Kramterrab

Hi everybody,

I just put my 2000 on the road after winter storage. I had it on jack stands with the wheels off over the winter. It now has torque steer and never had it before. The only thing I did was install the wheels/tires in the exact same positions. Air pressure is on the money. Car has 28,000 miles, and like I said was perfect when I put it in storage last November.
I read other post on what to look for. Strange thing it just happened immediately after storage. Could something have moved with the suspension hanging over the winter?

Thanks
Kramterrab

1999corvettels1

So when you romp on it, it pulls to one side?

Maybe it just needs to stretch it's legs, find a empty parking lot do some 8 patterns?

Maybe the differential clutches are acting up, broken plastic sway bar links, you sure the tires have the arrows pointing forward?

Kramterrab

Yes it pulls to one side. I just came back from the garage. I crawled underneath and checked the sway bar links, tie rod ends and looked at camber adjusters. Al seemed tight. That's with car on the ground and just using my puny arms to wiggle the parts. Tomorrow I'll jack up the back and look closer. By hanging all winter, maybe toe, camber, etc is out. I don't know. I've stored my previous c4 like this with no problems. Oh yea, tire rotation direction is fine.

grantv

I could almost (well, even then not really) see that IF you had both left off and both right on or vice versa. Are you sure the wheels are all seated right? Does it pull at higher speed? Rear end issues is what pops into my head...

1999corvettels1

A caliper that is dragging?

JrRifleCoach

Try driving the car in a tight circle.
First one direction then the other.
Might be the clutch plates need to exercised.

jjc508520

I've noticed this in my '00 since I got it. I've had it aligned and replaced sway bar end links.

Kramterrab

The wheels are torque to 100ft/lbs and are seated. I'm going to check the rotational resistance on each side with a torque wrench. If one side shows hardly no resistance, I'll zero in on the differential. If that check seems ok, I'll drive it in a few slow circles left and right. Weird.

Thanks

CaseyJones

If you let the suspension hang I'd check the shocks on the rear as well as taking the car to a big, empty parking lot and drive in figure eights to get lube back up into the clutch pack in the differential.

Kramterrab

The rotational resistance is about the same on each side. Wheel bearings are nice and tight, upper and lower control arms seem tight, as does the
support rod. This is good I think. I'll take it to a parking lot and do some figure 8s.

Later

Cybermind

Question: Why would you let the suspension hang over the winter? Don't know of anyone doing that anymore. It is an unnatural position for the suspension and drive components, especially for such a long period of time. Even my friends that own expensive collector cars don't do that anymore.

I don't think it caused any damage but it definitely did you no good. Having said that, I would check your shocks to make sure you don't have a blown/leaking shock.

Kramterrab

I did circles in a parking lot and still have the problem. By extending the shocks over the winter could that alone ruin a shock. I don't detect any oil leaking from either shock. The car drives just like it always did until you accelerate. Although when accelerating I notice what seems like a dip in the right rear, but that might be just perception on my part. I got it up on stands and it sure seems like everything is tight. The car is not abused. I bought it 2 years ago with 12,000 miles on it. It's not hole shot,
power shifted or anything like that. I just wind it up once and a while. I'm 64 and live in prime deer country in Wisconsin you would be nuts to drive recklessly around here.

Kramterrab

I just came back from a ride. when accelerating, if you give it no steering input, the car will veer to the left every time. I did a WOT roll on in first. You can hang on to it, but when sifting to second the car doesn't settle back down strait. That's the only way I can describe it.

Bluefire

I can't prove it but I swear that my car stopped doing that when I dumped the transverse leaf springs and went to C/O's.

grantv

So:
Accelerating; pulls.
Decel; doesn't pull.
Coasting; doesn't pull.
If so, I'd say it has to be drive train. Motor, tranny, torque tube, nope IMO. They wouldn't cause a pull.
Rear end... thoughts?

leadfoot4

Just for grins, switch your rear tires, side to side, then go for a ride. Maybe one of your rear tires has shifted a belt.

JrRifleCoach

Two things that may be the problem.
1. Slipping LSD. Go out and do a burnout. Two stripes. Goto 2.
2. Letting the suspension hang may have upset the rubber bushings changing toe or thrust angles.
Let the car settle for a month to set the bushings then get an alignment.

Kramterrab

I have an appointment next week at a shop specializing in Corvettes. I told them about the torque steer and said that problem should be rectified before an alignment. Question; when looking at each camber eccentric, one side is rotated about 20 degrees different from the other side. that's just looking at each adjuster. Does that seem right? I'm going to put the car back on the floor and use a level placed vertically on the edge of each tire to see how the bubbles on each side compares.

Kramterrab

I moved each rear wheel to the other side. It now torque steers to the opposite side. It's a tire issue. which tire I don't know. They are Michelin pilot AS zero pressure. I think the reason you can't see a shifted belt is because the side walls are as thick as a skid loader's tires. When I bought the car 2 years ago it came with brand new tires. They have 16,000 miles on them. It's time to buy a portable air compressor, and a tire repair kit, and I think I'll go with non run flats. Thanks for all the help.

kramterrab

grantv

Good to hear it's solved...