More problems fixed, still more to fix

[Steve87GN]

I always wanted a car to restore from the ground-up. Looks like my GN is that car for me lol

Ok, so, just had a set of HR poly motor mounts installed, which took care of my upper A-arm hitting the downpipe. Also put in new springs and shocks on all 4 corners, new Spohn lower A-arms with new ball-joints, new front brakes and adjusted the rears. So far, so good. I have 2 major problems left:

1) I have a good amount of play in the steering wheel. My boss (former mechanic, very knowledgeable) seems to think its the steering box. It almost feels like there's a lot of play between the gears in the steering box. This is coupled with the steering wheel shaking at speeds of 45+, moreso under heavy acceleration. Does this sound like the steering box or something else?

2) The front wheels rub when I turn the wheel about 1 full rotation in either direction. I'm assuming this is an indication that the body mounts are due, or the front tire is too big for the wheel well (235/60/15). I don't think its the wheel backspacing, but I suppose it could be I guess. Thoughts?

Thanks as always everyone.

 

[charlief1]

Gear box slack is easy to take care of, but what your'e discribing isnt slack there. If you have a set of ramps, drive the car up on it, get under it and have someone turn the wheel without the engine running. Look for movement in the tie rods, draglink, and idler arm.

 

[Steve87GN]

Thanks for the tip Charlie, I'll do that this weekend. What kind of movement am I looking for exactly?

 

[azbob]

I just installed 235-60-15's on my fronts and they also rub ever so slightly on the full turn at both sides. They are just a little too wide. I can live with it because it is so minor of a rub.

 

[charlief1]

Steve,
Look for smooth movement, not jerky. If you have to put your hand on each joint and if you feel a kind of clicking then you have wear in the joint. That's the best way I can describe it.

 

[machinegun]

In the items mentioned above you are looking or any movement in the items. If there is any movement say inside a ball joint, tie rod, or drag link. If you have all new upper and lower ball joins, check your tie rod ends.

 

[Steve87GN]

Thanks for the help so far guys. I'll take look tomorrow and see what and how everything is moving underneath. Also, good to know that the 235/60/15s rub for someone else. Maybe I'll grab a set of 225/60's to take care of the rub. I'll keep everyone posted.

 

[Steve87GN]

Ok, here's the update. My g/f helped me out and shook the wheel for me, motor off like you guys said, while I observed the steering linkage. While she was shaking the wheel, the linkage didn't move at all. That would mean the steering box needs to be adjusted, right? Or should I look at replacing it?

Here's the odd thing though. Before she got there, I decided to replace the front sway bar bushings with the ES poly ones that I'd had for a few weeks now. Now, after doing that and greasing the lower A-arm bushings, the shake is gone. The steering still feels loose, but there's no shake at higher speeds anymore. I'm confused to say the least, but glad she's not shaking anymore. At least, she's not right now anyways. Thoughts on this? Thanks for the help so far everyone, I really appreciate it.

 

[charlief1]

If you've got greasable lower bushings Then I'd say your control arm bolts are loose. Are they bushings or heim/rose joints?

 

[Steve87GN]

Poly bushings. The thing I noticed though was that, despite they said they didn't, was that the Firestone shop i took her too for a front-end alignment and such greased the A-arm bushings with regular grease, not the silicone stuff that Spohn recommends. I pumped in as much of the stuff Spohn sells as i could to each bushing until I felt resistance. Some took more than others than others. But, like I said, she feels great now. I did notice, though, that a lot of grease was spilling out of all the joints in the steering linkage along with the ball-joints. I cleaned up what I could, but it still bothers me a bit. I'm going to be calling Spohn to see if there's any possible damage to the bushings.

So, I guess where I'm at is:

1) Should I be worried about all the grease that was coming out of the steering linkage and ball joints? It looked like they pumped a heck of a lot of grease in but the car feels fine now.

2) How can I take the slop out of the steering wheel? Can the steering box be adjusted or do I need to replace it?

Thanks as always everyone.

