"rocking" from my 95

[SHOfun 93]

Well I have posted this before about the 95 having a "rocking" back and forth at highway speeds and most surmised it to be worn or loose Sway bar bushings....well....

..they're fine...now some other possibilities. Could it be a bad VAPS module? If so, I could swap one out from my 93 and see if that makes any difference. Next is possibly the VSS? The car shows no other signs of VSS failure (loss of CC, odd shifts, etc etc..) so that is closer to the bottom. Last but not least, is the possibility of a bad Rack and Pinion. I sure as **** hope not, because that will be more in labor than what it is worth for me to fix it now....

Thoughts guys??? rant

I guess to further clarify what is happening, after reading the post it seemed very vague.

The car after reaching certain highway speeds, will all of a sudden veer slightly side to side. Holding the wheel in a perfectly still position doesn't help, and the veering is subtle.

There isn't any physical signs in the steering wheel of damage or vibrations, so that is out. It seems to be something either electronic, or in the rack itself. Have at it boys! (and Bizzy)

<small>[ December 17, 2003, 12:26 PM: Message edited by: SHOfun 93 ]</small>

 

[AutoSHO]

Lower Ball Joints or Wheel Bearings. Jack up the front end and try to rock everything up and down and side to side, should be able to find a culprit.

 

[SHOfun 93]

Chris,
If it is either of those, what kind of costs am I looking at for repair?

 

[AutoSHO]

I honestly have no idea... I'm sure someone else will chime in.

 

[sdpatt]

You can check the ball joints, wheel bearings and tie rod ends for wear and play before deciding if they need to be replaced. How are the subframe bolts and bushings? What tires are mounted and what is the wear pattern on them? Does this happen on a specific place on the highway (grooves) or in all situations?

 

[shobikes]

I'm with Scott on this one - I would first look at subframe bushings and bolts. My car would float around before I put the alloy bushings in, as the stock ones were BLOWN OUT.

Then, as is happening on my '89, take a look at the REAR control arm bushings. I'm waiting on GTP arms, but in the meantime I have about 1/8-1/4" of side-side wheel motion from sloppy POS stock stamped control arm BS bushings. This makes the car rather unstable at highway speeds, esp in water or wind, or grooved pavement.

 

[SHOfun 93]

All bushings were checked when I last had the car's underbody checked with the rear sway bar bushings. The car has aluminum subframe bushings on it, so now I am leaning toward possibly the wheel bearings or something else.

 

[fatak]

This may be a long shot but it's worth considering. I rebuilt the front end of a corvette once and of course everything was new when I reassembled it. at cruising speed the car would "wander" or "hunt" as I called it. everything was tight but I had not had it aligned yet. (It is a restoration so I was in no hurry) When I was having it aligned the shop owner explained to me how the 'hunting' was probably due to the incorrect toe-out that was a result of my rebuild. He told me that at speed going in a straight line the car tires will sense the slightest waves, or grooves, in the road and the car will go side to side without moving the steering wheel.

After realignment the car drove much better (I have since stripped it down for a frame-off restoration). Although I'm sure you have better tires and the effects are probably different for FWD vs RWD alignment is a cheap possibility.

Just something to consider...

 

[SHOfun 93]

also, my alignment guy, after the 4 wheel alignment he gave me, said that there are camber adjustment kits on the car that might have something to do with it as well...I think they came with the Eibach springs from the previous owner.... headbang