Steering issues
 

Since I have the engine out of the car, now would be a good time to tackle a problem i'd been havin with the steering. At speeds of 60+, the car seemed to steer itself around moderate curves. It didn't feel overly jumpy and was fine at low speeds, but it freaked me out when the car would oversteer more than i knew it should, or begin to turn before I move the steering wheel. There is also a bit of freeplay when initially turning the wheel. My friend told me I have a broken power steering bracket????? but this car never had power steering. WTF?? BTW, I drive an 85 GS if that makes any difference

You have an inferior recirculating ball steering system.&nbsp Also, you might want to change your alignment - this will help a lot.&nbsp You might want to post this in the 1st gen section also...


-Ted

Recirc balls aren't "inferior", they just need some TLC. My '80 had laser-precise steering.

First things first - make sure there is nothing loose in the front end. Check the tension rod bushings (try to roll the front tires back and forth with the car on the ground), jack the car up and wiggle everything (don't be a pansy, get both shoulders in there and SHOVE the wheel around) and check for loose ball joints, lower control arm bushings, tie-rod ends, and ESPECIALLY the idler arm bushings. They are close to the exhaust and love to go bad, especially on the later model 1st-gens.

Next, check the rear suspension bushings, paying close attention to the lower links. If the bushings are bad, replace the link in question. The lower links also tend to get bent, which will screw up the alignment and cause weird handling.

How old are the shocks and struts? Do you get seasick going down the road? Replace 'em. Are they leaking fluid? Replace 'em.

Now, if all of that checks OK, or once you fix everything that needs fixed, get the car aligned. Tell them to set toe OPPOSITE of what spec is. (The spec calls for a little toe-in, tell them to set it to that number but toed-out) This will enhance highway stability. I set up all of my cars with a little toe-out and they are always rock-stable on the highway compared to when they were set with toe-in.

Hey peejay...does that toe-out thing work for the FC too (1991 n/a)???

I've done it on every car I've owned. It does chew up the inside edges of the front tires, esp. on cars with negative camber (like your FC) unless you corner hard often, in which case tire life is so short that you don't notice. The amount of toe-out to run depends on how much camber the car has (the closer to zero, the less toe-out) and how wide the tires are (the wider the tire, the less to run).

In my Subaru I ran almost an inch of toe-out. On my '80 I ran about 1/4" toe-out. Tire life on both cars was about 15-20,000mi for treadwear 400 all-season tires. (But it was even treadwear)

I've got a similar problem in my 85 GS, with a new steering box. At 80mph, it is very touchy/sensitive, more so at higher speeds than at say 45mph.