 

[BlackBettie6]

i noticed on alot of g-body gm cars the inside of the column gets loose behind the steering wheel, as in you can move the steering wheel up and down + side to side with the KEY OUT. if thats the case theres a way to adjust/tighten it up. it involves rods in the column i belive. i did it via text book, due to burnt brain cells:biggrin: :biggrin: :biggrin:

 

[Steve87GN]

The wheel doesn't move up and down or side to side. In that regard, its nice and tight. The slop I am referring to is the amount of play in the wheel when you turn it. It almost feels like this: lets look at the gears in the rear end. If the steering column is the pinion gear, then it feels like the pinion gear isn't sitting tightly against the ring gear. That's about the best way I can think of to describe what I am feeling. Make sense? Or do I need more sleep before I can post sensibly again? lol

 

[turbojd]

My 235-60-15's also rubbed when the wheel was turned all the way in one direction, just slightly, it's not a big deal, at least it wasn't for me!

 

[azbob]

Since you have checked the pitman arm, idler arm, tierod ends and draglink for play and still have more slack than desired.
You can adjust the worm gear in the steering box with the adjustment screw on top of the box. Be careful so as not to tighten it too much, but I took alot of slack out of mine this way. If after adjustment it still has more play than you can live with, a rebuilt box is not that expensive.

 

[Steve87GN]

They rub kinda bad I'm thinking. I've looked and noticed that the wheel well liner is starting to rub away. Maybe I need to look at running a smaller tire in the front.

As for the steering, how much should I look at tightening it? About half a turn or so? If I need to replace the steering box, how hard is it to do? Can I do it myself?

 

[azbob]

Hold the adjusting screw with a large screwdriver and loosen the locknut with a box wrench. After the nut is loose tighten the adjustment screw and then back it off until you just feel some resistance at the worm gear. Tighten the locknut holding the screw so as not to put excessive pressure on the worm gear.
To change out the steering box you will need to center the steering wheel, unbolt the connection to the steering shaft coupling(this will insure the steering wheel will be centered after reassembly), use a gear puller to remove the pitman arm (note the alignment marks to be sure it is right on the reinstall), remove the bolts through the frame and drop the box out. This is not a very hard job and the reassembly should be just a repeat of the removal process in reverse. There have been several threads on this and it has never been identified as a very complex job.

 

[BlackBettie6]

The wheel doesn't move up and down or side to side. In that regard, its nice and tight. The slop I am referring to is the amount of play in the wheel when you turn it. It almost feels like this: lets look at the gears in the rear end. If the steering column is the pinion gear, then it feels like the pinion gear isn't sitting tightly against the ring gear. That's about the best way I can think of to describe what I am feeling. Make sense? Or do I need more sleep before I can post sensibly again? lol

well if the front tires are wider than stock your steering is naturaly not going to be as responsive as stock tires/wheels. not to bash firestone but alot of "alighnment techs" dont enjoy adjusting caster/camber on a 21 yeah old front end...just sayin... these cars are very easy to work on, you just gotta start from the basics of diagnosing a problem. tire psi, tread wear, balancing,oversteer- understeer ect..

easy thing to do to check upper lower control arms is to jack the front of car up (tires 3-4" off ground) stick a prypar under the tire and pull up and listen for clicking or a chatering feel...while the front end is up wiggle the drivers side tire side to side and the pass side should be pretty damn close to the same motion your wiggling lol wiggle

i could be way off but i`ve had two 86 442 cutlass and i beat the PISS out of both of them drifting and racing breaking fixing ect and never had to mess with the steering box.. but then again i had stock size wheels:biggrin:

 

[Steve87GN]

Thanks for the help guys. I'm going to try and adjust the box during my time off from work (which starts Sat. ), so I'll see if that takes care of it. Good to know the steering boxes are pretty strong, that makes me feel a little better. I'm going to be putting the factory wheels back on soon as well, so maybe that will help to take care of the rubbing some as well. Thanks everyone, I'll keep you posted.