Grinding in Hard Right Turns .. Help!

[barrylnv]

I am feeling and hearing a grinding when I do a hard right turn. Some facts:

1) It only happens when I turn right. I can turn left as hard as my car will before sliding out and no sounds, nothing abnormal. However, doesn't take much of a hard right at all to create the sound. Taking a typical cloverleaf at 50-55 mph will do it. I'm road racing this car this spring/summer, this thing's gonna need to do a LOT better than that!

2) When I hear the grinding, I feel a small vibration on the steering wheel that isn't there when the grinding noise cannot be heard. When I feel/hear that, making small adjustments to the wheel rotation will cause more (if I am turning in deeper) or less (straighten a tiny bit) vibration/grind - intensity definitely changes.

3) The car has 100% stock chassis. Going to start installing some aftermarket chassis components tomorrow, wanted some advice as to what to look for when under the front. I will have the left front tire off (which is where it sounds like the "grinding" is coming from) while changing sway bars.

4) The car will not make that sound/feel under ANY other conditions. Not low speed, not lefties, not backing up, isn't temperature related, nothing. Only when I get a bit of body roll (and not much) when turning anything more than about 1/8th steering wheel turn right.

5) The grinding happens with any combination of stabilitrac / traction control including everything off. It still happens when applying a bit of brake (I've read of others having "brake rust" and other issues but their symptoms are different than mine).

Anybody experience anything similar? Any pointers/suggestions to look for when under the car tomorrow? A quick check showed no rubbing on the stock 245 tires on anything on the inner fenderwell and the brakes/rotors look perfect.

Any help and inputs are greatly appreciated. 2 1/2 weeks until my first track day, need to get this resolved quickly! Thanks in advance.

[Bruce@raymondsperformance]

It is hard to say without seeing the car but is sounds like the early stages of a hub bearing.If it is still under warranty I would take to the dealer and let them make the repair under warranty before you do your mods,what parts are you installing? Good luck with your track days,if you haven't done them before you will be hooked after the first one.That is how we started a few years ago,now we are chasing our 2nd championship.

[JusticePete]

Bruce is sppot on. Get the issue corrected under warranty before installing your aftermarket bits. This is no to say your after market suspension will create a warranty issue, but why test those waters. Warranty repair first. Suspenion upgrade second. Track Day third!

[600hp-lpe]

Jack up the front so both tires are off the ground and put it on jackstands.

Spin the tires while they are off the ground to see if you can feel anything while the tires rotate.

check the tires/bearings to see if there is any deflection in the bearing by grabbing top and bottom and trying to move the tire (pulling on top or bottom).

Compare one side to the other to see if there is a difference.

[barrylnv]

Thanks for the info guys. I checked, as best I could, everything you all note above. Found nothing out of the ordinary, everything seemed very sound.

What I did notice was that a weld on the collector of my Doug Thorley shorty headers has rubbed the paint off my steering rod. At rest there is about 1/8" gap between them but when there is a bit of body roll to the left (right hand turn) it must close that gap.

My brother and I were piecing together our memories and this all seems to make more sense now. Originally the car made no noise. When we installed the headers ourselves a few months after I bought the car, we noticed the driver side cat sits oddly low. So when installing the header, I was tightening on top while my bro pushed up from bottom as much as possible to get that cat up higher. That maximized the gap between the collector and shaft. However, I do recall it occasionally making that grinding (which really must be a vibration) when doing very aggressive rights. Then, we sent the car to LPE a few months later and it has done it bad ever since. We noticed today that cat is very low. I'm taking it to the dealership next week for something else anyway and will have the guru there see what he can do about that low cat as well as loosen and move the header up (as well as possible grind a tiny bit off the weld). We're very lucky here - we have a Vette/Camaro guru who really, and I mean really, takes care of the high HP folks. No names, but everybody in the area knows who to talk to!

As far as aftermarket parts, right now just put Hotchkis sway bars on. Here soon will be a lot of Pedders parts. So you'll be hearing from me, Pete - lots of bushings needed, end links (was surprised at how thin stock ones are), lowering springs or possibly coilovers, and before long different wheels/tires. Lots of changes to make!

Track days - I took the Ron Fellows Corvette school at Spring Mountain outside of Vegas. Spent 3 days in a 2010 Grand Sport - great cars, and great school. I am taking the Camaro there in 2 weeks for a 1-day private session. Then I do a track certification on Reno-Fernley Raceway (HUGE 4-mile, 30-turn track, 40 minutes from my house!) first weekend of April, then open tune/test sessions at RFR the next two weekends. Lots more running at RFR through summer, possibly a trip to Infineon and Thunder Hill (both in Northern Cali) this summer, and then back for a 2-day Level-2 course at Spring Mountain in October. Got lots of track time planned this summer!

Thanks again for the help, I will let you guys know if there is anything else found other than the header rub.

[JusticePete]

Congrats on finding the source of the noise. Pedders and my Dealers wioll be here for you when you are ready. Will you be attending the Fest?

[600hp-lpe]

Cool.. Glad you have found "the culprit".

Are you coming to the fest? We should have a dozen + LPE Camaro's there - the more the merrier!

Sounds like you have a fun season planned.

Pete and his dealers will take care of you. They are the best at Customer service!

[jruss1078]

I have the same issue and DT shorty headers better check my cat too.

[barrylnv]

JRuss - I'm not really sure why my cat sits low, it always has, but really that is just something we noticed and when we tried to fix it by favoring the header as far up on the head to get the cat up as high as possible it also happened to maximize the distance between the collector welds and the steering arm. I think the real answer is to favor it up on the head (I did a bit of grinding on the inputs to the headers to remove burs and smooth the transition between header and head so no worries on partially blocking the port) AND to grind the collector welds a bit to gain back the clearance to the steering arm. Either I or my dealer will do this in the next week, will let you know if any issues come up but if you have Thorley shorties and hear a vibration/grind when doing a somewhat hard right turn I'm betting you have the same issue.

Pete - we'll be talking more through the spring and summer months. I'm just taking my time with chassis upgrades, sort of improving the car as I improve my skills so I can appreciate and understand the ins and outs (including the feel) of the changes.

600 - I'm on the fence as far as the fest. If I come I won't be bringing my car, just don't have the time to trailer it down and back (I'm a business owner and just getting killed with work right now - but no complaints!). It is between coming to the fest or taking advantage of a tune/test weekend at our local track which I haven't yet driven on but will have twice before that. The tune/test days are very limited there or else I wouldn't worry about it. I missed the fest last year so if I end up missing this year I WILL be at 2012 Fest. Anyway, very glad to hear the best (i.e. LPE :-)) will be well represented there!

[JusticePete]

If we don't meet at the fest this year, we'll definitely meet next year.

[barrylnv]

Look forward to it, Pete. I read a lot of your replies on here and am learning tons from you guys. I have read and re-read "The Book" on Camaro chassis and handling you guys put together. Wow, big thanks, that is great info and it all makes a ton of sense!

[Hotchkis]

Hey Barry,

We're glad you finally got the grinding noise pinned down so you can continue upgrading your car with confidence. It's always disturbing when you find out a part on your car is "self-clearancing". We hope you're enjoying your new Hotchkis sway bars!

[Bat Maro]

having same issue! what was the end result? was the header rubbing at all? but i have electronic steering and you have regular hydrolic steering. did this ever get resolved? my dealer is trying to blame it on my 1 7/8" headers LOL