slngsht Posted May 24, 2009 Share Posted May 24, 2009 Started out by doing the rear pads on the minivan, followed by making a garden box for the kids. On to the seven part of the day: When I got the car back on the road in February, I didn't have the springs I wanted on hand (even though I had 4 extra pairs around the garage). After all the mods, I was able to run drastically lower in the front (About 3") and all my springs were too tall. So I used the softest extra spings I had, which compressed to the right height. I didn't get around to addressing that issue until 3 days ago, when my new springs arrived. Still have to do the rears. The other problem I had developed as a result of the drop in height, was bump steer. I didn't really notice it too much in turns, but it was drastically noticable when hitting bumps on the road... the steering wheel would shake in your hands. So today I made a home made bump steer gauge and looked at what was happening. The solution was to add a spacer to the outer side of the steering tie rod. At the moment the spacer is a bunch of washers, but by next week, I'll have the proper sized aluminum spacer machined and in place. Just came back from a test drive, and the results are drastic. going through bumps translates to no movement in the steering wheel. Turn-in is much crisper - I think this is because previously compression would cause a toe out, which countered my steering input. I'm very happy with the results. I still have to double check my toe-in to make sure I set it right. Oh, all this, and still managed to take the kids to the pool. I'm freaking BEAT! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sparecr Posted May 24, 2009 Share Posted May 24, 2009 Dang and couldn't even manage to get the rad out of the way in my car. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oilteq Posted May 24, 2009 Share Posted May 24, 2009 The solution was to add a spacer to the outer side of the steering tie rod. Can you post a picture? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slngsht Posted May 24, 2009 Author Share Posted May 24, 2009 I will get one later today. It's basically a 3" spacer at this point. I'm going to make a new steering arm that bolts on to the upright. I don't like the bending moment on the bolt the way it is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slngsht Posted May 24, 2009 Author Share Posted May 24, 2009 well, i tried a little video. I wish I had shot one before the modification to show what I was seeing. In the vid you will see the wheel does not change its direction as I raise the car. The same is true when I lower the car, although I could not demonstrate that without removing the spring again. Prior to the change, you could clearly see the wheel change direction when raising and lowering the car. Here is a pic of the stack of washers. I will replace the stack with a detachable arm that will bolt on using the highlighted bolts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slomove Posted May 24, 2009 Share Posted May 24, 2009 Hmm. Not sure how to assess that without tricky analysis....but do you think the steering arm will be O.K. with the torque of that rather long lever? Would be rather embarrassing to twist it off on the track. But then, it appears to be of a much heavier car. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slngsht Posted May 24, 2009 Author Share Posted May 24, 2009 the steering arm on the vette upright is massive. short of an impact on the wheel, I don't think there will be a problem, but I don't like the stacked washer solution either. that's exactly why I'm going to fabricate a new arm that uses the wheel bearing mounting locations and goes to where the steering heim is now - so that I don't have the bending moment from the long stack of washers... This is a very crude drawing of what I'm talking about Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobDrye Posted May 24, 2009 Share Posted May 24, 2009 How much did that stack of washers cost? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slngsht Posted May 24, 2009 Author Share Posted May 24, 2009 LOL. like 8 bucks from home depot. I have to weigh my car again I have to muster another productive day and make some steering arms Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oilteq Posted May 24, 2009 Share Posted May 24, 2009 Is it possible to lower the rack 3 inches and achieve the same result? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MHKflyer52 Posted May 24, 2009 Share Posted May 24, 2009 Mazda, Why not reposition the steering rack in the vertical plane to compensate for the stack of washers. Just a though as when you lower a Porsche you have to shim the rack up to eliminate the bump steering. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slngsht Posted May 24, 2009 Author Share Posted May 24, 2009 Is it possible to lower the rack 3 inches and achieve the same result? I'd have to raise the rack, not lower it. That's one of the problems of modding an existing chassis... that'd require alot of hacking (not that i'd have a problem with that) - It'd be easier to mod the uprights or make new ones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slngsht Posted May 24, 2009 Author Share Posted May 24, 2009 Mazda, Why not reposition the steering rack in the vertical plane to compensate for the stack of washers. Just a though as when you lower a Porsche you have to shim the rack up to eliminate the bump steering. The rack is bolted to a sloped member... moving it up or down will move it back and forth too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MHKflyer52 Posted May 24, 2009 Share Posted May 24, 2009 Make a sloped spacers for it then to move it up.....(:->) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slngsht Posted May 24, 2009 Author Share Posted May 24, 2009 shhhh... trying to fix the turning radius at the same time LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oilteq Posted May 24, 2009 Share Posted May 24, 2009 I'd have to raise the rack, not lower it.QUOTE] High school geometry was a long time ago, so please be patient with me. You needed to raise the rod ends so that the steering would not pull or push the front of the wheels during suspension travel. It seems to me that if you raised the rack, you would need to add even more washers to achieve the same angles. If you lower the rack, you would need to remove washers to obtain the same angles. What am I missing? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slngsht Posted May 24, 2009 Author Share Posted May 24, 2009 I'd have to raise the rack, not lower it.QUOTE] High school geometry was a long time ago, so please be patient with me. You needed to raise the rod ends so that the steering would not pull or push the front of the wheels during suspension travel. It seems to me that if you raised the rack, you would need to add even more washers to achieve the same angles. If you lower the rack, you would need to remove washers to obtain the same angles. What am I missing? I see your point. You are correct. lowering the rack is not possible due to interference between steering shaft and alternator. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
solder_guy Posted May 25, 2009 Share Posted May 25, 2009 trying to fix the turning radius at the same time LOL How are you going to do this? Rob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slngsht Posted May 25, 2009 Author Share Posted May 25, 2009 How are you going to do this? Rob when I make the new arm, the mounting point for the steering tie rod will be a little bit closer to the center of the wheel, so the length of the steering arm will be shorter. so the same rack movement will turn the wheel more. I will not moving much - because it also means higher effort. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
solder_guy Posted May 25, 2009 Share Posted May 25, 2009 I thought about taking the rack out and having a machine shop add another notch at each end ... What do you think about this? Rob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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