steering feels loose or disconnected?
08-14-2016, 04:22 PM
#1
steering feels loose or disconnected? 99 camaro. 50k miles. Feels like it's disconnected. Theres some wiggle in the steering wheel while driving if I want. Just feels sloppy I suppose. Everything still works and it turns it's just like driving an old car (I know it is)
08-15-2016, 06:43 AM
#5
Moving to Suspension and Brakes.
The list I'd start off with is:
- Bad ball joints/tie rod ends
- Loose coupling at the rack
- Loose/bad universal joints along the steering shaft in the engine bay
The later two are the bigger pains and we have a number of threads on them in the steering and suspension section.
Example: https://ls1tech.com/forums/suspensio...-steering.html
The list I'd start off with is:
- Bad ball joints/tie rod ends
- Loose coupling at the rack
- Loose/bad universal joints along the steering shaft in the engine bay
The later two are the bigger pains and we have a number of threads on them in the steering and suspension section.
Example: https://ls1tech.com/forums/suspensio...-steering.html
08-15-2016, 10:54 AM
#7
TECH Fanatic
Hard to imagine that there's much worn out at that low a mileage. I had 150k on the clock before I started replacing parts. Doesn't mean that you don't have some worn tie rod ends. Tires can make it feel that way. Only way to know is to start checking components, from the steering intermediate shaft, rack, tie tod ends, ball joints.
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08-16-2016, 10:14 AM
#9
It also could be from driving newer cars and then going back to something 15 years old. when I got my vert 6 years ago I swore there was something wrong, took it to my front end guy and he said everything was in perfect shape (52k miles). Now 6 years later, I had the front realigned after putting on lowering springs and the front end still got a good bill of health (65k).
08-16-2016, 11:12 AM
#10
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^ driving between a Ford Flex and then into a sports car, the sports car you about have to use two hands to crank the steering wheel. It feels as if there are bricks attached to the steering wheel because it feels so heavy, but it sure feels tight and connected to the road.
On a side note, my ball joints were fine at 175k, the only thing really worn at that mileage for me were the outer tie rods and the vertical bushing for the front lower control arms. Everything else was in good enough shape that it didn't need to be replaced. Also a decent alignment might help, that is if your current alignment is out of whack then it might help to get an alignment
On a side note, my ball joints were fine at 175k, the only thing really worn at that mileage for me were the outer tie rods and the vertical bushing for the front lower control arms. Everything else was in good enough shape that it didn't need to be replaced. Also a decent alignment might help, that is if your current alignment is out of whack then it might help to get an alignment
08-16-2016, 11:28 AM
#11
TECH Fanatic
Those are some great points about it being a matter of perception. It happened to me a few weeks ago. I had to drive a Buick Verano with 12k on the clock about 30 miles. I had been wondering the same thing about my TA ... until I got back in her. Even with 300k on the clock, and knowing that all the parts are fine, I was quite happy and accepting that it is what it is ... and it's pretty damn good! 
08-17-2016, 09:16 AM
#13
I remember when I bought this car - many of my friends were purchasing German cars because they drove fundamentally differently. Our cars felt like we were balancing them on the edge of a knife and... they still do. The German cars were much more planted and robotic.
Fast forward to today, in the age of drones and auto-piloted cars -> The US manufacturers have adopted German techniques, use German models as benchmarks for the segments, and even fly their cars to Germany to test on the Autobahn. The US cars now feel the same.
So, even with a perfectly tuned or stock system, I would expect that we'd still feel major differences comparing our cars to later models.
Fast forward to today, in the age of drones and auto-piloted cars -> The US manufacturers have adopted German techniques, use German models as benchmarks for the segments, and even fly their cars to Germany to test on the Autobahn. The US cars now feel the same.
So, even with a perfectly tuned or stock system, I would expect that we'd still feel major differences comparing our cars to later models.
08-17-2016, 10:44 AM
#14
Part of it is likely perception since my other two cars are a 2013 and a 2014 but I really don't remember it feeling this way. I've always felt connected to this car like it was part of me but I'm not feeling it right now. I'll start digging I suppose. I know the tires are getting up there in age but the rack has maybe 20k miles on it. I have also only put around 1k miles on this car in the last 4 -5yrs (life got in the way) I have all new poly bushings for the front end I have yet to install so that may help as well. Just wasn't sure if there was a known issue with these like the LT1 cars had that rubber bushing thing. But now that I want to start driving it once a week I want to make sure it's on point.