C3 ....... 1971 Handling issue

[Dale P.]

Here is my problem .. when driving down the road (at say 50 - 60 MPH) if I need to make a correction by turning the steering wheel back towards the left because I am "drifting" to the right it feels as if the rear end wants to come around to the front .. almost like if I was driving on ice ... YET the reverse is not true .. I can correct by turning towards the right and the car handles fairly normal
Here is what I have done so far without any change
1) full alignment (twice by two different shops)
2) complete inspection and balancing of the tires
3) all new steering comp. (tie rod ends, etc.)
4) the car has PS so new cylinder and valve
5) I very crudely measured the center to center distance of the wheels and .. drivers side is 98" as best as I can read a tape measure while the passenger side seems to be slightly under at 97 7/8"
6) I have noticed that under accel. the car want to go to the right as well

[Greg Vaka]

Re: C3 ....... 1971 Handling issue

You may have a broken center bolt in one of your leaf springs, causing the wheel to wheel center distance to vary under acceleration or de-acceleration.

[Wayne W.]

Re: C3 ....... 1971 Handling issue

You need to check the adjustment on the PS valve. More than likely it is not centered.

[Norris W.]

Re: C3 ....... 1971 Handling issue

"You may have a broken center bolt in one of your leaf springs, causing the wheel to wheel center distance to vary under acceleration or de-acceleration."

I don't understand that response. There's only one leaf spring and one bolt and the leaf in an independent rear wouldn't cause the problem you're having. The spring only suspends the trailing arms. It doesn't control the center to "center distance". I don't believe it's a power steering valve either. They will cause a pull, even an extreme pull if they're way out of adjustment and it will become more severe with RPM, but I've never seen one make the car feel like it's "coming around" in one direction. Do the shops you're using have experience with Corvette suspensions? Badly worn yokes can cause variations in rear camber and toe, and of course any worn bushings in the back can cause the same. If the bushings in the front of the trailing arms are loose the handling will get real crazy too, and they may very well be overlooked by an inexperienced shop. From your description, I'd be more inclined to think it's in the rear

[Duke W.]

Re: C3 ....... 1971 Handling issue

It could be unequal toe on the rear wheels. State-of-the-art four-wheel alignment equipment should enable measuring of toe-in per wheel and the rear should be within 1/32" on each side.

Can you state the type of equipment that was used and the final readings, both front and rear.

Another issue is radial tire belt misalignment that can cause a tire to "lead". This can usually be isolated by rotating the tires side to side separately on each end of the car. If a swap causes the car to pull the other way, one of the two tires is likely defective.

Duke

[Patrick H.]

Re: C3 ....... 1971 Handling issue

Agreed.

The one thing I've also had is a slightly loose front wheel bearing. Duke actually tipped me off to this one. Getting them set correctly, and taking the slack out of them, made a huge difference.

Patrick

[Duke W.]

Re: C3 ....... 1971 Handling issue

Yeah, I dress the washer down on 400 paper wetted with mineral spirits to get the front wheel bearing clearance down to minimum - about .001". It seems to make the front end tighter and the steering more precise.

Duke

[jim34671]

Re: C3 ....... 1971 Handling issue

Before everybody stabs away at rhyme and reason,it would be a better baseline start to know further details,for example...Did this just start happening,or did it get progressively worse to this point?
Any recent accidents,hits,etc??...
IS THE FRAME STRAIGHT???..or perhaps rusted and weakened???

[Dale P.]

Re: C3 ....1971 Handling issue -- more information

I need to dig out the actual "as left" values from the last alignment .. but it was performed on the latest state of the art alignment unit that can easily handle a true 4 wheel alignment . I remeber looking at these values and they all were within the exceptable ranges (I verified this with an other source as well) ... as far as tires go ... the first alignment was done on an "old" set of radials .. the last alignment was done on a brand new set of radials (I was getting close to needing a set so .. I thought what the heck .. I will eliminate that possibility also) Both shops are certainly qualified BUT I can say that corvettes are not their speciality .. but they do work on them .. as far as when this started .. it is really hard to say .. I have had this car for a year and my wife basicaly drives it .. but I did drive it last year and noticed "something" not feeling right about the right rear and handling .. so I would have to say that it has always been there .. it fact I would have to say that the new radials has made it worse .. the car may have been hit in the right front .. but I can not confirm this .. the frame is very clean with only very mild suface rust so I would have to say it is OK and strong .. as far as I can see (though I have not taken any measurements) the car sits level and correct .. at least nothing major to the eye appears .. the steering is quick and responsive .. I am sure the PS valve needs a little adjustment but that should not make the car feel like the rear wants to pass the front .. I do not have enough miles on the new tires to see if they are scuffing so I can not tell if the toe is way out .. I have heard of using a string to gage rear toe but have never tried it (this is just to get an idea NOT to actually do an alignement) .. I live in a small town south of columbus ohio ( no corvette clubs here) so I can not "find" a real good alignment guy .. but two different shops in two differnt cities and getting the same result .. really bothers me .. almost as much as the center to center distance differnce from side to side .. the short side is the passenger side the question then is .. is the front right lagging or is the right rear leading ? how do you tell? is it possible that two shops could have done an alignment and missed this ??