Chevy-SS

Is there a way to measure steering effort on my 2004 Vette? It feels like I'm driving a truck, like there's almost zero assist coming from the 'power' steering. Plus, there's the whole trammeling thing going on, what with the super-wide tires, which means you have to constantly correct the super-stiff steering. It's not a relaxing drive. I suppose you might want this for a race car, but I ain't never gonna race it.....

I do lift some weights and hike quite a bit, so I'm relatively strong. But I shouldn't need to be Arnie Schwarzenegger to drive this thing around!

I have an accurate electronic fish scale. Would there be some method of measuring steering effort using such a scale?

Thanks, Dave F. in RI

WKMCD

I don't think there is a way to measure the amount of force required to turn the steering wheel. Steering racks have been known to go bad but it's not a common thing. Lift the car and see it the rack, pump, lines are leaking. Another factor is the alignment. That's something I would get checked.

dadaroo

When you say super wide tires, are the front widths larger than stock? Even if they were much larger you should not be having this issue. Sure sounds like you have a power steering issue that could end up being a safety issue if you had to make a sudden lane change. WKMCD pretty much covered what you need to look at. Also make sure the steering fliud level is correct.

I would get the front tires off the ground and see how the steering performs with no road contact. It should be a one finger operation to move the wheels left and right.

sircampsalot2

I feel like mine is harder to turn than what i would expect also but this is the first C5 i have owned or driven so it may just be how they drive and i'm expecting it to turn like a new car or something. I need to go drive someone else's and see if there's a difference.

WKMCD

Before I put on coilovers I ran Z06 springs, bars and Bilstein Sport shocks. I also ran the Z06 alignment specs which give you a little quicker turn in and I didn't notice any more tire wear. Just an idea.

$$$frumnuttin'

Even if you could scientifically measure it you have no standard to compare the numbers with. The engineers have data but it is never made public...usually new parts are the answer.

Chevy-SS

Ahh, ok, that would have been my next question. So even if I get a measurement of say 80 ounces, I have no way of knowing what the factory rated effort should be???

It really sucks, as I love this car but hate driving it around, all because of the excessive (IMHO) steering effort.

This 10-yr-old car only has 23k miles on it. Is it possible that because it sits all winter (every winter), that the seals in the steering rack might be dried up, or maybe a little rust got in there? It does seem worse this year than ever before.

Thanks to all for answering. Much appreciated.

Dave F.

El original

What you are experiencing is not normal. The car has variable ratio power steering which should be easy to steer at low speeds and tighter at high speeds. A good Corvette mechanic would be able to tell you quickly as not that much to go wrong with power steering. Just a thought there are many power steering additives available I would try one that claims to remedy your problem. Good luck and keep us posted. Rob

Suthunman

When I first got my car I thought the steering effort was a bit much. It also tramlined pretty badly. The tires only had 10k miles on them but were 8 year old run flats. After buying new tires it was much better.

Kale

How much power steering fluid do you have left? What's it look like?

$$$frumnuttin'

ok, I've slept on it and have a solution for you. It requires a friend's C5 with no known steering issues. You will be comparing your car to his. Using a yardstick standing upright next to your steering wheel, you will attach via string a weight to the spoke of the wheel as far out to the edge as possible. Front wheels will be off the ground free to rotate with no resistance from the tread meeting the floor/ground. Continue adding weight until you get one inch of movement. That will be the load required to turn the wheel one inch. Do for both vehicles and compare the numbers. I used one inch but that number is not cast in stone, use a larger number if you like. One inch is the standard for spring rates on coil springs etc. So, when you see a spring rated at 500 lbs, it means it takes 500 lbs of load to compress the spring one inch...you get the idea here. The trick will be finding some sort of weight hardware, like big threaded nuts or washers, or whatever, that you can add to the strung up initial weight. Report back to me with your data.

Silverback51

It's real easy to do with your fish scale.

Get a clamp like this.

http://www.mcmaster.com/#u-bolts/=maz8ae

Attach it to the top of your steering wheel and while going slowly, around a right hand 90 degree corner in your neighborhood, have the passenger pull the fish scale which is hooked to the clamp, measure the effort required.

Hopefully you have someone you know with another C5 that you can conduct the same test on and compare the values.

2002BlackMN6

Not trying to point out the obvious but have you driven another C5? That will give you a data point to compare your car to.

Chevy-SS

LOL, some good suggestions, and some interesting ones. Thanks!

I think the easiest thing at this point, is to find someone with a C5 that I can test to compare.

Thanks again.........

Johnz02Z06

If you cant find "someone" then go test drive one...note their tires may not be as wide but it would give you an idea

droid4

Someone else pointed out what these cars have, but
it's called VES (Variable Effort Steering) *not* variable ratio.

GM calls it "MAGNASTEER II".

Steering effort will be increased at higher speeds.
The EBCM is controlling a device on the rack and
pinion assembly. The EBCM is processing vehicle
speed from the ABS sensors.

It's "possible" you have a faulty EBCM (or false
input to it), that's telling the VES to slew to it's
maximum limit value, giving you that higher feel
effort needed to turn the wheel.

Any good vehicle technician should be able to diagnose
it quickly as the root cause, or determine that you have
another power steering / hydraulic issue going on.

Not sure if the VES is faulted hard limit, if it would
throw a code or not. Please let us know what the
fix was.

sircampsalot2

Sounds Plausible....Mine is as hard to turn when going slow as it is when traveling at higher speeds. I checked the DIC and i'm not showing any codes but your not going to turn into a parking spot in my car with one finger for sure....I might need to look into changing out my rack.

Chevy-SS

Very interesting info, thanks!

dadaroo

It could be the pump. There is a way to test this in the FSM but it requires a special pressure analyzer tool. If I could not figure out whether it was a pump or rack, I would replace the pump first since it is easier and cheaper than a rack.

PS: There is one code for the VES. Since you are not getting anything on it or EBCM the system must think it is working correctly.

CactusCat

This one is really simple. Just go test drive either a used C5 on some car lot or a new one at the dealership. You'll know if you need to work on yours afterwards.