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Driving in Windy Conditions?

6K views 31 replies 10 participants last post by  z_alfawadleh 
#1 ·
Hi, I've been a lurker for a while on the forum and have a question regarding my 98 Astro.
Last year I replaced just about everything on the suspension(front/rear shocks, upper/lower ball joints,inner/outer tie rods, idler arms, sway bar bushings, front/rear wheel bearings and few things I may have forgotten.
Anyway, when driving in windy conditions I have to fight to keep it on the road. When a gust of wind blows, I literally have to turn the wheel to "correct" the drift from the wind(pretty scary at times). I don't really notice anything else with the steering except for the scary steering drift from the wind. When I replaced everything origonally, It felt a little tighter but I still have the wind/steering problem. Any help would be greatly appreciated so I don't spend alot of money chasing down this problem. :banghead: ~C.T.
 
#4 ·
ghostrider1061 said:
if this is your first van all i can say seeing how you rebuilt the front end, we all have this . vans are known to be a so-called high profile vechile. in other words they catch a lot of ind. i have the same thing. :rockon:
Could the steering gear be the culprit?

Yes, this is my first van but my last vehicle was a full size Dodge Ram with an 8 foot bed. I never had the "wind gust drift" that my van has. I'm just a little freaked out that it could have that much play due to the wind. Driving the truck, which also sat up high from the road, I would feel the wind gusting at times but it would never literally "push" me in any direction.

I drive the van from Michigan to Florida a couple of times a year and I would love to let my wife drive once in a while but I'm not to keen on letting her with the wind/steering issue. :swerve:

I'm not a mechanic by any means, but if I take it to a "professional" I know from past experiance, that it can get expensive real quick and not fix the origonal problem.

Any advice/theories would be very much appreciated. :D
~ C.T.
 
#5 ·
Hi C.T.

Welcome to the Forum.

What type of shocks did you put on the van?

A rear sway bar does help a great deal in controlling the drift, but you will always get some kind of drift as already mentioned with these high profile vans. The rear sway bar seems to give you better control of it though. Just a thought.:)
 
#6 ·
Matrixx said:
Hi C.T.

Welcome to the Forum.

What type of shocks did you put on the van?

A rear sway bar does help a great deal in controlling the drift, but you will always get some kind of drift as already mentioned with these high profile vans. The rear sway bar seems to give you better control of it though. Just a thought.:)
Thanks for your advice.
Where can I get one and are they hard to install?
 
#7 ·
These are a little lighter than the full sized, with almost the same area on the side to take wind. I used to drive a 1 ton F**d van, it was decently stable even in south florida storms.I was helping someone move during the onset of Katrina , and the Astro was all over the place, though most of us ( err, y'all) wouldn't be out driving in a hurricane. Even now, I commute Houston to Dallas and when the wind kicks up, it veers pretty good sometimes, requiring a bit of steering correction, and my front end isn't sloppy. I need to locate a rear sway bar, I'm sure it'd help.
 
#8 ·
My Van sucks in windy conditions too! BUT, it could be that almost all the suspension is stock still................ :whack:
 
#9 ·
If you're sitting still, how much play is in the steering wheel? I could see a bit of excessive play being really noticeable in windy conditions. Also, when you rebuilt it all, did you get it aligned?
 
#10 ·
rev_les said:
If you're sitting still, how much play is in the steering wheel? if you have some play in it, I could see a bit of excessive play being really noticeable in windy conditions. Also, when you rebuilt it all, did you get it aligned?
It doesn't feel like it has much play at all sitting still, if any.
It was aligned after the rebuild. The hardest part was getting the lower ball joints out and removing the old shocks.

I thought about replacing the idler arms again with the Moog "Problem Solver" Idler arms.
Has anyone bought these and did they notice a big enough difference to justify the cost?
I've also seen the coil over rear shocks and am wondering if anyone has installed these and noticed any difference in rear sway.

