I am not happy with my steering and or general feel of the steering.
Subject car: '84 Coupe
Mileage: 76K
Always garaged and in very nice condition. Car is in stock condition.

Problem: Steering wheels giggles while going straight down freeway. On or Off ramps steering/tires feels like it grips then not. All within seconds all through the sweep. Also, when I hit dips, the steering wheel seems to steer to the right or left until the dip/dips are no longer there. Like bump steer. This needs to be fixed as this is driving me nuts......and brother that ain't a long trip.

Things I have done so far: New Bilstein Sports, had the wheels re-balanced, just re-packed the front bearings. Tires are almost new.

So whats next? Should I go to the Porsche shop and get an alignment, could it be that simple or do you guys think it could be ball joints or tie rods? While sitting still and turning the steering wheel slightly back and forth the wheels respond right away. "Seems" like no slop. Am I being fooled? I try and do my own work to a point so front end stuff scares me not. I would like some thoughts if you will. I give alot of smart *** anwers here so fire away, I can take it.

 

Could be alignment, tie rods or maybe even brakes....

 

Tire make? Tire age? How long does the car sit between uses? These questions can reveal a lot, but if you really, really, really want answers...

Darin Nishimura
C/O West End Alignment
18008 S. Vermont Ave.
Gardena, CA 90248
310-808-9233

 

I didn't buy these but they came on the car. Riken R rated. I am a Michein user thru and thru and just balanced again. They are two years old. The car gets a drive once a month about 30 miles. Mr.Z, David is to far from San Diego.

 

Do you hear any clunking noise, or is everything tight, other than feedback to the steering wheel?

You can also check the rear wheel bearings for play. Push against the rear bumper with your shin and if you can see any wheel play, then the bearings are going. That'll make your "steering" feel really funny.

It's possible the hubs are warped, maybe the discs. I think it would take a fair amount of lateral run out to make the steering wheel shake though. If you press down on the front bumper, are the struts moving up and down, or is one of them binding? Running on the rubber snubber?

 

Turbo tie rods may give you that tight feeling you wish for. Also, possibility of steering wheel bushing.
abe

 

Riken's might be a tire that suffers greatly from non-use flat spots (can't say for sure because I've never used them, but I've driven plenty of 911s with them on). One use a month is just inviting flat spots - a condition classic for your symptoms. Riken tires are not top tier, I'm not even sure that they're second tier. Certainly a good place to start... Can you check the date code on their sidewalls, somebody might have lied to you about their age!

http://www.ehow.com/how_4621263_read...ate-codes.html

Regarding the drive, I go to Darin from Bakersfield - almost three hours each way. He's a 911 magician, but first (if your date codes are good); can you raise your car off the floor after its next use, and put 45 pounds of air (cold) in each tire? That might get us going in the right direction.

 

One more thing and I should have included this. The steering wheel has no shimmy below 50mph. Only above. I will digest all you have written.

 

Slept on it. I suffer from either being a dumb s__t or a smart ***. One can understand why I am conflicted. I have a spare set of wheels. Why didn't I do this before? I will apply to the front and see if the ill handling still occurs. The extra wheels have the Michelin brand on them. I know they are smooth as they are on another car that drives perfectly. Will report back.

 

My 87 911 with 75k miles had similiar problems with bump steering and the roads in Cleveland aren't very pleasant so it had to be fixed. First I replaced the front struts which were worn, this helped a bit. Couple of weeks ago I replaced the ball joints, this was a huge improvement. I'm happy with how it is now but I'm going to replace the tie rod ends because the boot on one side is split.

Mark

 

Been busy today with other things. But, before I started changing wheels I thought I would do an old move I learned from the hot rodders in the sixties. I put a level on a piece of wood and placed it on each wheel. The two on the drivers side were almost level, just a bit out at the bottom. The right side (both wheels) were in at the bottom a full bubble. No wonder this car handles like crap.
This is what happens when non Porsche people own one of these cars. No this wasn't me as the car never handled quite right from the time I took ownership. To think my only concern during my out of state PPI was the engine and tranny. I should have had the tech check the entire car. My fault. Will report back, after the four wheel alignment. I wonder how much this is going to cost? Am I ever going to get my '70 Mustang fastback? I keep running into roadblocks.

 

Jae Lee @ Mirage Intl is the 911 suspension guru in SD. Many PCA and POC racers use him. He's off Miramar Rd.

I did my last alignment with a borrowed camber gauge and strings-it came out pretty darn good. It took the better part of a day, but it was a worthwhile experience. I have on my computer somewhere a booklet on this very task a number of years ago. It lays it all out step by step. I can try and dig it up and e-mail to you if you want to give it a go.

 

i wanna see if this is readable

 

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