front end question

berserker6

Assistant to the regional manager
Joined
Oct 1, 2009
Ok guys, when backing up and cutting my wheel all the way to the left I get a feeling in the front end like its falling over. It is slightly audible but its more of a feeling almost as if there are patches of ice and as I'm backing up the front passenger side wheel is slipping in a patch of ice and then regaining traction and then slipping again. I don't know if it does it if I back up cutting the wheel to the right or not. Haven't tried it yet. I had it aligned but I don't know if it was like this before the alignment. The reason for the alignment was severe tire wear on the inside edge of both front tires. Doing a visual inspection I don't see anything out of the ordinary. So how bad is it? And I have one more question but i'll post it after a response. Thanks
 
I'd suggest bad ball joint(s), but if an alignment shop has looked at it recently I would think they would have caught that....
 
Did you receive a printout from the alignment shop? If so, what are the caster readings?
 
Yes I did have a printout. But it has since been thrown out. Now I didn't really know what to look for other than it had the actual values and the recommended range and everything fell in to the right range. Is there a one stop shop for all our front end needs? Maybe a kit that has replacement bushings and ball joints and tie rods?
 
If nothing is loose it is most likley the tire rolling over it's self as the Ackerman in these cars is poor and the tires fight each other during a hard slow turn. you can normally feel it going forward as well if your on a high grip surface with the wheels turned hard and your going slow. you wont feel it as much at higher speeds as the steering angle is not as drastic.
 
I had to google it myself. Its the effect of the inside wheel turning in farther than the outside wheel when turning. I don't know if its something we want or not. But I found some pretty in depth articles on it.
 
Ackerman angle. when you turn the front wheels the inside one must turn tighter than the outside one, the inside tire must have a tighter turn radius than the outside, after all it's 60" closer to the inside of the corner, on the G bodies the factory design of the steering linkage and the location of all the pivot points mostly the steering arm on the spindle is not ideal. so when you turn, the wheels do not "Align" to the respective Turning radius and so the tread on the inside tire starts to distort untill the sidewall can not take any more distortion and then the tread "pops" for lack of a better word back into position and you get that jerking feeling when you are turning.
you will notice it more on a tall profile tire because the side wall will distort more. on a low profile tire they tend to just scrub.
the best "example" is try pusing a drac race car with big slicks and a spool. you better get a couple guys.
 
my Regal doesn't do this at all- the wheels roll nice and smooth no matter how far the wheel is turned and how slow i'm going- but my 86 Camaro does. i think the Camaro does it because the steering arm on the driver's side spindle is bent in over an inch and someone compensated for it by shortening the tie rod on that side. looks like it was done a loooong time ago, since everything is covered in a nice uniform layer of matching rust.
 
that would do it, it will also affect the bump steer.

wend we design steering arms, they have to be designed arround a cretain ride height. and everything is a compromise from there, if you move the outer tie rod end 1/8" it will change any number of other parameters.
our second gen sub frame kit for instance uses the AFX spindle and a custom steering arm and we made it so in 4" of suspension travel 2" comperssion and 2" extension the bump steer is .010" total. havent measured the GN yet but i bet it could be close to .500"
 
thanks for all the knowledge guys. is there a one stop shop you could recommend online to replace some things up front like bushings and ball joints and such? not to necessarily to fix this annoyance but to do some maintenance. maybe like a package?
 
I used this kit on my first GN. If you use the polygraphite bushings be sure to use the grease or they squeak bad. I do believe most of the suspension on your car was replaced at one time or another. I recall many receipts for Moog ball joints, springs, etc.


Graphite Polyurethane Front End Rebuild Kit
 
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