Weird Problem "sway"
Thread Starter
On The Tree
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 159
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From: Ocala,FL
Weird Problem "sway" Ok when im driving in a straight line sometimes the car will "sway" almost like a big gust of wind came along and pushed the car.. So basically im always correcting it "Grandma Steering" and its annoying it does it to the right or left seems like i can never get it to go straight.. what bushings would cause this? this is more prominent on the highway or at highway speeds
What shocks do you have? While I can't say you don't have bad bushings, it's pretty rare for them to be that trashed. Poor tracking, lack of stability, and a disconnected feel are some of the classic symptoms of worn out shocks. and seeing how the car is now 8 years old, and the stock shocks aren't very good to begin with I'm 98% sure that's where your issue lies.
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www.stranoparts.com --814-849-3450
Results matter. Talk is cheap. We are miles beyond the success anyone else has had with the 4th gens, and C5, C6, C7 Corvettes,
10 SCCA Solo National Championships, 2008 Driver of they Year, 2012 Driver of Eminence
13 SCCA Pro Solo Nationals Championships
2023 UMI King of the Mountain Champion
I agree with what Sam says.
Whilst I admit that I've been one to purport bushing problems, these are to be inspected if the major problems with handling and/or NVH have not been easily resolved with the more effective modifications.
Simply put, they should be merely inspected every so often to see what may cause weird handling problems and/or NVH, but ONLY replaced if there are signs of extreme wear (cracked and/or torn and brittle rubber). Just because the cars are old doesn't necessitate to buy a whole set for the car and go through lots of labour to replace every single one of them. Only replace the ones that are visibly worn upon inspection or replace a specific one upon a discrete symptom.
Now, yes, with what's described, it should be a shock problem more than anything, because I've had cars over 15 years old with old but usable bushings, and they had this "windage" problem, and once I replaced the shocks (mine were performance shocks with greater valving) the "windage" stopped.
Whilst I admit that I've been one to purport bushing problems, these are to be inspected if the major problems with handling and/or NVH have not been easily resolved with the more effective modifications.
Simply put, they should be merely inspected every so often to see what may cause weird handling problems and/or NVH, but ONLY replaced if there are signs of extreme wear (cracked and/or torn and brittle rubber). Just because the cars are old doesn't necessitate to buy a whole set for the car and go through lots of labour to replace every single one of them. Only replace the ones that are visibly worn upon inspection or replace a specific one upon a discrete symptom.
Now, yes, with what's described, it should be a shock problem more than anything, because I've had cars over 15 years old with old but usable bushings, and they had this "windage" problem, and once I replaced the shocks (mine were performance shocks with greater valving) the "windage" stopped.
+1 on that, I fine that with my 17x11's out back in combination with some of the roads around Indiana.....makes for some active driving. Wider rims/tires have a tendency to not run in the same road groove as normal size passenger car tires do. (More so on Asphalt)
Getting pulled around in ruts is very, very different from a lack of damping control.... fwiw.
__________________
www.stranoparts.com --814-849-3450
Results matter. Talk is cheap. We are miles beyond the success anyone else has had with the 4th gens, and C5, C6, C7 Corvettes,
10 SCCA Solo National Championships, 2008 Driver of they Year, 2012 Driver of Eminence
13 SCCA Pro Solo Nationals Championships
2023 UMI King of the Mountain Champion
www.stranoparts.com --814-849-3450
Results matter. Talk is cheap. We are miles beyond the success anyone else has had with the 4th gens, and C5, C6, C7 Corvettes,
10 SCCA Solo National Championships, 2008 Driver of they Year, 2012 Driver of Eminence
13 SCCA Pro Solo Nationals Championships
2023 UMI King of the Mountain Champion
Thread Starter
On The Tree
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 159
Likes: 0
From: Ocala,FL
I have 275s out back and 255 ups front.. i have stock shocks so yes it could be a problem.. I did want to buy the full kit for the front to go with all poly just to stiffen up the handling but it does seem like a lot of work...
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Poly bushings aren't ideal for this car, and most notably in the front suspension (one is a bad design and poly break all the time).
You want to tighten the car up? Get rid of the "in a boat" feel at speed. Have it track better, change direction without the flop? Deal with bumps better? You need shocks. Don't buy parts that aren't dealing with the big issue at hand. Would stiffer bushings make the car feel a bit better? Yes. But they don't damp movement, they don't change the roll and pitch rate, they don't control the way the mass of the car moves. All of which are what are at the root of your complaint. This does assume you have swaybars on the car, and other parts aren't missing in action or broken.
You want to tighten the car up? Get rid of the "in a boat" feel at speed. Have it track better, change direction without the flop? Deal with bumps better? You need shocks. Don't buy parts that aren't dealing with the big issue at hand. Would stiffer bushings make the car feel a bit better? Yes. But they don't damp movement, they don't change the roll and pitch rate, they don't control the way the mass of the car moves. All of which are what are at the root of your complaint. This does assume you have swaybars on the car, and other parts aren't missing in action or broken.
__________________
www.stranoparts.com --814-849-3450
Results matter. Talk is cheap. We are miles beyond the success anyone else has had with the 4th gens, and C5, C6, C7 Corvettes,
10 SCCA Solo National Championships, 2008 Driver of they Year, 2012 Driver of Eminence
13 SCCA Pro Solo Nationals Championships
2023 UMI King of the Mountain Champion
www.stranoparts.com --814-849-3450
Results matter. Talk is cheap. We are miles beyond the success anyone else has had with the 4th gens, and C5, C6, C7 Corvettes,
10 SCCA Solo National Championships, 2008 Driver of they Year, 2012 Driver of Eminence
13 SCCA Pro Solo Nationals Championships
2023 UMI King of the Mountain Champion
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You need shocks.
