I know you all must be so tired of seeing my posts :( but believe it or not I still don't have my suspenion problem worked out :cry . I asked my mechnic for a price to do a total front and back suspenion overhaul...well that's been weeks ago. Now he doesn't even want to do the job....no suspenion work..no alignment work. I can't win here. The next closest mechnic is 25 miles away and I don't know if they can be trusted :nonod:
Does anyone in this forum live close to me,,,,,who knows enough about suspenion problems that would be willing to drive my car and tell me what I need to do? I don't know where else to turn :sad:
I would really hate to sell the car but I am considering it. Why keep it if I'm afraid to drive it....right? :mad
Thanks for listening

 

Teresa. You CAN'T sell it!! :nonod:

I can't recall everything that you've done. have you had a 4 wheel alignment done at a reputable shop recently? A good alignment will probably run around $150 if they're really going to do a thorough job.

Drivign straight down the road, if the road isn't rutted, a good alignment should take care of most things. I'm wondering though if there's something goofy in your steering. Probably not.

Refresh our collective memories of what's happened so far :)

Dave

 

Where is Sweetwater at?
Neil in Tenn

 

Nice car, hope you can hold on till someone helps

 

refresher course on my suspension----car is unstable over 45 mph. wants to swap ends...like driving on uneven pavement....darts and weaves.
Had A-frame bushings put in and a frontend alignment.....alignment guy says can't do 4 wheel alignment til some rear bushings are installed. Mechanic says rear bushings are still good. One won't do what the other thinks they should. I don't know who to believe. I see some cracks in the bushings in the rear. There is some play in the front wheels while on the rack but I don't know how much is too much. Mechanic says everything looks good to him...no need to replace anything further. I was later told this mechanic just didn't want to do the rearend suspension job. It's not like he was going to do it for free.
It still weaves,sways and darts....not as bad....but just as scary. That's why I would like someone who knows Vettes to drive it and give me their opinion. I'm at the end of my rope over this...been going on since September....back and forth....just driving it to the grocery store and back ain't getting it any more. A friend told me to take it to Midas (in a neighboring town). Any one had any dealings with Midas?
Thanks :confused: :cry :( :nonod: :sad:

 

Hey Neil,
Sweetwater is between Knoxville and Chattnooga on I-75. In Monroe Co.

 

Teresa,
First, don't sell the Corvette. And second, this is just like finding a good hair stylist, it's difficult but not inpossible. But first you need to do some very non expensive homework. Find if you can a local car club or if possible a corvette club. And ask them who they recommend for corvette work. Next look through some corvette magizanes and see if there is a Corvette specialist shop anywhere near you, I'm sure there is one somewhere. Then take a drive to them and see what they can do for you in making your car more comfortable to drive. Often there are things that need to be done on a Corvette that it really takes someone who has done it before to understand. And finnally I'm not sure your car is unsafe. I know I have had my corvette for over ten years and everytime I drive it I know just what you mean, It feels so much different than the other car, a ford Taraus that I drive. So I believe that part of this problem is how you feel when driving the car. Hope I have helped. I'll look in NCRS book for a special shop in Tenn. for you.

 

Teresa,

I'm with Killian on this one. If I lived closer to ya I'd be more than willing to help you out...give it a couple days, someone will turn up. Unless there is something just totally out of whack, which hopefully either one of these fellows would have caught, I doubt the Vette is unfit for road use.

I would guess maybe your idler arm is out of kilter or one of your tie rod ends is really sloppy (which usually means all four are). I'm suprised that a mechanic who installed A-arm bushings did not step up and say...'here are some potentially bad pieces'.

Good luck, and if you need help, you know where to find us. :cheers:

 

The mechanic trade is similar to being a TV shop manager, and seriously there is enough work around no one need be crooked, so given that your mechanic is not selling you more parts for your front end tells me there is nothing really gross mechanically with your car....on the front end...
NOW I hear the alignment guy saying the rear is out, needs shime...well the truth of the poopieuatiion on these C3's is that is major work...those shims rust in place and can be a real bitch to work on, really bad, sometimes taking hours with a sawzall or a torch to remove...then go back in with stainless shime/bolts and new bushings....that is if the trailing arms are still good, sometimes it's just as well to change out everything, trouble is, at that point you are out as much a 2 grand...lotsa parts...and hard to say where to stop....
but I"m figgering on the whole mess being new where it counts for that 2 grand...
lotsa mechanics know a good bit about vette rear IRS and the problems...
but few really want to do the job, especially with a fixed cost price thing, that's why he is reluctant to tackel the job....
any car with Independant Rear Suspension is subjject to expensive repairs, allmost as much as an engine job.....more damn moving parts than any right to have, and they are all wear points....

NOW, having said the bad news....you might be just having tire troubles...
sometimes mismatching tires can change charactoristics for the worse...
check for radial tire pull....and other things related...
how's the tire wear??? is it uniform?? the same all over??? or if they are worn funny, that points to alignment...and those rusted shims need be moved for the alignment, hense the mechanic...and all the rest of the mess....

I think getting friends/joining a local vette club will put you miles ahead in solving your problems there....get good intelligent information from them....

try NCRS.org??? or NCCC .org....on the web here for club listings in your area.....

GENE

 

Teresa. When you're driving, does it feel like the back end is loose or that the front end is wandering? My guess from what you described is that it's the back end.

But, I don't like the sounds of a front wheel that has play in it while on the rack. A little play in the steering is one thing (if there's play when you try to turn the wheels while it's on the rack. that COULD just be a simple steering adjustment) but play when you're push/pulling the top or bottom isn't a good thing.

