Weird steering behavior?

[650Hawk]

My 2008 Alpha has a weird (to me, anyway) steering issue that I've never experienced. Thought I'd throw it up to see if others have noticed or if there is a problem with mine.

On every vehicle I've ever owned, moving at slow speeds the steering "wants" to straighten back out regardless of how tight you turn; in other words, if you let go of the wheel, it will straighten back out. On my Alpha, it does just that UNTIL you reach about the halfway point (halfway to full lock). Then, it actually wants to turn tighter and will go to full lock if you let go of the steering wheel. It's not a problem, per se, .if you know about it, but it is a bit un-nerving the first time it happens in a parking lot.

I have my torsions cranked up to just over 23", otherwise stock, Michelin LTX AT2 285/75-16, no problems with tire wear or pulling. I have not done an alignment since the torsion crank, but this issue existed prior to that, so that's not the cause. Just wondered if everybody else's act this way, or do I have a steering problem?

 

[adventr]

Toe setting on your alignment. It's way off from the t-bar crank.
Causes exactly what you describe.

 

[Bigunit]

^ x 2.

 

[SedonaBound]

If it did that before you cranked the t-bars, you already needed an alignment. I'd bet that its worse since you leveled. Virtually all vehicles have the caster set for self-centering steering. The geometry of the front suspension is fixed with the frame, so if one degree in "level" is removed by cranking the t-bars, the front end rotates down and the caster angle is increased by that degree, affecting steering. Alignment is mandatory when the t-bars are cranked.

 

[650Hawk]

Hmmmmm.... Interesting. I figured that since it did it previously AND the fact that it drives perfectly otherwise (no pull to either side, tracks straight, no weird tire wear) that alignment was not the issue. Thanks for the education; guess it's time to get it in to the shop.

 

[4speedfunk]

Caster

 

[adventr]

I thought for sure on mine it would be caster, but once on the alignment machine caster was still within spec. Toe was out of spec, and once adjusted everything was back to normal.

 

[650Hawk]

Just got it back from the alignment shop; much better. It still does it, but only if I am about 3/4 of the way to full lock anyway. Otherwise, it goes back towards center. Camber were both within spec, but at the outer ranges. Got them pretty much in the middle of spec now. Toe in was quite bit off. Everything within spec now, runs nice.