Steering has a mind of its own

[87SC/SS]

Wondering if anyone has some insight on a problem I'm having. I've been having problems with the my '94 3.4 Camaro pulling rather abruptly. Anytime there is a bump or the crown in the road changes the car pulls in that direction, and I don't mean drift, I mean pull. I actually have to fight it to keep it straight. If I make a lane change at 30+ mph, when I begin to turn the wheel, the car will start to turn ever so slightly and then all of the sudden pull in the direction I have the wheel turned. It feels like it has bad tie rods, but they're brand new. To remedy this as well as make some upgrades I've done the following:

- Installed 98+ brakes (knuckles, rotors, calipers, etc)
- Replaced both of the lower control arms with OE units and installed new ball joints
- Replaced both tie rod ends
- Installed all new poly-urethane bushings
- Had an alignment done

The rack has maybe 50,000 miles on it as I replaced it a while back. The rack, shocks and springs are the only parts that aren't brand new. It has original shocks and springs. Car has 180,000 miles on it.

I have a '95 3.4 Firebird and don't have any of these problems, but it also only has 100,000 miles on it.

Any thoughts?

Thanks,
Brian.

[ssms5411]

Re: Steering has a mind of its own

Upper A arm bushings or bad tires maybe they should of checked your A arms when you had a allighnment though but I guess some shops don't.

[timthescarred]

Re: Steering has a mind of its own

Could be a problem with your power steering, jack up the front of the car, start it and rev through the RPM range, if the steering turns itself up in the air you probable need a new power steering pump.

[87SC/SS]

Re: Steering has a mind of its own

Aren't the upper a arms the same as upper control arms? If so I already replaced them with poly-urethan units. I think I'm going to take it to another alignment shop. From what I'm reading, if caster alignment isn't correct it would cause exactly what I'm experiencing.

Thanks for the feedback ssms.

[truekoa]

Re: Steering has a mind of its own

I'm getting the same thing but I have bald front tires and I'm blaming it on that until I get them replaced.

[Blizzard242]

Re: Steering has a mind of its own

My 98 pulls badly into any inconsistency in the road. Little grooves on the highway, anything. I think ever since I had an alignment done after I installed the tube K it's been doing this. Tireman is worthless.

[Pewter02Camaro]

Re: Steering has a mind of its own

Personally i am going to go with improper alignment, where did you have it done? One place i took it to had absolutly no clue and didn't even know where the points of adjustment where. Long story short I refuse to take mine anywhere but a chevy dealership.

[Jaysan]

Re: Steering has a mind of its own

I have the same problem . But You can check the alignment by going about fifty miles an hour and slamming on your brakes . Let go of the steering wheel though and if it pulls then the alignment is faulty

[cam98aro]

Re: Steering has a mind of its own

I have the same problem . But You can check the alignment by going about fifty miles an hour and slamming on your brakes . Let go of the steering wheel though and if it pulls then the alignment is faulty

not really, one of the brakes could be grabbing more than the other

[nascar24jd]

Re: Steering has a mind of its own

Sounds like bad tires to me.

[truekoa]

Re: Steering has a mind of its own

Thread hijacking....

I know that in the rear, the driver side sits a little higher than the passenger side to compensate for when the driver gets in the car.

However, my car's rear is dead even on both sides if anything, the driver side is a tad lower. What could this be? shocks/springs?

[Slowside]

Re: Steering has a mind of its own

Sorry for the dig. But my car also does this. And I just drove 300 miles to OU to party my **** off. And I brought one person with me. They sat shotgun, and my car didnt pull like it would normally have. Also check your tire pressure and if the bolts are tight or not.

[Slowside]

Re: Steering has a mind of its own

This is why this site blows, No one knows enough. The mods are not even around to supply information.


Could this be wheel bearing related.

[mrhobbz]

Re: Steering has a mind of its own

This is why this site blows, No one knows enough. The mods are not even around to supply information.


Could this be wheel bearing related.

your attitude blows.

[madforce10]

Re: Steering has a mind of its own

most likely sounds like a rag joint. can you shake your steering wheel about an inch or so and the car wont move? my s10 has the same set up and does the same thing. what happens is your not able to keep firm control of the wheels because of the rag joint is designed to reduce road viberations but they get soft really fast andcause slack in the steering. it could also be a wheel bearing but thats easy to check all you have to do is jack up the front end and push and pull on the wheel to see if it will move.