2001 Z06 : improve turning radius
Melting Slicks
Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 2,804
Likes: 358
From: Northville, MI
If you have a high mileage car, you might tighten the steering angle somewhat with the DRM bushing in the left front frame attachment. The are either aluminum or delrin and will not flex like the OEM rubber. Again with highr mileage you might gain some when you replace the OEM ball joints with MOOG parts. I autocross extensively and it made a slight increase in handling going thru slaloms and tight corners.
Last edited by Gordy M; Jul 14, 2019 at 11:44 AM.
Thread Starter
Melting Slicks
Joined: Dec 2018
Posts: 2,654
Likes: 1,386
From: Orange County, CA
If you have a high mileage car, you might tighten the steering angle somewhat with the DRM bushing in the left front frame attachment. The are either aluminum or delrin and will not flex like the OEM rubber. Again with highr mileage you might gain some when you replace the OEM ball joints with MOOG parts. I autocross extensively and it made a slight increase in handling going thru slaloms and tight corners.
Quite literally the 2001 Z06 is rated to have a 2ft smaller turning circle than a 2004. I just want the 2004's turning circle (might be the same as 2002 & 2003).
Thread Starter
Melting Slicks
Joined: Dec 2018
Posts: 2,654
Likes: 1,386
From: Orange County, CA
Bumping this up.
Can I simply swap in a 2002-2004 Z06 steering rack into my '01 Z to achieve the turning radius of 02-04 Z? Part numbers appear the same but perhaps there was a revision to the rack for '02.
I've got an upcoming harmonic balancer job (ATI balancer), and if the rack has to come out anyways... but I don't want to just throw parts at it either.
Can I simply swap in a 2002-2004 Z06 steering rack into my '01 Z to achieve the turning radius of 02-04 Z? Part numbers appear the same but perhaps there was a revision to the rack for '02.
I've got an upcoming harmonic balancer job (ATI balancer), and if the rack has to come out anyways... but I don't want to just throw parts at it either.
Last edited by MetalMan2; Sep 19, 2019 at 04:32 PM.
Thread Starter
Melting Slicks
Joined: Dec 2018
Posts: 2,654
Likes: 1,386
From: Orange County, CA
Long time update. I never came up with a way to simply improve turning radius.
It has taken a while BUT I now have a solution which is in-progress:
This approach gives me the benefits of sharper turning radius, quicker turning (which some of the previous replies brought up), no need to screw with disabling Active Handling, and I get to keep all of the factory parts intact - this is all easily reversible.
There's a good chance the turning angle will be excessive with the FDF Mini Mantis kit (i.e. tire rubbing inner fender). To combat that I am prepared to add spacers to the steering rack to limit steering travel, like in this post: https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...post1587819728
But I still fully expect to have more steering angle than stock
It has taken a while BUT I now have a solution which is in-progress:
- Bought a FDF Mini Mantis angle kit: https://www.fdfraceshop.com/products...ntis-angle-kit
- Got a fantastic deal on it during Black Friday from Drift HQ ($351 shipped): https://www.drifthq.com/products/fdf...40091215659055
- For C5s with Active Handling (including my '01 Z06), adding an angle kit onto the car will normally require disabling AH. [I have no plans to disable AH]
- The problem is that the car expects a certain amount of turning / front wheel angle for a given steering wheel rotation position, and an angle kit changes that relationship. So when you're driving and go into a turn the car will see itself turning/rotating more than it expects, and may think the car has lost control... which it could try to correct for by applying a rear brake... this is bad for a car that's not actually out of control as it can then make the car lose control.
- I'm developing a device that manipulates the signal from the Steering Wheel Position Sensor (SWPS). The goal is to make the car see a steering wheel rotation position that matches the angle of the front wheels... even if an angle kit is installed.
- If you're interested in reading more, you can follow my progress which starts here: https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...post1603268994
This approach gives me the benefits of sharper turning radius, quicker turning (which some of the previous replies brought up), no need to screw with disabling Active Handling, and I get to keep all of the factory parts intact - this is all easily reversible.
There's a good chance the turning angle will be excessive with the FDF Mini Mantis kit (i.e. tire rubbing inner fender). To combat that I am prepared to add spacers to the steering rack to limit steering travel, like in this post: https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...post1587819728
But I still fully expect to have more steering angle than stock
Last edited by MetalMan2; Dec 6, 2021 at 01:53 PM.
