Steering issue

[secondchance]

Having finally solved steering vagueness, I thought my experiences, attempts and findings may be worth sharing with fellow ZR-oners.
About 3-4 years ago, I started to notice a bit of dead spot when the steering wheel was at 12 o’clock. Also, I felt a sensation of front tires skipping when down shifting into 3rd and opening up the throttle. Another symptom, I eventually attributed to same issue creating above sensation was front tire sounding as if it was skipping when backing out of a parking spot with steering wheel turned left or right.
Initially I thought the problem was with the steering rack having racked up around 145,000 miles. I purchased a rebuilt steering rack from Corvette Central and replaced it with help from WAZOO boys. However, this did not solve the problem. Also, steering rack rebuilt by an unknown entity was a bit troubling. So, I sent OEM rack removed to TurnOne in Saginaw, Michigan. Plan was to replace questionable steering rack and go deeper into front suspension.
When the new rack showed up about a year and a half ago and front upper and lower control arms (uppers were new/rebuilt and lower was bushing and ball joint replacement) were ready, with help from WAZOO guys, disassembled front suspension including steering rack. While disassembling, turned out lower control are rear mounts had been shifting in the bracket resulting in rubber bushing pretty much ground off completely. In essence, lower control arms have been shifting around depending on the load applied upon acceleration and deceleration. This explained sensation of front tires skipping under hard acceleration – both front wheels were going into tow out condition. Front tire skipping while turning and reversing, again, was due to A arm shifting, loading and unloading as A arm shifted.
After all this work, one would expect perfect steering. Right? Wrong! I still had abou 1/8” to 1/4” dead spot most noticeable when the steering wheel is at 12 o’clock.
Last Sunday, since I have a spare, rebuilt steering shaft from Corvette Central, I went ahead and removed the steering shaft. Wouldn’t you know it? Manual twisting at both ends revealed about 1/32” to 1/16” shifting right where the rag disc was riveted to the front piece. 1/32” at the disc would translate to ¼” at the steering wheel handle.



In summary;
• When replacing front brake pads inspect lower control arm mounting to bracket and make sure they are bolted tight.
• If you sense steering dead spot, visual inspection of rag joint can be misleading. Loosen and flip open rear mounting (careful not to trigger the air bag), grab the shaft, twist and observe its movement relative to mounting at steering rack. You will know if it’s loose or not.
Finally, I have my Z steering the way I remember and no longer have to deal with constantly correcting steering input.

[Paul Workman]

Thank 4 the post! Ami's steering - seems to constantly need small corrections, even on straight, flat segments. Something to look into! (Her C3 has no power steering, and it has at least 1" of 'dead spot' in it!)

[secondchance]

Another symptom that drove me nuts is the car would follow the rut and and tough to hold against this with the steering wheel. Looking at the rag joint, I think it's rebuildable by removing the rivets and bolting it together with bolts and nuts perhaps with a washer to spread the load.

C3 with recirculating ball and pitman arm and no power steering must be real workout!

[XfireZ51]

Its been quite some time, but it was known that the steering on C4, beginning w the 84, had an issue. I would turn the steering wheel and only get a partial turn from the wheels, a potentially dangerous situation. The fix back then was the use of a dowel pin driven between the outer and inner rods for the steering shaft.

[GOLDCYLON]

http://www.zr1.net/forum/showthread....&highlight=rag




Been here done that in JAN 2017 !

[32valvZ]

Originally Posted by Paul Workman

Thank 4 the post! Ami's steering - seems to constantly need small corrections, even on straight, flat segments. Something to look into! (Her C3 has no power steering, and it has at least 1" of 'dead spot' in it!)

Likely a worm gear adjustment due to light wear on the C3 Paul. EZ to adjust... Put the steering wheel in the straight ahead position.... Loosen the large nut on top of the steering box. Now turn the slotted adjuster in slightly. That should take care of the play. (if you know everything else is in A-1 shape). If theres too much drag, back it off a bit...