WV75Z Posted June 21, 2009 Share Posted June 21, 2009 Hello, I have an 83zxt with a front end wander. It just doesn't like to track straight down the road and I am constantly correcting. I have Tokico springs and shocks and MSA swaybars with a cam type rear camber kit. I just had the car aligned and though it was way out of spec, it still wanders as much or more. I also have new steering rack and have no play in the tie rod ends. Today I jacked the car up and shook the wheels. The right front wheel has play when shaking diagonally from 10 to 4 oclock, but I can't shake it from top to bottom. I can also shake it from 3 to 9 oclock but it doesn't seem to be coming from the rack at least not the majority of it. Before I replaced the rack I could get lots of play laterally but that is mostly gone now. I'm thinking maybe ball joints but not sure. What else might be causing this wander? :redface:BTW my tires are pretty worn on the insides from negative camber. :(Help please Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jasper Posted June 21, 2009 Share Posted June 21, 2009 (edited) You need good tires. Uneven wear causes problems. Get a new set. Worn ball joints are a major concern. Do you have a printout of the alignment specs??? It would be helpful to post them if you have them. I replaced front lower ball joints, tie rod assemlbies, rotated my tires,and and did alignment on my Benz last week. After:severe pull to the right. Steering wheel off to the right. severe shimmy/vibration at 60 mph . Got it back into shop....balanced all 4. Found r/f with a road force of 41!!! 1/2 ounce out. rotated back to original position....no pull, goes straight,steering wheel straight, no vibration..........ONE BAD TIRE!!!!!! Edited June 21, 2009 by jasper more info Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HowlerMonkey Posted June 21, 2009 Share Posted June 21, 2009 Loose wheel bearings can cause wander as well as a toe out condition. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WV75Z Posted June 21, 2009 Author Share Posted June 21, 2009 Thanks or the replies. The alignment spec as of now is: RF LF RR LR Camber -1.3 -1.8 -2.1 -2.6 Toe .05 in .05in .15in .15in The camber is the best they could get it with the kit I have. The rear toe was way out so that was correted and the camber was worse. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Challenger Posted June 22, 2009 Share Posted June 22, 2009 Definitely check the wheel bearings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woldson Posted June 22, 2009 Share Posted June 22, 2009 The alignment shop should have noticed if things were loose. Take it back to them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HowlerMonkey Posted June 22, 2009 Share Posted June 22, 2009 Missed the part about the inside of the tires being worn. If your rear tires are less worn on the inside try swapping back to front and see if that changes things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stationwagonguy Posted June 23, 2009 Share Posted June 23, 2009 I would take it back to the alignment shop and ask what's going on. My Celica used to wander a bit- ended up being that the steering box was worn out. I don't know, but maybe the rack is to blame on your Z? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RUZN Posted June 25, 2009 Share Posted June 25, 2009 yeah with alignment they should not do: #1. alignment in the first place with worn tires #2. Worn parts why bother doing alignment #3. should be able to get closer than .5 difference on Camber. Whats your Caster with the kit you have. Caster pulls to least positive and Camber with pull but not as much. But if your worn good on insides then any lumps in the road with cause car to continueously track into the ruts. Loose steering gear in Rack will do it. So will tight steering gear. My Lower balljoints (yeah I know lol there are only lower) were toast that caused some weaving but not to much. Its my tierod ends that are bastardly but even with those toast and new lower balljoints I still drive straight after I aligned my car. Dont let those LAZY BASTARDS say they cant get it good enough thats just lazyness trust me I do alignments all day and if it aint in the GREEN it aint leaving the Shop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roger.svoboda Posted June 25, 2009 Share Posted June 25, 2009 urethane bushings are nice. tie rod ends and balljoints plus bushings made my 83 go where I point it now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WV75Z Posted June 25, 2009 Author Share Posted June 25, 2009 Yesterday I changed the ball joint and the tie rod end on the right side. It made no difference whatsoever even though I thought I was feeling some play at the ball joint when shaking the wheel. There appears to be some play in the rack but only on the right side. I'm now thinking maybe wheel bearings and tightening up the rack adjuster screw some. Today I took the car to a guy I know who owns an impeccable 91 300zxt and has worked on some 280zx's and is really into performance tuning and knows what he's doing. I'm going to let him drive the car and shake down the right side and tell me what he thinks. Here in Charleston WV we are severly limited on knowledgable people when it comes to cars with any suspension upgrades. You basically get some rednecks who are used to working on stock vehicles only. I don't even want to take it back to where I had it before. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
(goldfish) Posted June 25, 2009 Share Posted June 25, 2009 Have you checked the Inner tie rod end? I haven't seen rack bushings mentioned, and I have heard of the steering column u-joints going bad, but not often. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roger.svoboda Posted June 26, 2009 Share Posted June 26, 2009 you need to do the complete job not just half of it. Friend of mine tried to do it piecemeal and it was never right until both ball joints, both tie rod ends and new bushings were installed. all told I think it ran under $250 for the parts. Seems like it was 75 for ball joint and tie rod end and the bushing kit from msa was right at a hundred. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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