94 GT, steering does not return to center

fiveofanatic · Jul 25, 2007

Got one in the shop now. Turn the wheel to 2:00 & let go while driving, wheel does not return to center. Turn the wheel to 10:00 & let go while driving, wheel does not return to center. Car has Koni reds, Eibach springs, Energy Suspension upper strut mount bushings. Factory camber/caster plates. Stock 17" wheels & stock tire size.

Still not finished with inspection, but this one seems kinda weird. Caster should be in factory range...no bind or slop noted in steering or suspension...odd.

Talk about a small world, too. I recognized every part on the car as what we used to use at Charlie's. Asked the customer, & sure enough, it's a Charlie's Mustangs car, put together in the time frame I worked there. Couldn't believe it.

The Green GT · Jul 25, 2007

From your sig I can easily tell you are WAY too low for the factory C/C plates. Im not sure if that would have an affect, but its a start.

GTA_V6_Mustang · Jul 25, 2007

Could be worn inner tie rods, or worn rack bushings.

cjones · Jul 25, 2007

how is the steering rack?? the valves could be stuck or broken...

if there is way too much toe that could, in theory, cause it not to return.

Mustang5L5 · Jul 25, 2007

Check the toe

I'm guessing alignment issue, but the factory C/C plates might be preventing a proper alignment. He really should get aftermarket plates considering his other suspension mods

94-302-vert · Jul 25, 2007

Needs more caster....

HISSIN50 · Jul 25, 2007

Curt, assuming the suspension itself to be cool, are the pedigree and performance of the rack itself known? It seems to me that debris clogging the valves or stuck valves can create such an issue (failure to return to center).

Good luck with it bud.

fiveofanatic · Jul 25, 2007

The Green GT said:
From your sig I can easily tell you are WAY too low for the factory C/C plates. Im not sure if that would have an affect, but its a start.

It's not my car I'm discussing, but thanks.

Mustang5L5 said:
Check the toe

I'm guessing alignment issue, but the factory C/C plates might be preventing a proper alignment. He really should get aftermarket plates considering his other suspension mods

cjones said:
how is the steering rack?? the valves could be stuck or broken...

if there is way too much toe that could, in theory, cause it not to return.

GTA_V6_Mustang said:
Could be worn inner tie rods, or worn rack bushings.

No visible problems; bushings all look good, no tie rod probs, steering shaft OK. I'm also suspecting toe, possibly, but I tend to think it'd have to be so out of whack to do this that I'd be able to see that it's buggered up with the naked eye (have not put it on the rack yet).

Personally, I'm not a big believer in cc plates on street cars. The additional adjustment is nice, so is the more solid upper mount, but in my experience they're purely optional. My own cars have had H&R, Eibach Sportline, Pro Kit, & cut Drag Launch springs, no cc plates on any of them, & no ugly tire wear.

94-302-vert said:
Needs more caster....

Assuming you mean additional positive caster, I disagree. An excess of positive caster creates the problem this car is having.

Welp, it's all academic at this point. He needed the car back tonight, so we finished the other work we were doing & returned it to him. He's not that concerned with it, but when I drove it, it bugged the hell out of me. My car is more aggressive than his (lower, wider wheels, wider tires, also no cc plates), & the wheel returns just as it should. I'll have the car back in my shop in the future, & if I get this thing nailed, I'll post the results. Thanks for the input, gents!

go-stang5.0 · Jul 26, 2007

positive caster would help alleviate this problem, I think you have it backwards. Positive caster is what you have on the front wheels of a shopping cart, if that makes more sense.

Mustang5L5 · Jul 26, 2007

fiveofanatic said:
Personally, I'm not a big believer in cc plates on street cars. The additional adjustment is nice, so is the more solid upper mount, but in my experience they're purely optional. My own cars have had H&R, Eibach Sportline, Pro Kit, & cut Drag Launch springs, no cc plates on any of them, & no ugly tire wear.

I disagree and here's why

On my '88 5.0, i have FMS C springs. They dropped the front pretty good, almost 2". With those springs, the tops of the tires leaned in slightly. I tried to get it aligned, but the factory plates would only do so much. I was getting wear on the insides of the tires. I ended up going cc plates and that little extra bit of adjustability was enough to properly align the vehicle.

But it all depends on the complete setup. Some cars won't need them, some will

The Green GT · Jul 26, 2007

Mustang5L5 said:
I disagree and here's why

On my '88 5.0, i have FMS C springs. They dropped the front pretty good, almost 2". With those springs, the tops of the tires leaned in slightly. I tried to get it aligned, but the factory plates would only do so much. I was getting wear on the insides of the tires. I ended up going cc plates and that little extra bit of adjustability was enough to properly align the vehicle.

But it all depends on the complete setup. Some cars won't need them, some will

I dropped my car 2 inches and with the best alignment I could get on the stock plates this happened. Then they started showing metal, then one wore all the way through and leaked out over night.

chuck943 · Jul 26, 2007

A binding lower ball joint can cause this problem also. A way to check this is to raise front of vehicle off of the ground and disconnect the outer tie rods,then go to each front wheel, with the wheel straight push lightly on the rear of the wheel to get it started turning. If joint is ok it should just flop to the full turn postion,if it is binding or stops replace the lower ball joint.

The Green GT · Jul 26, 2007

chuck943 said:
A binding lower ball joint can cause this problem also. A way to check this is to raise front of vehicle off of the ground and disconnect the outer tie rods,then go to each front wheel, with the wheel straight push lightly on the rear of the wheel to get it started turning. If joint is ok it should just flop to the full turn postion,if it is binding or stops replace the lower ball joint.

It was caused by the alignment though. You could SEE the tires leaning in.

But I would like to check that one day. Just to make sure.

HISSIN50 · Jul 26, 2007

Eric, I think Chuck's comment was for Curt or those with an issue like Curt's customer's car.

The Green GT · Jul 26, 2007

HISSIN50 said:
Eric, I think Chuck's comment was for Curt or those with an issue like Curt's customer's car.

Makes sense. lol.

GTA_V6_Mustang · Jul 26, 2007

Ok first of all go-stang, its negative caster on a shoping cart. Cars with no power steering use more negative caster, cars with power steering use more positive caster. Having positive caster helps the wheels return to the str8 ahead position. Hence why when ppl get caster/ camber plates they use more positive caster angles. High speed stability and better handling because the tires stay in the straight ahead position. And with more positive caster when the wheel is turned the camber stays more or less at its same angles (negative) so your tire gets more contact surface and you get better traction on turns. So like said before Caster could cause this problem. But its not as likely seeing as caster is non adjustable from factory unless you shift the cradle. Have you had your car towed at all recently. That would cause a change in caster seeing as they pull it onto the truck by the cradle.

go-stang5.0 · Jul 27, 2007

yea I got the caster backwards

Just about everything I've seen is positive caster so I'm used to refering to caster as more or less w/o the +/-.

chuck943 · Jul 27, 2007

go-stang5.0 said:
yea I got the caster backwards

Just about everything I've seen is positive caster so I'm used to refering to caster as more or less w/o the +/-.

The reason that everything you see now is positive caster is because of radial tires. See back in the day when everything was bias ply, these tires when you get to higher speeds tend to get egg shaped so to compensated for this the caster was set to negative to keep the biggest tire contact patch with the road as possible. Radial tires don't do this so you can put the caster postive and get better handling and still get a good contact patch.

94 GT, steering does not return to center

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