kellsdad

I've read the 1963 shop manual regarding manual steering and I'm not sure I understand if or how the front wheels are centered (such that there is no steering wheel input required to maintain straight ahead on a flat, straight stretch of highway). Is centering a function of wheel alignment, or steering gear/steering wheel adjustment or both? If the car has a consistent light pull to one side, what should be adjusted first, alignment or steering gear? What do you guys think?

achapman

"what should be adjusted first"

the road.... :lol: :lol: :lol:

Really though, check the alignment.... :yesnod:

Oh, any play in the steering gear?? :confused:

Its sounds like a combination of the two... but alignment is what I would check first... :smash:

wombvette

The steering gear would have no effect on whether the car pulls or not. On PS cars the adjustment of the steering valve would have effect. Alignment, tires, wheel bearing, brakes, etc. can have effect. It will pull to the side with the least caster.

SWCDuke

It's a combination of tire self aligning torque, steering axis inclination, and caster angle that gives the steering its self centering action.

The steering should be centered at the high point which is a function of getting all the splined connections properly indexed, and then setting the toe so that the tie rods are about equal length.

To eliminate pull, the tires should be within a half inch circumference, and the caster and camber should be as close to equal as possible on both sides. If the car then pulls, increase caster on the side that it pulls to.

Duke

pittsaj

Duke is right on the money..

I had a wander at speed and had to have almost constant input to keep it straight. Also had a slight pull to the right.

It was a handful in the corners and not what I thought a Vette should be like... Way too much oversteer.

Duke suggested I crank more caster into the system and she now tracks without wander.. After the first adjustment it still pulled to the right.
I cranked a bit more into the right and she is straight as an arrow..

I would almost say that you can't crank too much caster into a C2 with radials.

I also cranked a bit of camber into the rear and this car is now on rails..

High speed transition roads that used to give white knuckle rides at 50 are now a cake walk at 60+

Thanks again Duke..

Tony


[Modified by pittsaj, 10:45 PM 6/17/2002]

kellsdad

Am I correct to assume that I can increase the caster without affecting the camber by removing a shim from the front bolt and adding one of the same thickness to the rear bolt?

SWCDuke

Yes, your statement is correct - just move a shim from the front to the back to increase caster without having a significant impact on camber. Once you've got it dialed in you should recheck the toe-in. Measure the tie rods to be sure that are approximately equal length to ensure that the gear is at the high point. Once the toe is in range, (about 1/16" with radials) if the steering wheel is slightly off center, you just tweak the appropriate tie rod to get it dead on.

Duke

kellsdad

Duke - I moved a 1/32 shim from the front post to the rear and didn't notice much difference. So I moved another 1/16 shim and it is now perfect. Thanks a lot.

Boatingdobbins

This post references getting the "splined steering connections properly indexed". I assume that is something that can be done before taking the car for an alignment? Can someone provide more information on how to get the splined steering connections properly indexed?

SWCDuke

The splined connections at the "rag joint". The flats on the shaft should provide only one index position where the pinch bolt will start, but I think they can be forced, and there are likely lots of Bubbas in many car's past who did it "their way". If you're not sure yours are indexed properly, you could remove them and try to assemble them one notch either way and see if the pinch bolt starts easier. Also, good visual inspection should tell you when the surface of the flats are parallel to the bolt axes.

The pitman arm is also splined to the pitman shaft, and there is one "wide spline" that serves as an index, so it should only go on one way unless Bubba figured out how to do it his way, which is always a possibility.

Duke



[Modified by SWCDuke, 7:02 PM 7/3/2002]