It sounds to me like you need a new mechanic. Your story sounds similar to what I've heard from the guy I USED TO take my car to. I had it to him for a 4 wheel alignment and he didn't touch the rear toe because it's a pain in the butt on these cars. Well no s***! That's why I'm paying YOU to do it! So I'm taking it to a different shop as soon as I get the rear suspension back on it.

Killian has the right idea. See if you can find a local corvette club that can recommend a good shop to you. Have you posted in your regional section? I think it's the southeast section. http://forums.corvetteforum.com/zeroforum?id=42 There's bound to be someone that knows someone who knows something in there.

Wish I was closer. Sounds like something that a little bit of knowledge and some checking would take care of and it's certainly nothing to sell the car over...yet :)

Dave

 

Any play in the front is bad!
A mis aligned rear is also bad.

Neil, You gotta help this girl out, you're the closest man...

I just checked, you not all that close :(
Sweetwater is just south of knoxville, about 200 miles from you....


[Modified by 427V8, 7:57 AM 3/8/2002]

 

Teresa: Don't give up, you just need to find a good corvette mechanic who wants to fix your problem as badly as you do.

A lot of good suggestions above. I've heard that the wider tires, 255/60/15s will have characteristics of instability which you describe more so than the narrower 225/70/15s which were standard. Having said that, believe you should be able to get the car so it's driveable and doesn't scare you to death, even when running the 255/60/15s, if that is what you have up front.

1) Check tie rod ends, idler arm, steering gear box, and rag joint for wear.
2) Check lower control arm bracket which is welded to the crossmember, these fequently crack along the factory welding where they are attached to the crossmember.
3) Check for excessive end play in front wheel bearings
4) If all in front end checks out, go to rear and check for excessive end play in rear wheel bearings.
5) Check for excessively worn stut rod bushings
6) Check for excessively worn trailing arm bushings

Repair / replace above as required, then take to good corvette shop (based upon recommendations of local corvette club members), and get a 4 wheel alignment, and I'll bet your handling problems will be a thing of the past.

Unless you need to perform total rebuild of each rear trailing arm / rear spindle bearing assemblies, no way I see this costing you $2,000, even with the completely rebuilt assemblies, I don't see that much expense.

If possible, suggest you find a local corvette club member who might agree to help you with the repairs, or who might perform them himself for a pretty reasonable amount.

 

Thanks guys, I will start doing my own checking into this problem. I believe I can assist the situation as well as the guys who have already "done" nothing. I will do some checking around and let ya know what I find. :rolleyes:
Thanks for all the info.....but if someone wants to come by and check it out for me...please :yesnod:

 

Teresa-
Try posting your situation in the "Factory Correct Resto" section here. There's alot of NCRS guys that hang there, and they're a great group of people! Ya never know... Good Luck -Rod :chevy

 

Teresa don't sell your car! I didn't read all the post's and I am not a mechanic, but Byrd's frame and alignment shop in Chattanooga is close to you. I had problems with a four wheel alignment at a local shop and they had me thinking my rear wheel bearings were bad. I took it to Byrd's in Chattanooga and they simply aligned the car corectly. They do major fram repair to simple alignments and have been in busness for many years. I would recomend taking the car to them. Hope this helps. :conehead

 

Teresa,

It feels like it's trying to follow the ruts in the road, eh? Been there, felt that. Do you see excess wear toward the insides of the rear tires?

Try reducing your rear tire pressure 5 to 10 pounds and see if that has an effect on the problem. I'm guessing it will make your car feel more stable. Perhaps it will be a workaround to make the car safer until you can work out the problems. Perhaps your tires are overinflated.

It's just a hunch, but it worked once for me. The ultimate problem was excessive toe-in in the rear coupled with too much camber, and actually squirreled up the belts in the tires.

-Noel

 

I am running 255/60/15's all around. These tire have been on for almost
2 1/2 years. I see no sign of uneven wear or wear of any kind. If I had to guess how many miles are on these tires I would say about 3500 miles.(not had much time to drive it and haven't been able to drive it much in the last 6 months) :( This problem only started back in Sept.
Please keep making suggestions and I will keep checking them out. :yesnod:
Thanks again ;) :seeya :crazy:

 

Tersea Something occurred to me while I was on the New Jersey turnpike headed home this evening. If you know, or can contact sometruckers, or truck mechanics, they would know of who is a competent mechanic and what shop is a good one or not. But I'm sure you have a corvette club somewhere nearby and they are good at locating a good shop and one of them would be willing to test drive your vette to let you know if it is OK or not. I am going on to the NCRS website as I am a member and I'm going to request a name of a shop near to you and I'll email it to you later. Hang in there, this is not too big a problem, just arkward.

 

First of all, let me say that this is just a wild guess and may not even be possible.

Do the half-shafts have any side to side movement? I remember reading about somebodies yokes being worn beyond the clips, just wondering if that could be a problem.

How old are your shocks? What about strut rod and leaf spring bushings? Are all of the spring bolts in place?

Also, I have heard that bad trailing arm bushings can cause the problem that you're experiencing. Hopefully you find a place that can check it out for you.

Avery


[Modified by sharklover, 7:19 PM 3/8/2002]

 

Give Byrd's alignment in Chattanooga a call. I am not affiliated with them, but they do good work. They straighten semi frames to car frames. They found my problem no fuss no muss. They have a good reputation. :conehead