loose front bearings --- could it exagerate the bump steer?

[Cool_V_300C]

took the hemi (that's what the wife calls it) in for scheduled service and
decided to ask them to investigate the suspension while the car was
there.

Naturally, they drove the car and said they didn't experience either the bump
steer or rear side steps that I've been experiencing.

The inspection did find loose bearings up front which they will be
repairing per my max care agreement.

Question: Could this have actually exagerated the feeling of the
bump steer?

[joey]

I am no expert, but I don't think bad bearings would be the likely cause of bump steer or step out.

The Service Manual says bad bearings might cause -
Front end whine on turns
Road Wander

But the manual doesn't even acknowledge bump steer or step out, so anything is possible. But then bump steer and step out are normal for our cars too.

[GROUNDED]

the bump steer and rear step out are the outcome of flawed suspension design. Period.

[Cool_V_300C]

Originally Posted by joey

I am no expert, but I don't think bad bearings would be the likely cause of bump steer or step out.

The Service Manual says bad bearings might cause -
Front end whine on turns
Road Wander

But the manual doesn't even acknowledge bump steer or step out, so anything is possible. But then bump steer and step out are normal for our cars too.

OK, one item fixed. I was having some road wandering and that is definitely gone now. Dealer states no problems found with suspension and no other worn parts. Looks like in the near future I'll be getting the 2 kits from Pedders to fix the bump steer and rear side step.

[batwood]

It is a good suspension design, just a little on the cheaper side when it came to the components to make it work.
The bumpsteer is in the steering rack bushes that are rubber and soft. Ours change the mounting points to raise the rack so that it has less movement when dealing with any irregularities in the road thus reducing the bumpsteer.

The rear is a similiar issue with soft bushes, with a lot of voids for NVH and very little contact surface area. Ours increase the stiffness and increase the contact are by over 600%. This greatly reduces the "stepout" that you are referring to.

[dms]

Originally Posted by Cool_V_300C

took the hemi (that's what the wife calls it) in for scheduled service and
decided to ask them to investigate the suspension while the car was
there.

Naturally, they drove the car and said they didn't experience either the bump
steer or rear side steps that I've been experiencing.

The inspection did find loose bearings up front which they will be
repairing per my max care agreement.

Question: Could this have actually exagerated the feeling of the
bump steer?

I do not think the bump steer issue caused your hubs to go bad. But I do aggree, depending on how loose they are, that ithey could cause the feeling of bump steer isues to be more exaggerated. The issue of the back end "stepping out" is a function of lack of control of the rear cradle. Our rear cradle bushes will resolve that. At House of Power, last week, we were doing some training with Josh, and with his fingers, deflected the center ferrile of the rear cradle bushes. What do you think the affect of a 4000 pound car can do? I think my description of the rear step out feeling, can be described like a orbital steering. In a corner, under compression, the cradle literally moves in relationship to the body, which gives you the feeling of the back end jouncing, and moviing laterally

mike
dms

[GROUNDED]

Bushings might help cover up bump steer but the true origin is this is the suspension. Improper length or angle of the steering or suspension components is the blame.

[dms]

Originally Posted by GROUNDED

Bushings might help cover up bump steer but the true origin is this is the suspension. Improper length or angle of the steering or suspension components is the blame.

I totally aggree. But maybe yu do not understand what our steering gear bush does. It relocates the steering gear by raising it up. Excess bump steer is eliminated with our steeruing gear bush. A stock LX has a bump steer of around 9mm ad when you drop the LX, the bump steer gets worse

mike
dms

[Cool_V_300C]

Originally Posted by dms

I do not think the bump steer issue caused your hubs to go bad. But I do aggree, depending on how loose they are, that ithey could cause the feeling of bump steer isues to be more exaggerated. The issue of the back end "stepping out" is a function of lack of control of the rear cradle. Our rear cradle bushes will resolve that. At House of Power, last week, we were doing some training with Josh, and with his fingers, deflected the center ferrile of the rear cradle bushes. What do you think the affect of a 4000 pound car can do? I think my description of the rear step out feeling, can be described like a orbital steering. In a corner, under compression, the cradle literally moves in relationship to the body, which gives you the feeling of the back end jouncing, and moviing laterally

mike
dms

correct, though I wasn't asking whether bump steer caused the bushings
to go bad, but rather since they were bad, would the feeling be worse,
and I think the answer is yes, because the car has returned to its normal
self. I'm not having the loose feeling I was having, but do still have
bump steer and rear step as per the design....

I'm watching carefully for more expansion of dealers in my area. I will
not be free for another month or so to plan a multiple hour trip to
waukegan, so I'm really hoping something comes available south or
west of chicago.