Jason E

So, despite fresh 245/45/17 BFG KDWS's, fresh KYBs, TDS SFCs & Wonderbar, and an Edelbrock STB, my RS feels nowhere near as solid as my Z28...not even close. Now, I know a 4th gen has a stiffer chassis (and yes, I did add bolt on SLP SFCs and an STB to that car as well), but I also find the RS wandering a lot on the highway, and not feeling nearly as glued in turns as the Z28. For a car that supposedly has a better skidpad performance than the Z, the RS does not give anywhere near the confidence...

The steering is tight, with no play in the wheel. My uncle's shop inspected the front end last year when there was play, and he claimed he tightened whatever adjustments you can make with the steering box...sure enough, the play was gone. At this point, is it safe to assume I need all new bushings? I can't think bushings would cause a wandering at highway speeds, but the front end feels numb. It just doesn't feel as solid as I remember my old 2.8 RS being, with 96k mile OEM struts and 15" Firehawks when I drove it last.

I expected more from the car...any help is appreciated. I know its somewhat unfair to compare a 112k mile '91 to a 64k mile '97, but to me it appears something is wrong here...thanks for any help...

Zepher

iTrader: (1)

i've got about 170K miles on my brid and it is nice and tight. change out your springs and struts/shocks with some new ones.

Jason E

So vaugeness and wandering can be caused by springs? I have new KYBs with less than 3k on them...are they really worth changing out? I've considered replacing them with Bilsteins, but don't think they're my issue.

As for my springs, they are OEM originals AFAIK...does anyone have a part # for PROPER OEM replacements? I put TRW springs in my '89 Formula back in '02...what a mistake! It rode like a brick, and the front sat too high. I promised myself that if I could, I would leave these springs in there...but maybe that's the problem, and not bushings? Nothing is clunking in the front, so everything appears tight...it just feels vague and numb...

Any additional help is appreciated...

Blue1989RS

I would go get an alignment before I spent money on new gear. Too much toe in can cause exactly what you're describing. Urethane rear bushings in the panhard will also help the back track the front better.

StevenK

iTrader: (1)

Or just get under it and measure the distance from the back of the tires (middle of tread) and the front, subtract the diff and you have your toe.

RBob

iTrader: (1)

A couple of things to check: the rag joint gets mushy over time and causes a vague wondering feel. Open the hood, un-clip and pull back the plastic cover to expose the rag joint, grab the intermediate shaft and while observing the rag joint rotate the shaft. Look for the rag joint flexing while checking for metal-to-metal contact. If it easily goes metal-to-metal the joint is mush.

With the aftermarket wheels the scrub radius may be too large. This has a huge affect on the feel of the steering. Easiest method to check the current scrub radius is to compare the wheel offset to the stock wheel offset. If the center of the tread has moved outward, even 1/4", it will affect the feel. A greater scrub radius increases the leverage the tire has against the steering.

RBob.

compuwiz1937

iTrader: (17)

Sounds like you need an alignment to me. My car wandered a little and the driver side tire wore funny after I installed new struts and front springs.