TransAm_00

iTrader: (1)

I have noticed this when I got the car used about 2 years ago. Whenever I hit bumps or go over train tracks, the steering wheel wiggles a lot , left to right, and so on. But over the years, it has gotten worse. I have about 60k on the car. Could it be suspension? A lot of people are telling me it is. I'm not really sure. Any ideas? Also,, when cruising down the road,, the car seems to wander side to side. It drives me crazy.

Justin 2000 Trans Am A4

tc3

iTrader: (2)

get an alignment...

jmm98LS1

iTrader: (28)

Your alignment will have a great affect on that. My car is lowered and when I got it aligned I had the shop align it to specs that I wanted. I can't remember what my specs were off hand (been awhile) but the way my caster/camber is setup makes my car want to follow grooves in the road. I don't mind a bit, as I like a solid steering feel. Long story short, get your car aligned back to stock specs.....it'll stop wandering.

2002_Z28_Six_Speed

iTrader: (19)

I thought any car setup for oversteer would follow curves in the road and require more driving attention.

Black_Bird

iTrader: (6)

Alignment.....

Phoenix 5.7

iTrader: (7)

probably alignment, but have you checked ur tierod ends?

6 spd LT1

my car did the same exact thing, a lot of play in the steering. I replaced the tierod ends and lower ball joints. problem solved.


anthony

DJB

iTrader: (15)

I have the same problem and just paid $65 for an alignment at Sears and the car still pulls left or right when I hit a bump. This is starting to drive me crazy I dont know what to do the tech at Sears said everything in the front end looked good.

TransAm_00

iTrader: (1)

I've had an alignment done. Problem is still there. I'll go pick up some lower tierod ends ($50) and see if that works. The wandering of the car I'm not that worried about when i hit grooves in the road. It is more the movement of the wheel when hitting bumps.

Phoenix 5.7

iTrader: (7)

our cars do wander with grooves in the road. wide front tires are the culprit of that. put some skinnies up front to elimintate that

Kirby

Moving side to side when hitting bumps is also a sign of bad shocks. If you have bad shocks, as I do, they will not have the correct stiffness and rebound to allow your car to handle well. One side may lower faster than the other or vise versa causing your car to lean and turn.

dave70

iTrader: (2)

Bringing this one back from the dead. I did a search and this op has a problem similar to mine. My car wanders when the road is uneven as in if the road slopes to the right the car pulls to the right slopes to the left car wants to track left. The steering is still tight no slack in the steering wheel. Just the problem with wandering with the slope in the road. I've heard about wide tires contributing to this but there are cars and suv's out there with 275's and wider in the front that don't have this problem. Suburbans, vettes etc. What do you guys think? Is this the right section to post this in?

dave70

iTrader: (2)

anyone? Think i should post a new thread in the Suspension and brake section?

RevGTO

iTrader: (12)

It's called trammeling and it's pretty typical for our cars. The wider the front tires, the more pronounced the effect. Alignment specs can affect it for better or worse, as can tires.

dave70

iTrader: (2)

thanks man But why not effect big SUV's with 275's in the front or other cars?

RevGTO

iTrader: (12)

Think of the size of the tires and wheels relative to the size of the vehicle. Also, the tires' aspect ratio is important. Low profile tires tend to trammel much more than the tall tires on SUV's.