JimG73

hello, new member here.

I picked up an 84 with ok mileage recently. I love the car and it's in great shape for the year. It does have the loose steering column which is going to be addressed this coming week. What concerns me more is that the steering tends to wander at any speed over 30-40 mph. It almost feels like it's floating around with a mind of its own. While I'm a newbie to vettes, I don't think the loose column would contribute to this. I know there are things in all cars that contribute to this but my question is Is this a common issue/part failure in the C4 and if so, what's the fix? Any and all input is appreciated.

Thanks,
Jim

ex-x-fire

Check the front end parts & steering shaft carefully. The jack needs to be under the lower control arms to check the ball joints.
If that all checks out then have an alignment done, the 84s had a stock caster spec of 3 degrees. The 87s have a spec of 6 degrees. The front ends are the same between these years & the early cars track better with that later spec.

JimG73

Thank you for the advice. Will do.

C4+3=/=C7

IIRC, there are spacers (stacked washers) on the front upper control arms. '84 and '85 cars have more spacing rearward while '86+ cars have more in the front to allow for the greater positive caster angle. Switching them and realigning with the later spec is free high speed stability (Firestone wouldn't do it for me and the next place aligned the car wrong, but that's another story)

Possibly helpful

Gibbles

Good info for the caster!


And I'll add this since i had the issue with mine,

Is you're steering hard to turn when cold, but gets better when it warms up?

Mine did that and as it got worse the steering got looser...

As i understood the issue, the Early years did not have a power steering fluid cooler, that ended up damaging the racks after a while.

Seems they usually start failing right around 100k, starts with morning sickness, aluminum flakes in the fluid...

After having mine rebuilt, it's a night and day difference.

corvettenorway

thanks for the info

JimG73

Thank you for all the advice. It's going into the shop to have the sloppy steering colum repaired and I will have the alignment done as well. It's an independent shop and I've known the guy for years so I don't see a problem getting it done to 87 specs. There is little, if any steering wheel play and the bushings and ball joints all seem good. I don't have any issues when cold with the steering and no hum or noise out of it. This car was well maintained and anything it needed, it got. I remember in the late 90s I had a Taurus SHO that had a bad alignment done and the result was the car floating around very similar to this so I think the alignment is right on the money. Thanks for the advice.

On a different note, have any of you cross fire guys swapped the intake manifold out, and is it worth it?

​​​​​​​jim

corvettenorway

yes , you can by a renegarde manifoil or port the one on the car .

corvettenorway

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...ld-dynoed.html

JimG73

Thank you. Do you know off hand the gains I would see with that, even if approximate?


​​​​​​​Jim

corvettenorway

https://www.corvetteforum.com/g/album/1347303 pics of my ported manifoil

JimG73

Nice!!!

ex-x-fire

Do you want me to measure the thickness of the stacked shims? I used 1/2 hardened washers when I did mine. It took more time to put them in but I know they will never fall out.

hcbph

When you have the alignment done, be sure to have a 4 wheel alignment done. You want all 4 wheels tracking true and this will do it for you. It can make a world of difference.

WVZR-1

I believe that with an '84 your first concern needs to be the condition of the intermediate-steering shaft. User HRR posted a snapshot in this thread for a potential "visual" but the visual is NOT a confirmation of it's condition.

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...-wander-q.html

JimG73

Thank you. I've read into it a bit and it appears to be the rubber anti shock bushing down near the steering rack. Is that correct? I've also read that due to unavailability of parts, some people are havong a pin pressed in there and/or welding it. Is this correct?


Thanks,
jim

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JimG73

I appreciate it but don't go nuts. I have a very capable mechanic.

Thanks,
jim

​​​​​​​QUOTE=ex-x-fire;1594177010]Do you want me to measure the thickness of the stacked shims? I used 1/2 hardened washers when I did mine. It took more time to put them in but I know they will never fall out.[/QUOTE]

Gibbles

I have the renegade intake on my car, i also have other mods done along with that...

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JimG73

Sweet. I don't want to go too nuts because I've got the 4+3 but I'd def consider swapping out the manifold.


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Gibbles

And that intermediate steering shaft thing, on my list if things to figure out!!!

For my car, when my rack started going out, the car became super hard to turn when cold, finally the steering wheel started slipping it's position.

It became a non issue once everything was fixes, but every so often it would move and my wheel would end up cocked.
I would just straighten when the car was off, and not give it a second thought.

Lately it had started happening more often... And sure enough that silly little pin is crooked.

That saved me some time!
I thought i would need to do a full tear down to find the issue...