My 87 Vette drives great around town. Out on the highway it doesnt seem to track as true as i would like. If the highway is flat and silky smooth, no problem, otherwise its kind of "nervous" feeling. The 4 wheel alignment is perfect the tires are in balance. What do I need? The car has 111000 miles.

 

I hope you find the answer. I've done all the alignment tricks suggested on this forum. It helped a bit, but when i change lanes the stripes make my car feel like a boat going over the wake. Grooves on the road take me everywhere. My car has only 34K miles, and every thing is perfect-new tires, shocks. I've spent a lot of time and money and it does not handle well at high speeds. Some people have suggested that it's normal for type of tires/wheels we have. I've owned and raced lots of sports cars over the years, but not experienced this type handling.

You are right, it's great on a really smooth flat road, but what if you are cruising really fast and hit a stretch that's not so good? That happens out here in Texas. So, i hope you get a response that helps us both. Maybe there's a magic answer out there somewhere.

 

James, have you tried searching for alignment on this forum? There are some specs that are different than factory that will improve the situation. If you can't find them, let me know and i will get them to you. It's hard for me to believe that this car is engineered to handle this way. One day i was in my vette, and just happed to be following another C4 about the same vintage as mine. I watch him moving around all over the road. I do think it's more common than we would like to learn. I keep thinking there has to be a cure.

 

What are the specs? I was wondering if i need to ball joints, tie rods or something like that. Anybody ever have this problem and get it solved? :confused:

 

James, below is a collection from several sources that i got from different people on this forum. They are not all the same. You might print them out and take them to a good alignment shop. Yes, have someone look at all your suspension components. Hope this helps.

here are some numbers that VetteBrakes recommends straight from their 2002 catalog page6:
Daily Street:
Front: Toe = 1/32" in
Camber = 0 degrees
Caster = 5-7 degrees positive
Rear: Toe = 1/8" in
Camber = 0 degrees
Advanced Street:
Front: Toe = 0"
Camber = 1/4 degree negative
Caster = 5-7 degrees positive
Rear: Toe = 1/8" in
Camber = 1/2 degree negative
Autocross baseline:
Front: Toe = 3/16" out
Camber = 1 1/2 - 3 degrees negative
Caster = 4-5 degrees positive
Rear: Toe = 1/16" in
Camber = 3/4 - 2 1/2 degrees negative
Track baseline:
Front: Toe = 0 - 1/16" out
Camber = 1 - 3 degrees negative
Caster = 4-7 degrees positive
Rear: Toe = 1/8" in
Camber = 3/4 - 2 1/2 degrees negative
Wheel aligment: front toe 0",
camber .25* neg, caster 6*pos, rear toe 1/8", camber .5* neg

-Alignment: (Street/ocasional track) Front: 1 deg. neg camber, Caster 5.5 to 6 deg. pos. Toe: zero Rear: 1 deg neg camber. 1/16" toe in, per side. If running 315's in rear reduce neg camber to 3/4 deg neg. (rear only, no other changes) If you decide to skew your useage more toward track use, you may want to consider the following: Front: 1 3/4 deg
neg camber same toe and caster. Rear: 1.25 neg camber. (with 315's) If running 275's square, match front camber. All else same.

ADD 1/8 INCH TOE IN BOTH FRONT AND REAR.

 

There was an aticle on CorvetteFever talking about the alignment of 87 and earlier Corvette. It talk about the exact problem that pre 88 Corvette has, GM fix it on the 88 Vette:). I remember it was an easy fix.
Does anyone remember which month Corveetefever was?

 

I had the same problem until I replaced the shocks. Now it rides and tracks great! Do you still have the original shocks? If so, it might be time to upgrade/change them. Just some food for thought..

 

I suggest you jack the front tires in the air, then check for any slop in the steering by push/pulling on each tire.

 

With a car that age and that many miles I'll bet your bushings are shot. No amount of alignment will help if the suspension can't keep pointing in the same direction all the time.

When I replaced mine, the centers of the bushings weren't even in the center any longer.

After replacement, I had a new car :D .

 

No, the shocks were replaced with Bilsteins

 

John Row, which bushings are your talking about? My 92 does the same thing (not real drastic). I also read that article in Corvette Fever and wondered if the same fix they did would work on a later model. There fix, if I remember correctly was to move the shims for the upper A arm from the rear to the front or vice versa...opposite factory setting. Don't want to do this unless it's a recommended repair.

 

I'd have to agree that the bushings are suspect. With that many miles on the car, the bushings are likely VERY worn. I changed mine out at 60k miles and they were already very bad...even though they were the harder compound bushings.

While you have it apart to that stage, replace the ball-joints and tie-rod ends. I should only cost you the price of the parts at that point.

I can tell you that when I replaced my bushings, all of them were seriously worn. I've owned this car since new, and I was amazed at how bad they were. I just got used to the bad steering over time and never noticed it until I fixed it. Took it to the first Autocross of the season and bagged FTD both days (for a Group 2 car at that time). It was a totally different car.

The complete bushing kit should cost about $300 from Rippie http://www.dougrippie.com/ (the best price I found after a lot of research).

My guess is your trailing-link bushings are shot as well. This is one of those fixes that you do it all at once. Better to do that than change one piece, have it aligned and find it still does the same thing. Do it all at once, align the car once and be done with it.

 

These are the bushings that the suspension arms and anti-sway bars are mounted with. They take up a bit of the shock from the suspension movement.

I don't know the make of the bushings, they were recommended by a very good Vette shop here in town. I did them along with the anti-sway bars. Now it corners on rails and I can take my hands off the wheel on freeways with the wavy grooves, no problems :D

I would imagine any good set of bushings would do. Try any of the forum sponsors for recommendations (and prices).

I don't think I'd fool with the shims unless I knew why I was doing it and what it would accomplish.

:cheers:



[Modified by John Row, 11:41 PM 4/15/2002]

 

I have an appointment Wednesday morning at a very reputable alignment shop. I'll let you know what happens