High speed insecurity....
High speed insecurity.... Ive dont quite a few suspension mods to stiffen and strengthen up the ride, including; SLP diamond SFC's, SLP strut tower brace...biilstein shocks w/ eibach 1.5" lowering springs, & Hotchkis rear panhard rod/ LCA's. Drives good until i start racing...now its not inexperience behind the wheel so dont say that lol...ive been racing cars for about 8 years from my sled 1986 firebird to my 92 mustang...my SS by far obviously outhandles them all but for some reason last summer i got a feeling of insecurity when driving at higher speeds...nothing wobbles or shakes...but at the same time something doesnt feel right...i cant really pinpoint the feeling but almost like driving in a perfectly straight line at a higher speed, no bumps cracks or pebbles in the street, it feels like my car is just gonna wipe out, this is at around 110mph....the first year i had the car after getting used to it i was able to get to at least 130 before i started getting nervous. So anyways, is there anything i should be checking out other than nuts and bolts to make sure everything is true and tight? Thanks for any input.
i have crap Khumos on it right now, came w/ the car...havnt had the 250 per tire to get new ones yet...they are about due in maybe 8000 mi. As for u joints and d/s...i will check em when i get home from work. Anything else maybe in the front end? I was thinking maybe i need a heavier duty tie rod or something like that? Dont know too much about front end suspension other than what i already did.
On The Tree
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 109
Likes: 0
From: Gilbert, AZ
Originally Posted by 99CamaroSS
Ive dont quite a few suspension mods to stiffen and strengthen up the ride, including; SLP diamond SFC's, SLP strut tower brace...biilstein shocks w/ eibach 1.5" lowering springs, & Hotchkis rear panhard rod/ LCA's. Drives good until i start racing...now its not inexperience behind the wheel so dont say that lol...ive been racing cars for about 8 years from my sled 1986 firebird to my 92 mustang...my SS by far obviously outhandles them all but for some reason last summer i got a feeling of insecurity when driving at higher speeds...nothing wobbles or shakes...but at the same time something doesnt feel right...i cant really pinpoint the feeling but almost like driving in a perfectly straight line at a higher speed, no bumps cracks or pebbles in the street, it feels like my car is just gonna wipe out, this is at around 110mph....the first year i had the car after getting used to it i was able to get to at least 130 before i started getting nervous. So anyways, is there anything i should be checking out other than nuts and bolts to make sure everything is true and tight? Thanks for any input.
Originally Posted by trackbird
Shocks.
And,
Alignment.
And,
Alignment.
TECH Enthusiast
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 553
Likes: 0
From: Dallas TX
The alignment may be "dead on" but if it's dead on to the factory specs that NTB's comptuer spits out, it could still exhibit this behavior.
I like this for high speed stablity:
-.5 camber
+5 Caster
.05 toe in
Others prefer 0 toe, but I want the thing to track as straight as a Caddy DTS or an MB S500.
Other things that could be messy in the front suspension - Strut mounts (ever hear clunking over bumps?) wheel bearings.
I like this for high speed stablity:
-.5 camber
+5 Caster
.05 toe in
Others prefer 0 toe, but I want the thing to track as straight as a Caddy DTS or an MB S500.
Other things that could be messy in the front suspension - Strut mounts (ever hear clunking over bumps?) wheel bearings.
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More caster will make the car track straighter (the
tires will be dragged straight). A little toe-in will
also improve the feeling of stability I think. You
will have to trade responsiveness for stability to
some degree. I've had the car up to 130 and it felt
pretty stable, with the "trackbird" sort of align.
Was the car aligned after the drop springs? That much
drop ought to have made some serious difference in toe
I expect.
tires will be dragged straight). A little toe-in will
also improve the feeling of stability I think. You
will have to trade responsiveness for stability to
some degree. I've had the car up to 130 and it felt
pretty stable, with the "trackbird" sort of align.
Was the car aligned after the drop springs? That much
drop ought to have made some serious difference in toe
I expect.
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Thats a good point...i'm not sure due to the fact that the lowered coils were in there when i bought it, and it was bought from a dealer so they had no clue of the cars history, everything else is solid though, i will have it aligned and try Ttopjons #'s for caster/camber and toe in. Hopefully that will solve my problem. Thanks.
