I have been doing some test runs on my a-v8 it steers fine although on a good road it wants to wander and the steering is real sensitive meaning if it wants do drift a little and you nudge the wheel in the opposite direction it goes that way and you feel like its at the virge of being out of control I have just minimal play in steering wheel. its a dropped front axle with a new vega box. the faster you go the worse it gets
I am going to guess rear to front alignment, though it could be a multitude of things. How about posting pictures of your front and rear set up?
Have you aligned the front suspension?,did you use new tie rod ends? It's not the most traditional thing but I use a panhard bar on the front. HRP
I recall a guy in San Jose that supposedly 'knew everything'. He had a '17 Dodge bucket, on Dodge rails, F-1 steering, 392" Chrys hemi. He came over to ask me why it was 'wandering'. (axle was straight up, you could tell there was no caster...I could see the fronts were toed out) The car had an 88" wheelbase. I jacked the front, chalked the tires down the center, then got ready to scribe them. This little redhead jumps up and screams, "YOU MEASURE THAT FROM THE BACKING PLATES!" I explained that toe was measured from the outer circumference of the tire. He made such a fuss that he destroyed any credibility he was suspect of having when he drove in... As for the question at hand: 1. Jack up the front and shake the front wheels by hand: left and right, (especially passenger side. Any looseness?) 2. Check the caster, set it at 7 degrees positive, +/-1. 3. Scribe front tires, set toe-in at 1/8". 4. Adjust air pressure in tires: 30 PSI front, 26 PSI rear. (re-adjust for ride...but first, get it going straight!)
With the kind of sensitivity you've described, Atwater Mike's advise is exactly what I'd do. Check wheel brn's as well.
Mike has it exactly right. Sometimes those old dropped axles were pulled differently for Road Crown. If you have the axle in backwards, the Road Crown camber/kingpin angle will fight you, but if it is a new axle, start with those ideas. I like 7-8 degrees of caster as an ideal number at finished ride height...
Yes, check kingpin angle, and toe in. If the kingpins are 6-9 degrees, and toe in is 1/8"-1/14", then look at worn out tierod ends, or other components.
I had a similar condition with my own 32 coupe once and it turned out to be king pins that were too tight in the axle
Just finished installing new king pins and bushes. Same symptoms and problem solved. On inspection I had a bad bushing that was frozen on kingpin. Car runs straight and true now. Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
You said you have a Vega steering box . . . Do you have a panhard bar ? If not, park it until you can put one on ! That very well could be the problem
Caster problem. Like was said 6 to 7 degrees positive for a dropped axle. What happens is if you are at 0 or 1 degree positive, when you start to turn the wheel at highway speed, ( 50 + ) the road wants to force the tire to turn more and harder then you want it to. I'll bet the steering wheel doesn't come back when you turn a corner in town either, caster is what gives you stability on the highway, the more you have the better it will track down the road. Of course that's after you have the toe in set and make sure you're front and rear axles are square. And as much as alot of guys will say panhard bars aren't traditional, if you want to hit the hi-way at 70 MPH get one. Remember, in 1928 these cars were made to run at 45-50 MPH tops and that was a scary ride. Here's my set up on my 29 Roadster. Runs down the road at 65 and I can take my hands off the wheel, 7 degrees positive caster, 1/8th toe in.
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