bad handling characteristics

Re:bad handling characteristics (dylmrt)

Fri, 19 Apr 2013 14:14:57 GMT

Always great to hear when the resolution is found!

Re:bad handling characteristics (Eric)

Fri, 19 Apr 2013 06:35:20 GMT

So we ended up finding out what this was!!!

One of the mechanics must have removed the rear left lower control arm bolt, and when they put it back in they cross threaded it and didnt do it up tight, so essentially my rear left wheel was just flapping arround.

The mechanic I took it too wanted me to get a whole new subframe, but because im a broke uni student I decided that i would take the cheap route :P

One of my friends is a boiler maker, so we cut a small section of the subframe open, cut the nut off, pulled the bolt out and welded a new nut in, put the bolt in, welded it all back up and re-enforced it and she was sweet <3 no more dying and i can make it on the next club run!

Re:bad handling characteristics (DVSTurbo2)

Fri, 19 Apr 2013 00:12:30 GMT

Ball joints? floating all over the road during cornering, was cousing a rear end 'wiggle' which was freaky haha

Re:bad handling characteristics (Monika)

Tue, 02 Apr 2013 22:55:33 GMT

Any power assisted steering in your car???

Could they have damaged or dislocated something to do with the rack-ends / rack-end boots / tierods??

I have just had rack ends and boots replaced myself.......steering felt a bit loose and rattling before hand.......all nice and firm again now though.

Just some thoughts.....I do, however, have the Target Data settings from Toyota for 1994-99 MR2 wheel alignments if anyone is interested, but I'm sure someone would have posted these previously. :-)

Cheers,

M

Re:bad handling characteristics (Eric)

Tue, 02 Apr 2013 10:05:26 GMT

bit of a late update on this, but i am stumped and so are my friends. the issue is still persisting, I have eliminated rear toe being the issue as it is toe'd in the correct ammount, I also had it up on a hoist the other day, checked everything and tightend everything that was remotely loose but to no avail

We can hear a small knock coming from the steering rack when turning left and right, not sure if this could be the issue though

I am having issues with the wheels at the moment, as I have to run a 5 mm slip on to clear coilovers, which means I have only 4 turns of the wheel nuts onto the studs, So i am getting new wheels as i dont want to run spacers either

So far I have eliminated: Coilovers (including height etc), bushes, ball joints, loose wheel nuts, toe settings.

I bought new sway bar links since the current ones look a bit dodgey, just have to put them in later this week

is there anything else I could have missed?

Re:bad handling characteristics (MANDALAY)

Sun, 17 Mar 2013 09:59:29 GMT

If your in Melbourne , may i suggest Trutrack in Noth Melbourne they will get it 100%

Re:bad handling characteristics (EssDub)

Fri, 15 Mar 2013 15:50:13 GMT

@track_mr2:

When you undo the spring perch and twist it, all you are doing is changing the preload tension on the spring itself. the height adjustment is done by loosening off the strut bottom and rotating it up/down the shaft of the shock in order to change height.

Re:bad handling characteristics (B24)

Fri, 15 Mar 2013 14:53:19 GMT

Its better to disconnect the bar to get a clearer reading when resetting the height but they clearly made a mistake by not fitting the bar back into place.

Re:bad handling characteristics (track_mr2)

Fri, 15 Mar 2013 10:31:10 GMT

EssDub

Most (if not all) coilover shocks for SW20s require that the bottom link be disconnected, in order to rotate the base of the strut around the thread in order to lower/raise the ride height.

Huh? But he has HSD coil overs, don't you just c-spanner them? I've always used tiens and all I do to adjust is c-spanner the spring platform to raise or lower it.

Re:bad handling characteristics (EssDub)

Fri, 15 Mar 2013 10:11:32 GMT

Most (if not all) coilover shocks for SW20s require that the bottom link be disconnected, in order to rotate the base of the strut around the thread in order to lower/raise the ride height.
What sort of camber/caster are you running?

Re:bad handling characteristics (track_mr2)

Fri, 15 Mar 2013 08:42:02 GMT

Actually why did they undo you're sway bar links to adjust you're suspension height, that makes no sense. You didn't happen to get other work done like poly bushings fitted or something?

Re:bad handling characteristics (track_mr2)

Fri, 15 Mar 2013 08:35:57 GMT

Did you check you're tyre pressures? Maybe they ramped them up before they did the alignment?
The other thing is with some top adjustable shocks the adjusters stuff up and you have to twist the dials back and forth to get them to work properly again.

Re:bad handling characteristics (Eric)

Thu, 14 Mar 2013 22:21:30 GMT

the car didnt end up being raised. i got the wheel alignment redone on tuesday by a different mob and the allignment seems pretty much what i used to have. front toe is .7mm front and 1.4 total, rear is 2.0 and 4.2 total.

I will check they didnt adjust the dampening, but this is really confusing me now as to what they did, everything seems normal, although i do hear a squeak every now and then from the left front wheel

thanks for that write up too B24, I might do some research and just do my own wheel alignments from now on :P

Re:bad handling characteristics (B24)

Thu, 14 Mar 2013 21:29:45 GMT

Its best to work out how to do your own alignments then test and tune. Once you get your head around the basics its a lot of fun tuning suspension settings.
From what I have found, the first thing to check is the rebound setting. It will be the adjustment on the top of your shocks or in some cases the bottom. Start with a setting of one third of the adjustment available. Turn it completely anti clockwise, then turn it all the way clockwise counting the amount of 'clicks' till there is resistance. Return it back anticlockwise then set at one third of the available settings. If you wind it up to a harder setting on the rear, it will make the rear nervous. Softer is better on the rear. Use the same on the front then dial it in with a click at time.
Next is to sort the alignment yourself.
Make sure the front and rear caster are the same on both sides of the car. Buy a digital level on ebay and play around. Its cheap, easy and works.
Find some level ground then measure the height from the subframe behind the front wheel. Make a block/spacer/guage then will slide into this space. Go to the other front side of the car and see if its the same. If its different, wind up or down the coil over till its the same. Next step is to fix a 10mm spacer to the block/spacer/guage then check the rear of the car under the subframe in front of the rear wheels. Adjuct to suit. Its a little rough and ready but it does work.
Next set the camber with your adjustments and new digital level available.
Then you can set the toe settings front and rear. The string line system may seem odd, but it is used in every level of motorsport including F1.
It will take a little time at first, but once you have it worked out, it doesnt take all that long.

Another trick is to set the rear 10mm higher than the front to settle the car.
Make sure the lower control arm links are higher on the subframe than the mounting point at the ball joint.

Re:bad handling characteristics (wiso)

Thu, 14 Mar 2013 20:59:03 GMT

knightrous i think that rule really only applies to the AW11. the sw20 and zzw30 don't require the same extremes in alignment settings that the aw11 needs

i am taking my zzw to a place to get its alignment done and the settings are super soft compared to what the adub requires. its kind of more like your average corolla or commodore settings. funny thing the zzw and sw seem to have VERY similar alignment settings compared to the adub thats totally different.

the zzw doesn't seem to have any adjustment other than front and rear toe and rear camber.