Don't get me wrong, I love this van but it would be cool to stiffen up the wind issue a little.
I contemplated trading it in (cash for clunkers), but their really isn't anything on the new market that is in the same class as far as utilitarian purpose. :think:
It's like a hard top pickup truck but it can also be the family vacation ride.
 
#11 ·
#12 ·
If there's no play in the steering wheel, your steering box is fine. With having the alignment done, then stiffening things up as Matrix suggested is the way to go. One other thing I haven't seen anyone mention yet as well is the stiffness of your tire sidewalls.Stock size tires have pretty tall sidewalls, and thin sidewalled tires ( bargain tires) tend to flex more. Mine had really cheap tires when I bought it and it used to scare the crap out of me going around cloverleafs until I learned to slow way down.I went up to 18" wheels and 245 / 45 tires and that eliminated that problem entirely, I currently have stock wheels and Goodyear tires, and it's tolerable.Just something else to consider.
 
#13 ·
Matrixx said:
Hi C.T.

Hellwig or Bell Tech Rear Sway bars are the most popular here on the forum. Easy to install and does wonders (as people say) to the handling of the vehicle (great improvement).

Hellwig:
http://www.hellwigproducts.com/products ... /sway_bars

BellTech:
http://www.belltech.com/products/gm/van.htm#swaybar

The larger diameter you get, the better handling you will have. I hope this helps.:)
Thanks, I'll check them out. Is it hard to install?

Anyone know about the coil over rear shocks adding stability?

~ C.T.
 
#14 ·
rev_les said:
If there's no play in the steering wheel, your steering box is fine. With having the alignment done, then stiffening things up as Matrix suggested is the way to go. One other thing I haven't seen anyone mention yet as well is the stiffness of your tire sidewalls.Stock size tires have pretty tall sidewalls, and thin sidewalled tires ( bargain tires) tend to flex more. Mine had really cheap tires when I bought it and it used to scare the crap out of me going around cloverleafs until I learned to slow way down.I went up to 18" wheels and 245 / 45 tires and that eliminated that problem entirely, I currently have stock wheels and Goodyear tires, and it's tolerable.Just something else to consider.
Right now I have Goodyear Wrangler RTS Stock 15" size on the van.
They replaced the stock Uniroyal's that were on it when I bought it.
I think the Goodyear's have a softer side wall but I can't exactly go back and retry the Uniroyal's to confirm. lol!

Maybe a new set of Michelin's are in the van's future? I'll probably try the rear sway first(less expensive).

Thanks, C.T.
 
#15 ·
Like already mentioned, you have a lot of surface area for the wind to catch. Driving a van is like driving a car with a big sail on the top. If you actually stiffened the suspension enough to "correct" this condition, you would hate driving the van any other time because it would be too stiff (and your butt and back would be killing you).
 
#16 ·
Right now I have Goodyear Wrangler RTS Stock 15" size on the van.
They replaced the stock Uniroyal's that were on it when I bought it.
I think the Goodyear's have a softer side wall but I can't exactly go back and retry the Uniroyal's to confirm. lol!
With either tire, I'd take that out of the equation,I was more referring to those 29.99 tires, lol. I'm not a Uniroyal fan because 3 cars I've owned with them had treadcaps come completely off or massive blowouts at speed and not from improper tire pressure. I've never had any other tire perform that bad. I'm a Goodyear fan personally, but there are other good tires out there,and none of 'em are 120 dollars a set! I have stock size Goodyear Viva II's on mine, basically because they were on the wheels when I got them and were almost new, but I have no complaints with them performance wise for what they are, aside aesthetics, they're ugly suckers, hehe
And Astro355 has a good point, go too far and it'll be like riding in a wagon!
 
#17 ·
Hi C.T.

I haven't done this addition yet (rear sway bar) but others that have, say it isn't hard at all. Hellwigs were the last 2 to be installed here on the forum, and both members that did the install, were very pleased with the results. :)
 
#18 ·
Matrixx said:
Hi C.T.

