2006: Steering headaches

Who says you have to give up Firebirds when you have kids?

As a result of the "pothole" hit in 2005, the steering continued to be progressively more unstable as time went by. Multiple visits to dealers and several shops yielded no solution: the alignment was dead accurate, there was nothing they could do. The worst was that most blamed it on tires and/or that the cars all do that... which is bizarre since I was driving on those same tires for 2 years and had been driving the car for 7 prior to the incident.

The rear end alignment was even verified... small adjustment, but no big improvement.

Slightly loose tie-rod ends were changed as well. More shock absorber changes as well (which was annoying since GM's Delphi replacements were crap compared to the original DeCarbons that came on the car.

Here's one of those cool odometer shots you don't get to see too often.

One bizarre repair was the crumbling of the seat belt guide. Never thought this would happen, and luckily it was a quick fix (although I was treading on unknown territory removing the seat belt anchor).

All in all, it could have been worse. All three cars saw a little bit of road time for 2006, even considering the new Charger Daytona that showed up midway through the year.

2006 came to an end quietly, with no definite improvement in the steering. Maybe next year.