Jump to content
HybridZ

loose v8 280zx rear tokico suspension


Recommended Posts

hey guys i'v been looking on line for answers to solve my sloppy rear suspension, i have the tokico lowering kit 'springs and blue shocks.' i have a 5.3 lm7 with a saginaw 4 speed trans. stripped interior ' no dash' and new 195/70r14 tires, and new poly bushings all around. the set up feels alright when im cruising around and in straight lines but when i start going 65ish mph through a long fast turn i feel the rear wanting to spin. 

 

1) I wonder if my car is unbalanced since i have the v8 up front and only the fuel tank in the back?i did position the engine as close to the fire wall as possible when i made my motor mounts. 

 

2) And if its not because of weight distribution is it because i dont have the correct spring rates for my set up? what would you recommend on the springs F and R ?

post-36358-0-25272500-1389785261_thumb.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

First and foremost, slow down on the street. Do all your fun driving at a track or autocross event. Second, always start with tires. Your tires specs are completely inadequate. Look at something like a 225/50 tire in a sport compound. Look at nittos N01, and Dunlop Durezzas for lower priced tires that are more worthy of your power to weight ratio. Finally (for now), if the back is sliding out, remove your rear sway bar. Cool car.

 

Just looked back at that photo.  Consider spending an evening with some zip-ties - wouldn't want to get your feet tangled in all those wires when toe-heeling it thru a slalom!  And, I wouldn't drink water in that car till you knew which of those wires are still hot!  Once you get things straightened up a bit, get some 16 or 17 in wheels and hit the used tire store.

Edited by RebekahsZ
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Its probably all sway in your tires. I would go with some 16 or 17" wheels and appropriately sized performance rubber. 

 

Edit: personal favorite on a ZX is some 16x8 wheels and some 225/50/16 tires. Should be close to stock size so speedo won't be off, and tires are cheap enough to get good ones. 

Edited by BluDestiny
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Does the rear end actually break loose or does it just feel like its gonna happen?  If its the latter, then you probably don't have an issue and are just not used to a more neutral handling car.  Find a big empty parking lot and map out a 200' diamter skid pad.  Run the car around the skid pad until you find out which end of the car breaks loose first.  Under steady throttle its more likely the front.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

thanks every one for the replies ! ok so i've tried going through that same corner with some falken azenis 615k 195/60r14 in the rear and same thing happened, the  rear starts to come around. and yes the rear breaks loose :/ i wish it didnt. i know those are still skinny tires, i want 17x9 with at least 255 tires in the rear when i can afford it.

 

Why will removing the rear sway bar help my problem? im gonna try it, but i'd like to know how that works.

 

haha and there arent any loose live wires in that car... they are all for the engine. i do have to do ghetto stuff to make my windows work ha. im very lazy when it comes to wiring. i'll clean it up one day :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If you have upgrades springs in the rear you should have them on the front.  Your post is unclear whether or not the tokicos are on the front.  I would say that could make the nose dive, thus loosening the rear.  Also the zx uses a very large fuel tank at almost the furthest rearward point.  The amount of fuel in that tank can change the balance of the car quite significantly-don't ask me how I know. :icon50:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I was just kidding around about the wires-you've got a cool car, no doubt about it.  From the sound of your questions, I'm going to say (not meaning to down you-we all start somewhere) that you don't know very much about handling or technical driving.  There are a ton of things that go into it.  I don't know the name of the best book (perhaps someone else can help with this) but there are some great books on autocrossing that talk a lot about how to enter and exit a corner, and what to do in-between.  Just telling us that your rearend is loose doesn't tell us anything at all.  You can build/modify a car to handle better, but bad driving can make a great car spin out.  Conversely, a good driver can usually drive even a bad car really fast.  When you are first "setting a car up" you want to do just what johnc said:  spend some time on a skid pad-but you even have to know how to do that!  You have a car that has enough power that you can slide out the rearend just by goosing the throttle, and that may be what is happening.

 

Skid pad:

As johnc said, find a big, smooth parking lot (where you won't get a ticket-that's the hard part) and MARK OUT a 200' diameter circle (takes a damn big parking lot).  You can mark it with spray paint (vandalism) or baking flower (will wash off at next rain).  Start going around the circle and smoothly shift up to about 3rd gear while driving pretty slow.  You want the engine to be lugging with very little engine rpm so that you are testing the balance and suspension of the car, not raising hell spinning tires with the engine.  At this point, your car should be going about 10mph or less.  Try to find a steering wheel position that will allow you to maintain the 200' circle without changing steering wheel position very much.  Once you have that, little by little, start adding power and speed.  Do this very gradually, several times around the circle before making changes.  As you add power little by little, either the front or rear wheels will start to slide sideways and make more and more noise.  Slowly increase speed until you feel like you are going to wreck.  Don't counter steer or "drift", don't juice the throttle, keep it pretty steady. With sidewalls as tall as yours, please don't cuss me if you ruin your tires.  If you look at your tires after doing this maneuver several times, you may find that you are putting a lot of tire wear on the sidewalls.  Its OK cause those tires suck anyway.  Then report back to us and we can advise you further.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...