Wheel alignment changing...
 

Has anybody else with a 4th gen F body had issues with their front wheel alignment changing? Has to be the landings, but if you have a fix I would sure be interested in hearing about it. I can't find anything bending. I'm going to paint the movable andustment points to try to find what is moving.

Thanks, Ed

Re: Wheel alignment changing...
 

Ed I'm having the same problem,but my steering wheel keeps moving the alignment is fine. I found out I think its my steering shaft slipping on the rack even though its tight its like the splines are slipping. You might want to look at that.


Tim

Re: Wheel alignment changing...
 

You need to drill that spline and pin it. Then safety wire it. That is what caused my '99 crash and almost killed me!!! That is dangerous. If it works totally loose you are along for the ride, which ever way it wants to go, when you hit the brakes at the finishline.

Re: Wheel alignment changing...
 

Adger,
Is this the spline you are talking about?
Cam

Re: Wheel alignment changing...
 

Yes it is, same type of joint too. (nice picture) My car had been in a well know shop for some up dates and I assume a minimum wage employee had put that part of it back together. The receiver groove in the male shaft of the rack was missed by the set screw in the female part of the joint. The sad part is it looked ok when I inspected the car. The set screw was just tight on a spline, Not in it's proper location, the receiver groove. After about 50 runs of wheelstanding & my pushing & pulling on the steering wheel it worked it's way off the shaft. I still think it came off during the wheelstand at the start of the run. At the finish line when I touched the brakes, trying to slow down to keep from breaking out, It made a hard turn to the left. I was out of control, just along for the ride. (read that: crash @ 145 MPH instead of ride!)
I think the best way to secure them is by drilling and inserting a hollow roll pin and then safety wire through the center of the roll pin. That is in addition to the set screw. That is a positive method that can be visually inspected for failure. Think about it. You can't tell if those set screws are where they belong or even tight with out putting a wrench on them. The pin method and safety wire can be visually inspected. If the pin starts to loosen and slide out the wire catches it. If the pin shears off it could snap the safety wire and alert a keen eye of a pending problem. My replacement roadster has already been built.(now if I can just talk my wife into letting me race it) It has the steering secured by bolts & roll pins with safety wire. Keep an eye on things, your life could depend on it. Tim, you have a very unsafe situation. Are you sure the rack isn't at fault? The worm gear gould be slipping on the shaft or the rack could be worn out. I think I would be taking some things apart and inspecting them if that was my ride.

Re: Wheel alignment changing...
 

On mine when the joint is properly installed you can't see any splines, like you can in this pic. Of course it could be a different set up than mine. On my set up there is a groove on the splined shaft that the set screw goes into so the joint can't come off unless it shears the set screw or it comes loose. We all need to be attentive of our cars as things do have a way of coming loose. Joe

Re: Wheel alignment changing...
 

Thanks guys. Somethng else to check. My wheel isn't moving, my toe-in and camber on the driver's side has moved this time. Just the toe-in last year.

Re: Wheel alignment changing...
 

I'm definatley going to do something else. My set screw is always tight. I like your idea.

Re: Wheel alignment changing...
 

I tack weld the washers on the control arm bolts after doing the alignment on a F body. .....The camber will sometimes move after a few big wheelstands if you don't tack them. ......Usually if the steering wheell goes off center, it's usually because the camber changed. ........Adger is absolutly correct about securing the coupler at the rack, I've seen a lot of them loose,not only on F bodies either. ...........Tom

Re: Wheel alignment changing...
 

We ended up welding mine together on the fox body. Same thing the wheel moved on one run when the car left real high. Dont have any problems with that part now. Also put a strut tower brace on it after the pic to the left. That just opened up a hole new can of worms that day LOL.