Interested to see if anyone else has had this issue. '87 GT with 29k miles on it. Had steering wheel shake at approx 65 mph which I finally got rid of but it involved redoing all of front and rear suspension and a new steering rack after I got tired of nickel and diming the problem. Shake issue resolved but now car drifts side to side in lane while keeping steering wheel straight. I have had the 4 wheel alignment and balancing done to no avail. Someone suggested loose intermediate steering shaft. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. I have had this baby since new and would really love to drive her more, but it is plain scary on the highway.
Find another alignment shop. This one does not know what they are doing. Even if the issue is low tire pressure at the rear wheels, they should have checked it.
[This message has been edited by Gall757 (edited 02-04-2019).]
There is a tensioning nut on your steering rack that may need adjustment. I have reconditioned two racks (86SE & 87 GT). When doing those I adjusted the nut as described in the factory service manual. Both racks needed further adjustment, via the nut, after a road test. During the road test both cars drifted slightly and smoothly left and right at 40-55mph plus. The alignments were done spot on prior to the road test. After further tensioning the rack adjustment nut the drifting was gone and both cars tracked perfect. Rodney D, and maybe FS, sells a wrench to loosen the lock nut (large stamped steel nut about 2 1/4” diam.) on the tension adjustment nut. It’s all very easy to do without lifting the cars front. To help in the adjustment I used a paint pen to index the adjustment nut prior to adding more tension. I only needed to turn the adjustment nut by about 1/8th of a turn to get the correct tension on the rack.
There is a spring under the adjustment nut that pushes a nylon part into the rack that sets the tension between the rack and the steering pinion gear. Hopefully someone can post the factory manual photo for you. Also it would only take a Shop 10 min to do this for you. However, after a test drive you may want to adjust it slightly more for your liking.
[This message has been edited by Kevin87FieroGT (edited 02-04-2019).]
So you "rebuilt" the suspension but did you check cradle and its bushings? Iffy cradle can steer the car as you change speeds or brake or stop. See my Cave, Bump Steer etc.
Note that Even after you fix everything and alignment is perfect the roads you drive on can make problems, worse w/ some tires even when inflated right. Try to find a good road w/ newer pavement to reduce variables. Even new roads w/ higher crowns can force cars to steer right or left depended on what lane your in.
------------------ Dr. Ian Malcolm: Yeah, but your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should. (Jurassic Park)
Additionally, you could have a bad right side bushing in your steering rack causing some looseness. RD sells a replacement bushing.
Ogre’s right, control arm and cradle bushings could also cause the drifting. Also those problems might come out during the alignment, by the tech loosing his alignment spec after bouncing the car as they should.
I recently rotated the tires on my 4x4 Jeep and immediately experienced a slight drift to the left on a very familiar road with no buggy tracks. I then did a left to right swap of the front tires and still had a mild drift in the opposite direction. Moved the tire in question to the rear & brought the rear one to the front and now I'm tracking straight. I marked the backside of the tire "Rear-Only". Possible bad belt in tire.... wheels are running true, no out of range run-out. All psi's are even.
Spoon
------------------ "Kilgore Trout once wrote a short story which was a dialogue between two pieces of yeast. They were discussing the possible purposes of life as they ate sugar and suffocated in their own excrement. Because of their limited intelligence, they never came close to guessing that they were making champagne." - Kurt Vonnegut
This is relevant to me. I rebuilt and replaced everything but the steering rack, front control arm bushings and front or rear inner tie rods. At the time I figured I would worry about the front next winter. I have the alignment within specs per my new Hoffman Alignment machine.
What am I encountering... the car is twitchy, tries to wash out a bit in a straight line (at speed) and when I make a hard turn (like onto a side street ) the steering wheel doesn't rebound back to straight. However when I turn the opposite direction it straightens back out.
We have checked everything, and don't see anything lose. I'm thinking it's the rack mounts, but probably should check that adjuster.
------------------ hoop SCCA STL Integra '17 Grand Cherokee Trailhawk '13 Xc 60 T6awd 3 1st Gen Crx in Various states of Decay or Repair (for sale) '86 Fiero GT
The rear strut bolts have to be torqued to 140 lbs. Over the years I have seen a lot of people miss this step. And it will cause similar problems. Also you could have the wrong castor setting, you should see that number on the results sheet that the allignment shop gave you.
The rear strut bolts have to be torqued to 140 lbs. Over the years I have seen a lot of people miss this step. And it will cause similar problems. Also you could have the wrong castor setting, you should see that number on the results sheet that the allignment shop gave you.
Correct but just to clarify for the newbies, the bolts that wftb is referring to are the large bolts that connect the strut to the knuckle. High torque on the three bolts that connect the strut to the wheelhouse will snap them off. Keep those to spec. As mentioned all bushings must all be in good shape to achieve a good alignment and the cradle bushings (84-78) cannot be overlooked. If you get it all right and and want to eliminate the bump steer, an addition of a rear anti-sway bar really improves handling.
------------------ " THE BLACK PARALYZER" -87GT 3800SC Series III engine, custom ZZP /Frozen Boost Intercooler setup, 3.4" Pulley, Northstar TB, LS1 MAF, 3" Spintech/Hedman Exhaust, P-log Manifold, Autolite 104's, MSD wires, Custom CAI, 4T65eHD w. custom axles, Champion Radiator, S10 Brake Booster, HP Tuners VCM Suite. "THE COLUSSUS" 87GT - ALL OUT 3.4L Turbocharged engine, Garrett Hybrid Turbo, MSD ign., modified TH125H " ON THE LOOSE WITHOUT THE JUICE "
Something that happened today, after the car sat on my drive on lift all nite, the driver side half shafts popped out of the tranny. This is a new axle, and I had issue installing it. In 1200 miles, this is the first time it popped out. However this could be part of my problems.
When you pull the half shafts, look inside the transmission to see if the spring from the seal came out and got pushed to the back of the output shaft. That will keep the axle from locking in.
Im offering this because i don't know your level of knowledge about replacing axles or hubs.
Use new axle nuts each time the nut is removed. Initially torque a new nut to 70 ft lb with the wheel off the ground. Lower the car and torque the nut to 200 ft lb.
Im offering this because i don't know your level of knowledge about replacing axles or hubs.
Use new axle nuts each time the nut is removed. Initially torque a new nut to 70 ft lb with the wheel off the ground. Lower the car and torque the nut to 200 ft lb.
New axle's come with new nut's.
As for my qualifications, I've come a long way since I first joined this bar 20 years ago! I own 3 franchise full service car care facilities, and do most of the work on my projects (usually because my employee's do not understand the "weird **** " i tend to like). Fiero setup is different than Spec Miata or STL Integra setup. Since it's been 14 years since I've had a Fiero, I find many things are muscle memory and others are details I didn't fully understand in Y2K. So I ask questions... If I had a Judge, I wouldn't need to!
------------------ hoop SCCA STL Integra '17 Grand Cherokee Trailhawk '13 Xc 60 T6awd 3 1st Gen Crx in Various states of Decay or Repair (for sale) '86 Fiero GT
Thanks all. I have been quite tied up for the last few days and I really appreciate all of the help. I ordered and received metal cradle bushings from Rodney Dickman because these are the only bushings that I had not changed when replacing all of the other suspension parts. I'm just getting over the flu so it will be a few days until I can get the project started. I am going to try and do it without removing the cradle. I have a lift at my house so I hope that this will help. Currently my rear jacking points are on the cradle, but I will need to move those forward. I will keep you all abreast of my progress.
