i have 98 Trans Am that pulls real hard to L or R when the road surfaces change, like truck ruts on 301 or woodberry for example. is this bump steer? and is this normal.when i'm on I75 0r 60 it seems fine.
a local shop owner told me its just what these cars do... my 94Z didnt do it? i'm lost this car has been problem free for 125k WTF?

 

yep the car is trash, you should get rid of it. just give it to me I'll take care of it for you

but seriously stuff like that is usually affected by your caster angle. caster is the angle the spindle sits at in relation to the 2 ball joints if you were to look at it straight on from the side. if there is very little or no caster, the wheels will be pulled to one side or thother easily. but with more, it will track straighter. this is why in reverse the front end is so hard to keep straight. the caster is deigned to work forwards, but is totally off when going backwards which makes the wheels pull one way or the other. think of a shopping cart wheel. when you push it forwards it tracks straight. but when you push it backwards, it tries to turn around backwards. well your car will not let the wheels spin all the way around, to it will just pull it hard to one side.

so in other words, it may just be how the suspenion of the car is designed. it is designed more for cornering and such so it may have a more aggressive caster angle. where as a luxury car may have a very large angle so it feels smoother going down the road. hope this helps

 

i know on my 94 caster was non adjustable, it had 16's stock and i have 17's on there and never did and alignment. i am fairly sure my camber is off since the outer edges are damn near bald even though the wear is consistent from side to side.
well thanks for the info, 2 new tires and an alignment and i'm just gonna stick to staying on 60.... i hate that fucking road though.

 

now that changes things. I was assuming the tires were wearing evenly and all. if both tires are wearing the outer edges evenly, that is usually a sign of exessive toe in, which can also make the steering jumpy on uneven road surfaces. but still, tires and an alignment should solve the problem

 

How wide are your tires though? Friend of mine had 275's all around, then went to 245's up front and it's a lot better.

 

275 up front 295 in the back.
its weird my z z06 whls with the oe 265's
also i thought outer edges was a camber issue never would've guessed toe, then again thats why i am not a tech ,just a bodyman

 

so a toe issue could be my inner or outer tie rods. but i dont have "sloppy" wheel. can an old power stg pump be suspect ?

 

My cars strut mounts are worn to hell and back after 175k miles on stock suspension and it does the same thing, but then again everything is original so it could be anything form ball joints to tie rods to control arm bushings or even struts themselves.

 

not necessarily. could just be from pevious work on the car, hitting something, a number of things really. doesn't mean any parts are bad. have a shop you know and trust do the alignment, and usually they will check stuff like your tie rod ends and such to see if you need new ones. and your power steering pump wont ffect the alignment, all it will do is if it starts putting out lower than needed pressure it when whine when you turn like it is out of fluid. it may be a little more difficult to turn as well.

 

sweet , i know where to start ,thanks guys!