Bump Steer, How to tell...? Options

[jim_hoyland]

Is the test for bump steer driving over a speed bump straight on or at an angle. I don't get any noticable pulling when taking the speed bump straight on. Just want to get the test situation straight, any input will be appreciated.

Car is lowered about 50%

[dw914er]

This is what is on clubrsx from my searches while modifying my suspension on my rsx

First, I'll talk about what bumpsteer is NOT. It is NOT when the steering wheel moves when you hit a bump. That often is caused by high spring rates or high tie pressures. Imagine riding your bike with no tires. As soon as it hits a bump, you are going to feel it and it is going to push your wheel in a certain direction. When spring rates or tire pressures are really high, the suspension is really stiff and the car responds quickly and not necessarily in the right way. Remember, high spring rates don't = better handling. Race cars use high spring rates because they allow quick responding, but they also are racing on smooth surfaces and not on crappy city roads.

The short answer is that bumpsteer is when your wheels turn without input from the driver. It is affected by toe. On our suspension, when it compresses, toe goes in and the opposite happens with rebound. To control bumpsteer, one would want to keep toe settings pretty static throughout compression and rebound.

From what I understand, camber can and will affect toe, so the common results of bumpsteer from after lowering a car is bad alignment, creating what the quote said. Is this true, and could be why Jim hasn't noticed massive bumpsteer, because the alignment probably isn't that far out of wack? I don't really know, but alot of their stickies makes sense for the rsx applications, so I assumed this one was good also.