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One-finger steering is very true. That's why I used the Cadillac comparison...way too easy for a sports car.
I have the kit to rebuild the P/S control valve as well as the pump and slave cylinder.
These are the components I'm talking about. When I took it apart it looked like this:
I didn't even realize it was two pieces until the next day when it had finally come apart with some force from the internal spring, spreading parts about the area. Then it looked like this. There is also a strong small diameter spring that is not shown inside the larger piston.
The two had got stuck together with rust and I had to polish the inside diameter of the larger piston to get rid of the rust ring inside of it.
I had a similar issue with mine after the alignment shop got done with it. Went to a major tire store in my area. I even gave them the VBP specs to use. The car drove ok getting their but you could hear the tires scuffing making corners on the way there.
I did replace every thing front to rear with a full VBP kit the alignment was so bad the rear would get real twitchy. I found a mom and pop shop familiar with Vettes and they did an excellent job car is like night and day now.
I have all poly bushings, offset tubular upper and lower arms, dual mount mono spring front and rear, offset trailing arms, spreader bar, heim end struts, matched sway bars,QA1 shocks,
I had a similar issue with mine after the alignment shop got done with it. Went to a major tire store in my area. I even gave them the VBP specs to use. The car drove ok getting their but you could hear the tires scuffing making corners on the way there.
I did replace every thing front to rear with a full VBP kit the alignment was so bad the rear would get real twitchy. I found a mom and pop shop familiar with Vettes and they did an excellent job car is like night and day now.
I have all poly bushings, offset tubular upper and lower arms, dual mount mono spring front and rear, offset trailing arms, spreader bar, heim end struts, matched sway bars,QA1 shocks,
You've gone to the opposite end of the spectrum from my car. Mine is restored to be "original" appearing. Unfortunately, that often means less than stellar performance (read "old"). Looking back, I sort of wish I had done the upgrades you did. My bank account prevented that though.
I must say that I am impressed. This is my first time posting on Corvette Forum and the response has been fantastic! You folks have really stepped up and offered some suggestions I hadn't considered and information I hadn't seen. I wish now that I had joined sooner! Thank you all so much!
These are the components I'm talking about. When I took it apart it looked like this:
I didn't even realize it was two pieces until the next day when it had finally come apart with some force from the internal spring, spreading parts about the area. Then it looked like this. There is also a strong small diameter spring that is not shown inside the larger piston.
The two had got stuck together with rust and I had to polish the inside diameter of the larger piston to get rid of the rust ring inside of it.
This is certainly something I will watch for when I do my rebuild.
My experience with alignment providers hasn't been all that good. They frequently miss parts that need replacing, and have many times told me to replace parts that weren't bad. Now I take our cars to a local mechanic that I trust for this sort of thing. He never misses a bad part, and he knows how to tell the difference. I could tell you a longer story about this and my F-150, but it boils down to the preceding.
You've gone to the opposite end of the spectrum from my car. Mine is restored to be "original" appearing. Unfortunately, that often means less than stellar performance (read "old"). Looking back, I sort of wish I had done the upgrades you did. My bank account prevented that though.
I was just very fortunate. I found great deals on most of my parts. Most had never been used. I did a lot of research and needed to update my rusty and dry rotted bushings so it was fairly easy for me.
when I did take the car to the Mom and pop shop they found loose bolts in the trailing arms, shims missing and the rear toe not set correct .I am using the VBP specs I believe have three recommended alignment specs. I believe I am right in the middle. I just upgraded to 18" wheels so hopefully it will be better handling.
Yup a lot of great folks here with a wealth of knowledge.
My 76 has had every suspension component replaced. A good 4 wheel alignment was done. And yet, the car feels very light in the front end. More like Cadillac steering as opposed to a Corvette. Any small input to the steering wheel makes the car feel nearly out of control at highway speeds. It wants to wander. Going into a corner hot makes it feel like the rear end want to break loose.
The only thing not replaced are the rear cross member bushings. Any ideas? I'm stumped.
Were the front springs replaced? Eight hours with no result on your alignment sounds like something is not right OR your align guy doesn't know vettes. What is the ride height dimensions of the car. Can be found in the Chevy service Manual. See where you are there.
