[Shotimes] vibration: what is wrong?

[Robert Bruce]

" I plan on getting the proper stuff to do my own alignments at home when
the weather gets warmer."

That's pretty easy to do.  Just takes some string, a couple of tape measures
and a few other misc hand tools.  I'd be glad to help you, in a few months.

Robert Bruce
92 w/3.2


-----Original Message-----
From: shotimes-admin@autox.team.net
[mailto:shotimes-admin@autox.team.net]On Behalf Of Ian Fisher
Sent: Wednesday, December 22, 2004 4:14 PM
To: cmichaelo@optonline.net
Cc: shotimes@autox.team.net
Subject: Re: [Shotimes] vibration: what is wrong?


Responses are in between orginal text

--- cmichaelo@optonline.net wrote:

> > re: shims and alingment. I thought that it was odd
> but
> > I think the shop was trying to go the extra step
> to
> > get my car aligned as perfectly as possible. They
> did
> > notch something out at the LCA to SF mounting
> point to
> > adjust camber since it was way out on the driver's
> > side.
> This could indicate that your subframe is too far to
> the left. If so, the way to solve this is obviously
> NOT to move the LCA further to the right, but rather
> to move the SF to the right. The alignment
> "specialist" in the shop most likely never do this
> or may not even be aware of it.

It is-however moving it back to the right puts the
passenger side strut out too far as well. I shifted
the  subframe a bit towards the left as a compromise
when I installed the steering rack and tried to fix a
bad camber issue 2 years ago. I have come to the
conclusion that I think my subframe may be tweaked
slightly which is why I picked up Mark Levy's 1990
subframe when he was parting his car. (My subframe
also has rust damage at the rear bushing mating area
which also makes it an ideal candidate for
replacement). I plan on coating Mark's SF with POR15
or powdercoating it to preserve it's healthy condition
before I install it. I also plan on checking my strut
housings and koni inserts to make sure they are not
bent. If they are, I will be prepping new housings for
coilovers in the next few months so I'll probably take
advantage of Koni's warranty at that point and replace
everything.

>
> > I have not had that bolt out so I can't really
> > see what they did. It is possible that the bolt is
> > slipping.
> If the LCA-SF bolt is loose, you'll definately get
> vibration.  Suppose they tightened this bolt at
> first and then it slowly worked itself loose. That
> would explain how your vibration slowly started to
> get worse after the alignment.
>
> > If that is the case, I have Mark Levy's old
> > 1990 subframe to install in my car for when I do
> the
> > motor swap. I was planning on dumping the tension
> > strut rod shims and using the Ingalls adjustable
> > tension rods. I never really liked the idea of the
> > shims.
> You shouldn't need to replace the SF in case the
> LCA-SF bolt is loose.

Well, I am assuming that it worked loose if the hole
in the SF was elongated to adjust camber. If that
happened, I don't have much choice but to replace the
SF to prevent it from happening again.
>

re: DIY alignments: I read you loud and clear. I plan
on getting the proper stuff to do my own alignments at
home when the weather gets warmer.

Thanks for the tips.

Ian


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