i brought my Camaro out to an autox race yesterday, and i was having some trouble with the steering. it seemed to delay a little from the time i would turn in to the time the car wiould react. could it be from the struts?? they are the original parts, so that might be the problem. any ideas??

 

SAtruts are suspension. I would suspect the steering componnts first. All the linkages. Inner and outer tie rods, Center link, idler arm. And you may have a little ecessive play in the box. It can be adjusted. Also maybe because of the weight transfer and air under the car it may have got light in the front.

 

[X(] have you been auto x before??? is the power steering fluid full ? what size are your front tires?? i ask all this cause they all can have an effect on how the car feels, do you get the same delay on the street when cornering hard?? kurt

 

[X(] air pressures in the tires? what does the sidewall say for recommended pressure?? sitting still and engine off how much play is in the steering wheel ?

 

ya, this is my second auto x with this car. tires are 235/60R15 up front, maz pressure on the side is 44psi, and there is NO play in the wheel sitting still.

 

btw, the delay in the steering only seemed to happen in the slaloms

 

The power steering is probably not able to respond to your steering maneuvers as fast as you would like, especially if the revs are low, and the power steering pump can't move the fluid fast enough. You could find a bigger pump, or spin the one you have faster, but this creates the need of a power steering cooler.

 

Maybe ya just have soft sidewalls and they tuck in the corners and it gives a feel of slow steering. I had the Kuhmo high performance summer tires and PST poly graphite bushings on my 84. That car stuck like glue. Sucked on rough roads though as the tires had very little deflectuion. They could be down to 10 psi and still look inflated.

 

my dad shot video of it, and the tires don't seem to roll at all; the body sure as hell rolls, but not the tires. i'm going to change the struts anyways, so it might help.

 

[X(] id say theres probably a combination of things most likely the least of which is the steering itself. remember inertia wants the car to go straight and will resist the whole turny left or right thing. first: probably some inexperience with this type of driving or this combination of parts, 60 series tires have a lot of sidewall and thus alot of ability to absorb driver input at the steering wheel before car starts to do what its told. then theres all the stuff that can be done with the car for this type of driving bigger sway bars, urethane bushings, drop springs with different rates and stiffnesses. there are almost unlimited parts to make this or any car do better and is only limited by ones budget. if on a budget look at upgraded models of the same car as these usually came with bigger sway bars, bigger brakes, stiffer springs etc. and can be had inexpensively at the local boneyard

based on the description of your problem id first look at gettin or borrowing some 50 series or lower tires for the front at least and a front ,and preferably matched rear, sway bars of a larger diameter. i think yould be amazed at the difference these alone will make the struts are just designed to keep the tire on the road its the springs, sway bar etc. that resist the cars tendancy to roll to the outside and makes it corner better with more responsiveness keep us posted kurt