When I first got my car, the PO had replaced the front and rear springs. He did not seat the left front spring in the pocket so the car sat cockeyed. So the genius goes to the right rear and shims the spring bolt to frame to make the car sit even. Only trouble was that the car was DEATHLY squirrelly. All over the road and forget a turn above 30 mph. Probably why he sold it...Once I fixed the spring issues and threw an alignment on it and bingo .....tracked perfectly! Best of luck with this....take your time....check everything twice.
Fred
Last edited by vettefred; Mar 2, 2016 at 08:40 PM.
Were the front springs replaced? Eight hours with no result on your alignment sounds like something is not right OR your align guy doesn't know vettes. What is the ride height dimensions of the car. Can be found in the Chevy service Manual. See where you are there.
When I first got my car, the PO had replaced the front and rear springs. He did not seat the left front spring in the pocket so the car sat cockeyed. So the genius goes to the right rear and shims the spring bolt to frame to make the car sit even. Only trouble was that the car was DEATHLY squirrelly. All over the road and forget a turn above 30 mph. Probably why he sold it...Once I fixed the spring issues and threw an alignment on it and bingo .....tracked perfectly! Best of luck with this....take your time....check everything twice.
Fred
Fred, is that a '72? I had one when it was only a year old. A fantastic car, turbo Porches and Panteras couldn't keep up.
Have you assessed the state of the A-arm bushings and ball joints?
If all the suspension and steering stuff (including the ragjoint) are OK, then your "twitchy" problem is likely due to the front wheel TOE being set to ZERO (truly parallel front tires). With these relatively small cars and big, wide tires, the front wheels MUST have about 3/32" (+/- 1/32") of toe-IN to keep the front end from wandering around.
If the alignment guy set them to 'neutral', the car will jerk around on any irregularities in the road surface.
Have you assessed the state of the A-arm bushings and ball joints?
If all the suspension and steering stuff (including the ragjoint) are OK, then your "twitchy" problem is likely due to the front wheel TOE being set to ZERO (truly parallel front tires). With these relatively small cars and big, wide tires, the front wheels MUST have about 3/32" (+/- 1/32") of toe-IN to keep the front end from wandering around.
If the alignment guy set them to 'neutral', the car will jerk around on any irregularities in the road surface.
Hmm. Interesting. I'm almost positive the guy set the toe in at zero (whatever is in the book). Several other folks here have suggested setting the toe in at 1/8" total but I wasn't sure if that would help. When you mention irregularities in the road, the lights came on. Grooves on the interstate are like auto pilot. The car goes where it wants to. Spooky.
I have replaced the A arm bushings and ball joints (5K miles ago).
Thanks,
Im having the EXACT same issue. Exact same situation. Everything is new (suspension, ball joints, bushings, PS valve....the whole 9 yards). The problem is NOBODY does alignments on older cars here so I took it to a local 'old school' kind of garage who said they had some experience with Vettes. The owner reported similar issues, it took him quite some time to get the back end set up.
My car is nervous as hell at highway speeds and Im afraid to take my off the road for a millisecond.
The number of shims he used on the front A Arms also varies greatly between driver and pass side, so I suspect my frame may have been tweaked at one point as well. (This is based on several contributing facts)
Im thinking Im going to try and add some shims for more negative camber this summer. I figure the car is probably currently set up at 0, and I need maybe 1 to 2 degrees negative. Ill find out this spring.
Jimmy, I had several metal cars aligned at the Firestone shop on Broadway. Again, not a Corvette but they always did good work.
You can do a field test on your power steering control valve with front jacked up and supported on stands. With the engine running, turn the steering wheel about 90°, and release, it should return to the straight position. Do this for both left and right.
Last edited by 68-427Rich; Mar 3, 2016 at 01:28 PM.
Hmm. Interesting. I'm almost positive the guy set the toe in at zero (whatever is in the book).
That's extremely unlikely unless the correct toe created a problem he didn't mention. FWIW, if you want to find an alignment shop that knows their stuff, call around and tell them you have a '23 T with a straight axle. That will weed out all the guys who can't do anything but push buttons on a computer.
