 0.13

Rear Right
camber before: -0.8 after: 0.1
toe before: 0.24 after: 0.08

Rear
cross camber before: 0.7 after: 0.0
total toe before: -0.04 after: 0.17 specified range: 0.00 to 0.25
thrust angle before: -0.26 after: 0.00

As I mentioned in my first post, the suspension (both front and rear) was checked out during the alignment and everything was fine, except for the lower ball joints so I had them replaced.

Could this problem be due to a bad power steering control valve or a bad power steering slave cylinder?

Thanks again for the help~

Mike

RE: 81 vette steering problem...help!
 

Check for play in the power steering control valve and in the steering box itself. Wide tires can also make your 'Vette twitchy on the highway.

RE: 81 vette steering problem...help!
 

Sounds like it ready for a race track to me.:DP/S control valve, mabey?and the im guessing it did not do this before the alignment. make sure it was a reputable mechanic and not some dirt ball who doesnt know the firs thing about corvettes, I only have my car aligned at GM and by the attending corvette mechanic there. so you may need to go to GM to get the bad alignment "fixed". and please do remember that people doalign cars wrong every day.

RE: 81 vette steering problem...help!
 

Hi again, my car LF toe RF toe
.14 .17
Your car .26 .28
Rear camber-my car -0.4 -0.1
Your car 0.1 0.1
See if those specs will give you a better ride. And check the things everyone mentioned, and the lash on the steering box, have someone move the steering wheel while you look at the pittman arm, make sure it does not go up and down before it goes left or right. Hope this helps, PG.

RE: 81 vette steering problem...help!
 

"........remember, that people doalign cars wrong every day. "

......and on some days, they'll do 2 or 3, ......maybe even more. :D

DeeVeeEightmentioned "Tires" ? :eek:Yup, your right. Tires play a big part.
I have 60's on the front, 50's on the rear, and don't have any probs. I wanna go with 50's on all 4 corners. I'll be lookin' for a good vette shop for alignment, no Big "O" for me. ;)

( or,.......how about I go for a full 14" on all 4's? Hoosiers,
Mickey Thompson's? HMMmmmm.........:eek:)

bill, hit it right on the nose. The whole suspention system ( tires included ) comes into play.
That's what I love about Vettes, you can really make them babies handle, and.... perform. [sm=bounceybounce.gif]

RE: 81 vette steering problem...help!
 

If it handled fine before the tire change, ball joint replacement and alignment then it would be logical to assume that it has to be one of those three things. It's possible to get a bad tire but not very likely. Same with the ball joint. That leaves the alignment and as others here have said, people do align cars wrong every day. I got a bad alignment on my Camry this summer at the tire store. It drove fine at slow speeds but pulled left like mad above 50mph.

The exception would be if the mechanic damaged something else during the ball joint replacement or alignment procedure. Sometimes during alignment, and especially on older cars, they have to bang some stuff to get it loose enough to move. 25 year old rubber bushings can get damaged easily under those conditions.

None of that really helps does it? I guess my only real advice is a repeat of what others have said here: find a competent vette mechanic and have him look it over.