ax75f92 Posted February 22, 2012 Share Posted February 22, 2012 (edited) So I jacked up my Z on the drivers side the other day to inspect the tie rod boot (which turned out to be fine) in attempt to diagnose some high speed steering wheel shimmy. After setting the car down and jumping in I immediately noticed the steering wheel was off to one side. Upon driving I found there to be almost no steering recoil after making a turn. I turn the wheel, let go, and it stays in that position without returning to center. After some research I found this to be a common symptom of bad/worn lower ball joints - so I replaced them with MSA pieces. Unfortunately the new ball joints did not solve the problem. My next step is to look at the tie rods or rack bushings since the wheel shifted off center something with the rack or tie rods had to have shifted as well. I know the wheel failing to recoil points to a caster problem, however as far as I understand caster is not adjustable on our cars. Also, I can visually see the camber is off, the drivers side seems to nearing positive while the passenger side seems ok. Camber is non-adjustable as well, correct? What would cause a shift in camber/caster on these cars? Any info is greatly appreciated as the car does not feel safe to drive at the moment (I have another daily). Edited February 22, 2012 by ax75f92 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beermanpete Posted February 22, 2012 Share Posted February 22, 2012 The only wheel alignment provided by the factory is toe. If the alignment is off there are worn or bent parts. Check the other bearings and pivots in the steering system to be sure there is not high friction somewhere that is over-powering the self-centering forces of the caster. The steering column has 3 bearings that are easily ignored. The steering rack might need attention. There are bearings in the upper spring seats that might need service. Lastly, the strut/shock itself could be stiff for some reason but this would likely be accompanied by stiff suspension movement. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zguy91 Posted February 22, 2012 Share Posted February 22, 2012 It would probably serve you well to replace all of your bushings with the Energy Suspension master bushing kit. After 30-40 years the bushings on these cars are well worn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
z240 Posted February 22, 2012 Share Posted February 22, 2012 If the camber is truly way off, the only obvious thing is the T/C rod or bushing or its mounting may have failed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RebekahsZ Posted February 22, 2012 Share Posted February 22, 2012 Check your steering bearing at the TOP strut mount. You will have to jack car way up, remove the three bolts at the top of the strut and drop the strut from under the hood. You may also need to disconnect the rubber brake line to keep from breaking it (which means you gotta bleed your brakes after-yuck). Use a jack under the control arm/ball joint to keep your toes from getting smashed. I think your top steering bearing is either broken or has gotten cocked. Is your car lowered? That would be the cause-spring seat dropping off top strut insulator while you had car jacked up. Be careful not to smash any fingers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnc Posted February 22, 2012 Share Posted February 22, 2012 Your steering rack has most likely shifted to one side due to worn rack bushings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ax75f92 Posted February 23, 2012 Author Share Posted February 23, 2012 Check your steering bearing at the TOP strut mount. You will have to jack car way up, remove the three bolts at the top of the strut and drop the strut from under the hood. You may also need to disconnect the rubber brake line to keep from breaking it (which means you gotta bleed your brakes after-yuck). Use a jack under the control arm/ball joint to keep your toes from getting smashed. I think your top steering bearing is either broken or has gotten cocked. Is your car lowered? That would be the cause-spring seat dropping off top strut insulator while you had car jacked up. Be careful not to smash any fingers. This makes sense, I will check it out tomorrow and let you guys know how it went. The car is on stock suspension, however the struts need to be replaced as I can tell it is sagging. So effectively, it is sort of lowered lol. I have 4 cars and the wife is making me sell the Z . I want to fix this issue so the car is safe for the next owner. Thanks for the ideas so far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ax75f92 Posted February 23, 2012 Author Share Posted February 23, 2012 Your steering rack has most likely shifted to one side due to worn rack bushings. I was thinking about this as I have experienced it before on my 240sx. However, with the 240sx the steering angle would noticeably change while turning at speed as the rack was moving (pretty weird feeling) whereas on the Z is it constant. Also, the Z rack looks like it has built in flanges that would prevent much lateral shifting. I will check out the bushings nonetheless. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ax75f92 Posted February 29, 2012 Author Share Posted February 29, 2012 Jacked up the front. No binding of any kind. The steering wheel is very easy to turn. I took off the strut to inspect the upper mount and bearing and it seems fine. The upper mount spins without much resistance and rotates on center without deflection. I also checked for play in the suspension with everything bolted up and the wheels in the air, everything seemed fine. It does seem to be noticeably toed out on on both sides so I am going to take it in for an alignment tomorrow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luseboy Posted February 29, 2012 Share Posted February 29, 2012 Alignment may be the issue. I'm also concerned about chassis damage, it sounds to me like your T/C rod mount or strut tower has bent/deformed somehow. The car may need some adjustable control arms and t/c rods to be right again, and might even need some metal work. It might help us if you can post some pictures of the front suspension with the wheels off, as well as a picture of the strut tower in the engine bay. The other thing I'm thinking is that your front control arm bushings could be really worn, which could perhaps cause this. It would explain the positive camber anyways. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewZed Posted February 29, 2012 Share Posted February 29, 2012 So I jacked up my Z on the drivers side the other day to inspect the tie rod boot .... After setting the car down and jumping in I immediately noticed the steering wheel was off to one side. The basic facts indicate that you bent something during the jacking process, assuming that the wheel was straight before you started. No reason for anything to change just by lifting and looking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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