QwikC

Intend to replace factory setup with Tubular "Rear Toe Links" with Spherical Rod Ends. Does anyone know of a vendor/manufacturer? TIA

RAFTRACER

I assume that you are talking C5/C6......

Try Zip prodcuts.....

www.zip-corvette.com/ProductDetails/Kits/StaticKitDetails.aspx?KitItemID={5114a9a a-e641-4b9a-b020-344b36de71b6}&gid={41c64170-3967-49ce-9626-298972b09a09}&GroupName=Lowering+Kits&pn ame=97-10+REAR+BUMP+STEER+KIT&Referer=&Alias=&p tct=SGR-SR&CTitle=&

QwikC

Yes it's a C6. Tried your suggestion (link) to no avail, received the following...

The Product with Id '{5114a9a a-e641-4b9a-b020-344b36de71b6}' does not exist.

0C5stein

What net benefit are you looking to attain? The factory piece does such a good job with very low failure rate.

Baer Brakes bump steer kit can be used on the rear as well as the front.
http://www.baer.com/products/tie-rods/index.php
We have 'em in stock.

Are you looking to adjust (decrease or induce) bump steer?

davidfarmer

go to http://www.zip-corvette.com and search for "bump steer" It's the 2nd and 3rd choices

joe@zip

There was a space in the URL above, should be here:

C5 & C6 Corvette Rear Bump Steer Kit

QwikC

No objection to the factory pieces, simply want to improve on the existing setup, having a custom set made...



Thanks for the replies.

rfn026

I think this is about wanting to spend money - not making an improvement. There is almost NO bump steer in the C6. Adding the kit will give you bump steer.

Have you actually measured your bump steer?

Keep in mind the more adjustablility you have the greater the chances you have of screwing the car up.

Richard

QwikC

However your assumption for want to spend money is incorrect, you are quite right about the C6’s almost NO bump steer.

Alignment shop has notified me that it’s unnecessary and therefore I’ve since abandoned the idea of improvement.

Thanks for the input.

Zip Corvettes

???
Adding the kit will give you bump steer??? Actually the C5/6 do have some bump steer. Almost no bump steer is not no bump steer. Who did the alignment, we have a hunter alignment machine and it can't check for bump steer. The kit can only give you bump steer if you do not install them correctly.
The reason I made these were for the adjustability, but you have to know what you are doing and they come with very detailed instructions. Also the factory tie rod ends wear out very quickly under hard use is race tracks.

Jaymz

Danny and I installed the ZIP Products bumpsteer kit on our cars this spring. The kit works great. I would of at least changed one or two tie rods by now and the parts with the ZIP kit work great and are still solid.

dfinke23

What's the price on these?

Coldmale

Agreed that this looks like a great opportunity to spend money and mess up the car

But I do have a rear end that is twitchy, particularly under acceleration. I always thought it was induced toe-out, but could it be bump steer?

John

Zip Corvettes

John,
It sounds like you have tie rod that is worn out in the rear, it is not bump steer you are experiencing but torque steer. This happens when either the inner or outer tire rod wears out. Our kit will fix that issue.

0C5stein

John,
As Jabbott said, it sound like you either have worn tie rod end(s). Another possibility would be a loose lower ball joints or worn or loose wheel bearing hub.

It wouldn't be bump steer because C5s & C6s intentionally toe in under compression (ever so slightly) stabilizing the car in cornering.
We have seen Lower ball joints on the rear loosen up from hard launches. And have seen the bolts streach or soosen up that hold the wheel bearing assembly to the spindle upright (Knuckle) from hard cornering with sticky tires.

The way to check it out is to jack the back of the car up, secure it with Jack stands (I always need to remind people of this obvious step according to my friend the laywer), Grab ahold of the rear wheel at the front and back and try to wiggle it back and forth, If you can feel it moving then inlist the help of a friend. While one places their hand on the tie rod end, wiggle it again, if you feel movement then do Tie rod ends, if not...
Place a hand on lower ball joint and give it a wiggle again, if that moves then find a 21mm wrench and tighten it up (these joints rarely fail, they just loosen up). If not
..Place fingers on back side of hub bearing, if that wiggles, you have loose hub bolts.
If is is still moving and hub flange is secure against upright knuckle, then the play is in the hub bearing or the flange of the hub bearing is failing.

0C5stein

Oh, checking bump steer on a C5 and C6 is a PITA but it can be done on an alignment rack.
You are most interested in bump from ride height, usually one inch of extension to one inch of compression.
Set up you alignment heads and note toe readings...
Extension is easy, just raise the car up one inch and note the new toe readings.
To compress the suspension, I just fashion my own "Pull down rig" by employing a come-along and winch the thing down one inch. (It takes about 1000 - 1500# of pulling force). On a race car with coil-overs we just take the springs out, but getting the transverse leaf springs out and back in takes too long. Then take your toe readings again.

The difference in extension toe and compression toe is your amount of bump steer. You need to realize that not all bump steer is bad. Sometimes it makes the car handle better, so don't just arbitrarily eliminate bump steer. Example, let's say that your car understeers entering a corner and oversteers on exit. You could adjust bump in the rear so that it bumps out on extension and bumps in on compression, this would help the car on initial turn in under braking and tighten up on exit. But there is no free lunch, the back of the car might be a little loose under braking.
Same goes for the front, just in reverse.

Coldmale

Great info. So I note the new toe readings!!.. Lets assume I set rear toe at say 0.1deg. After I jack it up 1", what sort of chagne do I conserd bad? Or should it not change at all?

John

0C5stein

If starting measurement is 0.10 and you raise it an inch, is will most likely change to read somewhere between 0.05 and zero.
I don't think that you are getting what I'm saying. Toe change (Bump steer)through the range of suspension travel, in itself, is not necessarily a bad thing.

And more importantly, your bump steer does not increase or decrease as parts wear out! So if you are worried about a worn part causing bump steer... ...stop looking, cause "there is no gold prospecting there." Bump steer is a function of suspension design, ride height, and pick-up point location (Steering Knuckle arc, with relation to tie rod end arc), not parts wear!

Coldmale

I am not worried about wear, but I am worried about lowering.

I have lowered the car

At front with 265 x 35 x 18 MPSCs, it is 26" to u/s of the wheel arch

At back with 325 x 30 x 19 MSPCs it is 26-3/4"

Thaose are both lower than stock

I will go below the car and check if the lower arms have gone greater than horizontal.

The car is going to an alignment shop later this week. The shop deals with single seaters, caterims and westfields in particular so they will know about bump steer. They wont now about corvette and they wont know what is acceptable or not - hence my question.

If the change in toe is say greater than "x", then do I raise the car again until it becomes less than "x"?

If so, what is "x"?

Thanks

John (Bahrain)