Howdy,
>From a while ago...
On Mon, 2 Aug 2004, Dick Rasmussen wrote:
> >Overall the car has one major issue that gives me a ton of trouble.
> >Initial turn in feel and response (say, the first 10' to 20' into the
> >corner) is almost non-existant. One time you turn the wheel and the car
> >sorta tries to initiate the turn. Another time and the car just plows.
...
> Personally I don't think dead shocks would cause the problem due to being
> "too mushy".
>
> My suggestion/guess is that you have a major bind problem somewhere in the
> front suspension as you turn in to a corner. Either a shock is binding or
> some other aspect of the front suspension is binding or is much too stiff
> (way beyond what stiff springs/bars could cause).
Dick, you (and GH, Andy, Brian, and maybe some others) were 100% correct.
Some front suspension inspection led me to a front swaybar that, with both
endlinks removed, would only just barely move using human strength.
After taking the chassis bushings off, sanding the outside down, cleaning
up the inside of the chassis brackets, and lubing everything up with
Syl-Glide, the bar "pinky-moved". Bolted everything back together and put
1/4" toe out in the front (was around 1/16" out, this change was mostly so
that I could back off the camber and get back to zero toe for street
driving between events). At the same time I verified that the struts had
damping, and that the damping changed when I turned the adjuster knob (all
by had, no shock dyno, but it at least meant nothing was obviously
broken).
Had a chance to see if it made a difference this past weekend... Yep, it
was quite a bit better! Car stopped doing that initial refusal to grip on
turn in, and was a bit better balanced steady state and corner exit. Sam
and a couple others that had driven the car previously confirmed it as
being worlds better.
Anyway, thanks! I think I learned something there about making sure to do
the basics correctly... I'm kinda annoyed at myself that I drove it for
six events with the front swaybar like that, but at least its better
now... :-/
Mark
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