RedNeckZ Posted April 26, 2001 Share Posted April 26, 2001 I had the same problem with my 71 Z. I had to rebuild the steering rack (new bushings), and added the steering coupler (solid plastic). Already had poly bushing in most of it. Also the front and rear sway bars will help a lot. The last item is the front spoiler, it was a big help keeping the air on top of the car. I was running a 225/50 15 size tire on a 15x7 rim. Now she tracks smoothly. Only in the real bad ruts do we have any problems. Good-luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted April 26, 2001 Share Posted April 26, 2001 Speaking of interior noises, does anyone else have squeeky noises coming from like the hatch, or maybe the license plate frame or something, I have one back there that sounds like a mouse convention is going on or something. Do the spring loaded nylon pads on each side help that, or are they just to pop the hatch when you press the button? Regards, Lone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimZ Posted April 26, 2001 Share Posted April 26, 2001 quote: Originally posted by Mikelly: On my crossmember I plan to do a stepped approach with the unit Jamie has in Richmond.. Drill several holes. Mike and Pete - you are on the right track, but I would recommend slotting, as opposed to drilling several holes. If you are worried about slippage after finding the right spot, you can use a thick washer under the bolt head and nut for the pivot, and weld the washers down when you find the right spot. A series of holes will not have anywhere the resolution that you will need to get this right, and it's worth the extra effort on a 200mph speed record car. When you actually make the measurement and do the fine tuning, you will not believe how sensitive this adjustment is. Another (IMHO superior) approach would be to put the pivot point wherever you need it in order to get your camber gain right, and tune the bump steer at the steering knuckle, by drilling it out and using a heim joint for the tie rod end. You can then adjust the bumpsteer with spacers between the knuckle and the heim joint. In this manner, you can make your camber gain mods, and have them decoupled from the bump steer. Does that make sense? The only drawback might be if this is an illegal mod for a specific racing class, which I don't think you guys are too concerned with - heck, the JTR mod might be illegal by itself, for that matter... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimZ Posted April 26, 2001 Share Posted April 26, 2001 ...sorry - I accidentally posted this twice - the refresh button doesn't appear to work like it used to, and I doesn't look like it's going to let me delete it, either... [ April 26, 2001: Message edited by: TimZ ] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pparaska Posted April 27, 2001 Share Posted April 27, 2001 TimZ, I believe you when you say that the bumpsteer is very sensitive to the inner pivot placement - exactly why I made mine adjustable. I had an "incident" where the horn bracket that holds the rack and pinion was tweaked (upward) an imperceptible (to the naked eye) amount. The bumpsteer change was very dramatic. As for it falling out of adjustment, there's little chance that the height adjustment I have could move (I need to take pictures of this setup, I imagine), but the "camber" adjustment direction of the hole might move. I'd planned to do exactly as you suggest - weld the puppy together once I get it where I want it. The problem will be me getting "happy" enough with that setting to allow my self to weld it down. I really like the idea of uncoupling the camber gain adjustment (height of the inner pivot) from the bumpsteer by making at the outer tie rod end (heim joint). I may go that way some day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drax240z Posted April 27, 2001 Share Posted April 27, 2001 Lone, I think my spring loaded nylon pads were what was doing the squeeking on my car! I noticed when I had the whale's tail on, that the hatch squeeked until I got over about 80mph and the downforce pressed it down. Enough to drive you and the mice mad, isn't it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted April 27, 2001 Share Posted April 27, 2001 I posted earlier in this thread about how negative camber gains with the relocated CA pivot might have something to do with the "twitchy-ness" that was the original gremlin (remember?). Having just come back from VIR with my 225/50-15 track tires and the camber plates pushed full in for a -3.5 degree reading, believe me when I tell you that every seam in the road was a high-drama situation. Now that the front end is back to a mild -.5 degrees, and I have my squishy "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" size street tires on there, she tracks a LOT better. Negative camber is a marvelous thing on track; positive is nice on the street. While I think of it, the mouse convention can sometimes be shut down with a liberal application of silicon lubricant to the rear CA bushings, spring seats, and the upper strut mount. Twice a year seems to yield good results for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeromio Posted May 29, 2001 Author Share Posted May 29, 2001 Well, I did a slight amount of tweaking to the front toe settings. Very imprecise measurement tools - in the course of my adjusting and re-adjusting, I think I may have pretty much set it back to where it was. Anyway, I think the main factor is that I'm just alot more used to the car the way it's currently set up. One thing still troubles me though. If I'm at steady state, rounding a curve, and I let off the gas, the slight unloading of the rear makes it want to move. In otherwords, it's really easy to induce oversteer by letting off the throttle. I have the stock 240 sway bar up front and none in the rear. The suspension is really stiff - well, to my butt guage anyway (150lbs front, 175lbs rear with Tokico Performas all around). Can anyone offer any recipes to lessen this affect? I'm not on the verge of spinning out or anything, it's just that it doesn't seem like the behavior of a well-balanced car. (BTW, by way of a seat of the pants test of my setup, I've been trying to see how fast I can round the 180 degree offramp on my morning commute. The car may not be set up optimally, but I can definately round that sucker faster than my stomach would like me to. These Dunlops rock.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLKMGK Posted May 30, 2001 Share Posted May 30, 2001 Another possibility to silence the mouse convention is white lithium grease. Spray it in there - it hangs tough for a good little while. The silicone stuff actually seemd to make squeeking WORSE on my Mustang's front swaybar - I got to HEAR every seam in the road with that sucker. Ick! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
randy 77zt Posted June 1, 2001 Share Posted June 1, 2001 my car drives better with less negative camber on street-but since i relocated front control arm holes my least amount of negative camber with the gc camber plates is -1.5.setting up a very stable freeway flier is much different than setting up car for road race tracks.if i was setting a car up for a open highway race i would probably only run .5 negative camber some toe in and more caster.an auto cross car or a road course car is a twitchy animal to drive on street. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A. G. Olphart Posted June 9, 2001 Share Posted June 9, 2001 It may only be my Z-car ignorance showing, but what about the effect of an offset change in the new whhels... I once drove a 65 chev with chrome reverse wheels, and it was really twitchy. I understand that a line drawn through the steering pivots (down the center of the strut?) should intersect with the center of the tire contact patch at the road. If the tire moves out of this sweet spot, then all that sticky rubber has a lever arm with which to influence where the car gets pointed. This could lead to dartiness, but doesn't explain your car's new tendency towards oversteering. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.