Front suspension and steering, how do you know you need to rebuild the steering? |
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Front suspension and steering, how do you know you need to rebuild the steering? |
DRPHIL914 |
Nov 27 2019, 08:04 AM
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#1
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Dr. Phil Group: Members Posts: 5,769 Joined: 9-December 09 From: Bluffton, SC Member No.: 11,106 Region Association: South East States |
I am wondering this as I have been driving my car this week with the great weather and fall temps here in SC, and I have noticed something that just doesn't feel right, and I am not sure I can put my finger on it, or even describe what I am feeling but I feel like my steering should be super tight, since a few years ago we did all the bushings bearings turbo tie rods ball joints brakes etc etc, everything but the steering rack itself and I didn't replace the front strut inserts because the feel fine.
wheels are 16'x6" 205/55 Potenza AE11's. 4 years old about 5,000 miles of use, lots of good rubber on there yet, but regardless will have to replace in another year just due to age of the rubber... so with that, here is what I think it feels like, kind of like it wants to jump around or shift off track. no vibration , no rattle , and I can grab the tire/wheel with car parked and try to move it back and forth and don't feel any play like if you had a loose or work tie rod or ball joint etc., what I guess I am wondering is if it is time to pull the steering rack and replace it with a rebuilt one from 914rubber. if that hockey puck thing is getting old and worn, what would that feel like or how would that present itself? And can I remove it by just disconnecting the inner tie rod ends and not have to mess with my alignment? ive not done a steering rack on a 914 before.. as always , advice from those that have done this is appreciated. Phil |
DRPHIL914 |
Nov 27 2019, 02:16 PM
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#2
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Dr. Phil Group: Members Posts: 5,769 Joined: 9-December 09 From: Bluffton, SC Member No.: 11,106 Region Association: South East States |
@DRPHIL914 Look at the picture of your tire positon vs. the intersection point where the McPherson strut would intersect the ground. Unless what I'm seeing is an optial illusion of the photo, you have an outrageous King Pin Offset & large positive scrub radius. Typically, a McPerson strut likes some negative srub radius. Ideally, you would like that intersection to occur at or near the center, slightly outboard of the contact patch. In your case the intersection appears to be near the inboard edge of the tire. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/yikes.gif) Get the front wheel spacers out of there if you can without having the tire rub other things. http://www.car-engineer.com/suspension-des...hicle-behavior/ Just snapped a couple shots for comparison. 73 white flared 9” rims, w/turbo tie rod ends 72 silver narrow body stock ok will pull the spacers too, really don't need them. i had then in there when i had 7" rims in rear but went back to the 6" all around. - looking at those pictures Garland, your A-arms are parallel with the ground and mine are not, but could be a bit of an optical illusion. Scrub radius etc lol i am learning stuff today ive been ignoring and not taken the time to really dig into!. But all really interesting! need to get in there and look closer at the alignment and measure the camber, caster, toe in etc etc . |
Superhawk996 |
Nov 27 2019, 02:26 PM
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#3
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914 Guru Group: Members Posts: 5,915 Joined: 25-August 18 From: Woods of N. Idaho Member No.: 22,428 Region Association: Galt's Gulch |
@DRPHIL914 Look at the picture of your tire positon vs. the intersection point where the McPherson strut would intersect the ground. Unless what I'm seeing is an optial illusion of the photo, you have an outrageous King Pin Offset & large positive scrub radius. Typically, a McPerson strut likes some negative srub radius. Ideally, you would like that intersection to occur at or near the center, slightly outboard of the contact patch. In your case the intersection appears to be near the inboard edge of the tire. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/yikes.gif) Get the front wheel spacers out of there if you can without having the tire rub other things. http://www.car-engineer.com/suspension-des...hicle-behavior/ Just snapped a couple shots for comparison. 73 white flared 9” rims, w/turbo tie rod ends 72 silver narrow body stock ok will pull the spacers too, really don't need them. i had then in there when i had 7" rims in rear but went back to the 6" all around. - looking at those pictures Garland, your A-arms are parallel with the ground and mine are not, but could be a bit of an optical illusion. Scrub radius etc lol i am learning stuff today ive been ignoring and not taken the time to really dig into!. But all really interesting! need to get in there and look closer at the alignment and measure the camber, caster, toe in etc etc . I'm hoping it's an optical illusion. Look at Garland's photos, note the bottoms of the ball joints are partially tucked within the wheel. Due to the ange of the strut (inboard at top) that intersection to the ground plane is going to occur closer to the center of the tire contact patch. Garlands's 9" rim seems to be tucked in a bit further. This isn't rally about rim widths, but rather about wheel ofset and the length of the scrub radius. The other thing to keep in mind is that one person perceives as stable, controlled, and responsive can be another person's darty and unstable. It all depends on what you're used to driving and how readily you adapt between vehicles. |
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