I haven't done this addition yet (rear sway bar) but others that have, say it isn't hard at all. Hellwigs were the last 2 to be installed here on the forum, and both members that did the install, were very pleased with the results. :)
Has anyone had any experience with the ADDCO Rear sway bars? I see one person on the boards said that it would bang into the floor of the van occaisonally. I see that they are designed slightly differently than the others but I can get it for $63.00 cheaper. A plus is that their is no drilling involved(bolt on). I am admittedly not crazy about drilling on the frame and a bolt on kit would be much easier since it's just me,myself and I that will be doing the install.
I just don't want to buy it and have this annoying thump on the floor.
Currently, I just have standard rear shocks(can't remember the brand) and stock leaf springs(steel).
Really, any more advice would be greatly appreciated. I'm not by any means great at working on cars, but I always try to do it myself as long as it won't result in loss of limb or life before I take it to the shop and bend-over :bow: lol!
~ C.T.
 
#19 ·
Matrixx said:
Hi C.T.

I haven't done this addition yet (rear sway bar) but others that have, say it isn't hard at all. Hellwigs were the last 2 to be installed here on the forum, and both members that did the install, were very pleased with the results. :)
*cough*

I installed the sway bar off of a Astro RS onto my van. It made a difference. I just got back from a rode trip to Idaho and its pretty windy in Wyoming and Iowa. The van still wanted to wander at times. Once I change out the fiberglass leaf springs, it should get better.
 
#20 ·
astro355 said:
Matrixx said:
Hi C.T.

I haven't done this addition yet (rear sway bar) but others that have, say it isn't hard at all. Hellwigs were the last 2 to be installed here on the forum, and both members that did the install, were very pleased with the results. :)
*cough*

I installed the sway bar off of a Astro RS onto my van. It made a difference. I just got back from a rode trip to Idaho and its pretty windy in Wyoming and Iowa. The van still wanted to wander at times. Once I change out the fiberglass leaf springs, it should get better.
Was it a bolt on install or did you have to modify to fit?
 
#21 ·
Hi.
Mines the same, "normal" from what I gather. Its a '98 AWD. Its the worse vehicle in the wind I have ever owned. I and my wife are used to it, like driving a great big sheet of plywood down the highway!
I also have all new everything, with exception to bushings on control arms, that sort of thing. I did put new bushings and bolts on the ends of the front sway bar. Didn't make any noticable difference....I'd only had to replace those because my sway bar had split on one end where its crimped and the hole for the bolt. I repaired that and put all new bushing on that bars ends.
I had brand new non MOOG idler arms the day I bought this used 6 years ago, dealer installed . Lasted two years when I noticed slop in the idlers and wondering a little more on non windy days. I put new MOOG idlers on and are still fairly stiff now with triple the miles the non MOOGs had. Here's the "but"!....I never noticed any improvement in the wind with brand new MOOG idler arms.

I have a old 1991 Dodge 3/4T 4x4 Cummins, that has a worn steering box and some drift on normal days, yet I have less trouble with it on the highway in the wind, or when semi's pass me in the fats lane.
 
#22 ·
WOW! :eek:
I guess from everyone's input these vans blow in the wind(no pun intended).
I'll try the rear sway bar and hope for the best. I guess it's sort of the van's Achilles heal from what everyone's saying.
I'm going to order it on Monday and i'll post an update probably in a couple of weeks.
The family's going camping next week :dance:
Thanks to all for your words of wisdom.
~ C.T.
 
#23 ·
Think these are bad in crosswinds? Try driving a VW bus across the prairies in a 40 mile an hour crosswind wind, LOL. These things are a cake walk after experiencing a white knuckle express like that, hehe.

(For me anyways) it doesn't bother me in the least driving in high crosswind conditions with my van (I do it a lot of the time). At least these have a bit more meat on the bones to help counter it.

I guess the moral to this rant is, I'm thankful for what I have now than what I had way back then that's for sure, hehe.

Rant-Off.:)
 
#24 ·
I'm with you, Matrixx. My old boss had a VW bus that we used for deliveries. Try driving it over one of those new bridges that are just tall enough not to be drawbridges...I swear the wind gusts moved that thing 5' at a time.
 
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