big dave

I recently purchased a very high mileage 99SS. The car was very well maintained but there are a couple problems. The more serious problem is that when the car warms up, the steering gets very tight. It feels like there is no assist at all, especially when the car is stopped. Everything is fine when first starting it up but the longer the car runs, the harder the steering gets. It is particularly frightening on streets with ruts, where the lack of assist actually has the car darting all over the place. It feels like I have another passenger riding along just tugging at the wheel. I've replaced the pump but that didn't fix it. Some folks seem to think it's the high pressure line running from the pump to the rack. I had a mechanic give it a quick lookover and he didn't think it was the rack...mainly because the fluid didn't look discolored nor did it smell out of the ordinary. It really keeps me from enjoying what otherwise seems to be a fun car. What do you guys think?

mitchntx

iTrader: (14)

I think you have a ton of caster in the car, which will increase steering effort and low speed stability.

However, it will be much more predictable and easier to control at high speeds.

There is a great tech article on front end alignment in this months Grass Roots Motorsports Magazine which discusses this very phenomenon.