I need some advice on regarding wandering steering I'm getting on my 69 Camaro. The front suspension is stock with a standard ratio power steering box. Over the winter I replaced the pitman arm, front shocks, and the sway bar mounting bushings and complete end links. The sway bar is 11/16". Below are the parts I used:

a. KYB Gas-a-Just Monotube, PN: KG4515.
b. Energy Suspension Sway Bar End Link with Polyurethane Bushings, P/N:9-8117G.
c. Energy Suspension Polyurethane Mounting Bushings, PN: 3-5202G.
d. Pitman Arm PS Standard 5 1/4".

Upon installation I noticed the front end was roughly 1/2"-3/4" higher after the work was completed than before. Could it be the shocks? The orginal shocks were NAPA SenSa Trac, PN:5804.

When I took the car for a drive today it was a challenge keep it on the road because it would wander on a straight drive. The steering wheel was also off center, so I assume the toe is off. The replacement end link sleeves are roughly 1/4" shorted then the original sleeves; however, the position of the sway bar ends are parallel to the frame when the original was tilted slightly higher.

I'd appreciate any advice on these two issues.

Thanks, John

 

After changing all those parts, yes a four wheel alignment is needed.
You want the front axle to track the rear axle, not the center line of the vehicle.
Very well is the gas shock.

 

Could be you needed an alignment already, and the tighter tolerance pitman arm accentuated something else in the suspension or steering that's off.....or worn and sloppy.

 

Since changing the idler arm, this new arm may have changed toe-in/toe-out.
The Idler arm must be the same length as the Pitman arm as this will keep Ackerman steering geometry in check.
The center link must be parallel as a parallelogram is made using the front corner of the Pitman arm and idler arm and the rear corner must be the same length.
When a turn is negotiated, Ackerman steering takes into account of the two different arcs the front wheels make.
If one arm is different length, one wheel is not parallel with the other wheel going straight.
Hence, one tire is going straight, the other wheel is going in another direction, tires will scuff the road.

If you have different sitting height, unbolt the bottom of the shocks and see if front falls down. I wager it will, seen it happen.

 

A V8 69 Camaro has an approximate curb weight of 3400 lbs. Figuring a modest 60/40 front-rear split puts 2,040 lbs up front, or 1,020 at each front wheel. I'm curious how a gas shock, which can easily be compressed by pushing down on it (I don't weigh anywhere near 1,020 btw), has that kind of lifting force when on the car? I've never seen that happen. Maybe if one has completely dead coil springs, maybe?

 

The coil springs were replaced in 2007 and still look good.

I haven't dropped the shocks yet and I'm waiting on return information from KYB.

The pitman arm and idler arm have the same center line measurements, which is 5 1/4". Doing a quick toe-in check I came up with a total toe-in of 3/4". The spec for total toe is 1/4" to 1/2". Will this cause the wandering issue?

 

I understand what you are saying, the gas is only to pressurize the fluid so it does not agitate and create bubbles while dampening the road.

But, most I've installed the body has raised at the most, an inch fro the axle changed.

It may be the case here, since the suspension was bottomed up, it could be the control arm bushing have bound up and kept the vehicle high.
Maybe loosening the control arm nuts relieving tension may allow the body to fall.

 

Maybe John can take before and after measurements. In all fairness for a good test, you'd need to disconnect the shocks without jacking up the car. A binding control arm bushing is a thought, or maybe the sway bar frame mount bushings. Did you tighten the suspension stuff down after the tires were on the ground, suspension loaded and settled?

 

Good suggestion

 

I got feedback from KYB today and they said monotube shocks could raise the ride height up to 3/4". It's my understanding that any change to ride height will impact the alignment. Perhaps combining that with the new pitman arm replacement really knocked off the alignment, which caused the excessive wandering.

Thinking about this more I did remove the left outer tie-rod prior to replacing the pitman arm and know I'm wondering if I didn't seat the tie-rod correctly. I plan to remove it tomorrow to make sure it's seated properly. I may also put the old twin tube shocks back on to see if the ride height goes back to normal.