Zmanco Posted November 17, 2006 Share Posted November 17, 2006 Last summer I put Tokico springs and illumina struts in my 73. Before I did the swap I searched a lot here and a few other places and understood the issue of bump steer and that I was going to experience it without adding the spacers. Being cheap, and curious if I really needed them, I decided to not put them in. All in all I was pretty happy with the outcome, but noticed that: a) she didn't track in a straight line as solidly as before when cornering hard on a bumpy turn, the steering wheel was moving around more in my hands - it was a lot harder to carve a smooth line without a lot of corrections. Last night I put a set of bump steer spacers in and things are much better. Both issues are back to the way they were before, perhaps better since the rest of the suspension is much more stable and predictable now. I will say that it was a real pain to put the spacers in with the steering knuckle still attached to the tie rods. It looked like it shouldn't be that hard to get things to line up to get the bolts started in the holes, but it was. (I didn't have the tie rod separator I had rented so had to leave them on.) Anyway, thought I'd post this for those who are considering lowering springs and wondering if they should include the bump steer spacers. I now highly recommend them, and suggest you do it all at one time Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cygnusx1 Posted November 17, 2006 Share Posted November 17, 2006 I have pretty much the same setup as you. They work up to a point. Basically they keep the roll center of the car above ground. They also keep the LCA's and the steering tire rods more parallel when viewed from the front. I think they are a good compromise for slightly lowered Z's with street performance suspension and no other geomtry mods. For more radically altered suspensions that have adjustable geometry, the need for the spacers pretty much dissapears. I found that the eccentric bushings for the inner LCA's to add a little bit of negative camber also helped to make the car more stable and predictable. There is TONS of information, theory and practical first hand knowledge about this stuff on this site. It is overwhelming sometimes! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSM Posted December 12, 2006 Share Posted December 12, 2006 If the car is lowered due to shorter stiffer springs, do the bumpsteer spaces affect the ride height at all? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roninjiro Posted December 12, 2006 Share Posted December 12, 2006 no Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buZy Posted December 12, 2006 Share Posted December 12, 2006 Last summer I put Tokico springs and illumina struts in my 73. Before I did the swap I searched a lot here and a few other places and understood the issue of bump steer and that I was going to experience it without adding the spacers. Being cheap, and curious if I really needed them, I decided to not put them in. All in all I was pretty happy with the outcome, but noticed that: a) she didn't track in a straight line as solidly as before when cornering hard on a bumpy turn, the steering wheel was moving around more in my hands - it was a lot harder to carve a smooth line without a lot of corrections. Last night I put a set of bump steer spacers in and things are much better. Both issues are back to the way they were before, perhaps better since the rest of the suspension is much more stable and predictable now. I will say that it was a real pain to put the spacers in with the steering knuckle still attached to the tie rods. It looked like it shouldn't be that hard to get things to line up to get the bolts started in the holes, but it was. (I didn't have the tie rod separator I had rented so had to leave them on.) Anyway, thought I'd post this for those who are considering lowering springs and wondering if they should include the bump steer spacers. I now highly recommend them, and suggest you do it all at one time Ok to ask what is your ride height at the roof top? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zmanco Posted December 12, 2006 Author Share Posted December 12, 2006 Ok to ask what is your ride height at the roof top?I'm not sure how I would accurately measure at the roof top, but the height from the bottom of the rockers to the ground is: Just behind front wheel: 6 1/8" Just in front of rear wheel: 6 1/2" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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