Steering woes

[Owen]

I have a '97 LSC which has always driven very well until the past day... the steering has become soft and vague for lack of a better description. It is not nearly as responsive as it had been previously, where handling and turning was crisp it now takes almost like an exaggerated turn of the wheel. The car seems to wander a bit as well, nothing serious but noticeable to me and there seems to be a bit of bump-steer happening. I installed new lower control arms/lower ball joints/bushings last fall -'12- and has had new inner and out tie rods as well from the same time frame. The steering wheel is straight and there is no evident pull either way. Not sure if the pump is going or where to start- Any ideas or suggestions are greatly appreciated! Thanks...

 

[aimone]

Strut rod bushings? my 94 was acting the same way and it only got worse throughout the week(i drive alot and not to gentle lol). i took the wheels off and it looked like the lca bushings were shot. so i went to pull a part and found a t-bird with fresh front end work. i changed uca, lca, the thing with ball joints on each end,outer tie rod end and the strut rod bushings. after pulling off my old parts the only thing that was completely shot was the strut rod bushings. mine feels good now other then needing an alignment. i did some searching and found that these are the symptoms of the SRB's. a new set is like $30 for both sides where it meets the lca. do some searching every problem these cars have is covered in these forums

 

[chris2523]

what brand lower control arms.

 

[NoLimit95]

My black 94 was doing something like this and it was the rack. Swapped it out for a 93 rack and all was good again. I'm not much into suspension and steering so idk for sure. I would see the rack going bad and causing everything to feel funny all of a sudden, rather than front end parts but anything is possible.

 

[Owen]

Thanks for the input everyone... I bought some replacement strut arm bushings on my way home from campus only to remember that I replaced those when I replaced the lower control arms but since it was up in the air and wheels off I looked at the strut arm bushings on the other end- where it secures to the frame- and they look just ok with the passenger side a bit worse. Driving to campus and back today really wore the inside tread on the passenger side while the driver side is still as new. I think I am just going to take it to get worked on as I am pressed for time with the semester just having started, as well as working full time. I don't have the cash to replace parts as guess work so I have a shop I trust and does good work I will take it to.

 

[chris2523]

Your alignment has an issue. A bad alignment can cause vague steering and the tire wear.

What brand parts did you use. The cheap ones do not last on these cars.

 

[dnsherrill]

Your alignment has an issue. A bad alignment can cause vague steering and the tire wear.

What brand parts did you use. The cheap ones do not last on these cars.

it sounds like o.p. described a sudden change? that could be alignment?

 

[Spree]

Your alignment has an issue. A bad alignment can cause vague steering and the tire wear.

What brand parts did you use. The cheap ones do not last on these cars.

What are the "cheap" one's? (just asking). I've read different threads from different people. I have dorman upper's and lower's. Upper's having 13k and lower's having 5k and no problems or noises yet (knock on wood). I took off trw's which I know were original's that lasted 192k to 200k.