Steering/Control at higher speeds

Gruca

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To start here is a list of things done to the car:

BMR adjustable UCA and mount, lower control arms, non-adjustable panhard bar and brace, and 19x9.5 Avant Garde m310s with 275/40/19 General Gmax tires on them (inflated to 35 psi all around). Springs/shocks/struts are stock as far as I know.

When I'm on the highway or do a little spirited driving, the car feels like it's going to lose it at any time. It hasn't, but it's pretty scary. Going 60-70 mph I can jerk the wheel side to side and the car grips but once I get over 70 I swear I feel like I'm going to spin out at any moment. The car just sways badly and it mostly feels like the rear end. Any ideas what causes that?
 
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noldevin

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To start here is a list of things done to the car:

BMR adjustable UCA and mount, lower control arms, non-adjustable panhard bar and brace, and 19x9.5 Avant Garde m310s with 275/40/19 General Gmax tires on them (inflated to 35 psi all around). Springs/shocks/struts are stock as far as I know.

When I'm on the highway or do a little spirited driving, the car feels like it's going to lose it at any time. It hasn't, but it's pretty scary. Going 60-70 mph I can jerk the wheel side to side and the car grips but once I get over 70 I swear I feel like I'm going to spin out at any moment. The car just sways badly and it mostly feels like the rear end. Any ideas what causes that?

Do you have control arm relocation brackets? If those are set on too aggressive of a hole you will create excessive roll-steer which could create a twitchy feeling.
You could try letting a couple PSI out of the tires. Different tires like different pressures at different temperatures, getting it right can take a few tries.
Could be a bad shock or bushing, there were some issues with the BMR bushings splitting if you over-grease them or use the wrong type of grease.
Also, if you're jerking the wheel back and forth at 70 that's just gonna feel sketchy no matter what lol.
Could be an alignment issue, having the wrong toe setting can make the car feel twitchy at speed.
 

Gruca

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Do you have control arm relocation brackets? If those are set on too aggressive of a hole you will create excessive roll-steer which could create a twitchy feeling.
You could try letting a couple PSI out of the tires. Different tires like different pressures at different temperatures, getting it right can take a few tries.
Could be a bad shock or bushing, there were some issues with the BMR bushings splitting if you over-grease them or use the wrong type of grease.
Also, if you're jerking the wheel back and forth at 70 that's just gonna feel sketchy no matter what lol.
Could be an alignment issue, having the wrong toe setting can make the car feel twitchy at speed.

No relo brackets. I didn't mean jerking violently (this could get off topic lol) I just meant like making aggressive lane changes or movements to test if the tires are biting. In my case, the car seems fine until I get to 70-80 mph. Then it feels like it's floating side to side and the rear is going to let go at any moment. I have about 6 greasable BMR bushings under the rear of the car...hopefully it's not those.

Since I just put new wheels and tires on it, I might switch back to the track pack wheels just to eliminate the new setup.
 

bujeezus

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Same tires on the new wheels? First thing I'd do is check those bushings.
 

05stroker

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Has it only done it since the new tires went on? I ask because the Michelin's I run on my trucks feel that way for the first 1 or 2 k becouse of the soft compound and deep tread.
 

frank s

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It's the color. Car is trying to escape that gruesome shade of Chinese Racing Green.

No, seriously. I believe a set of decent shock dampers will transform the car's behavior in a very positive fashion.

Has it only done it since the new tires went on? I ask because the Michelin's I run on my trucks feel that way for the first 1 or 2 k becouse of the soft compound and deep tread.

Plus which it takes a few miles to rid the new tires of the mold-release chemicals. But I'd have to guess that's already been accomplished.
 
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Gruca

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It's the color. Car is trying to escape that gruesome shade of Chinese Racing Green.

No, seriously. I believe a set of decent shock dampers will transform the car's behavior in a very positive fashion.



Plus which it takes a few miles to rid the new tires of the mold-release chemicals. But I'd have to guess that's already been accomplished.

Hater.

I do want new shocks and springs too. So many parts required when you do springs though...I'm adding them slowly.
 

bujeezus

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So many parts for springs? What do you mean by that? I've changed springs 3 times in under 2 years and aside from an adjustable panhard bar, I haven't changed anything else.
 

Gruca

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So many parts for springs? What do you mean by that? I've changed springs 3 times in under 2 years and aside from an adjustable panhard bar, I haven't changed anything else.

I mean supporting things to be able to get everything back in line, camber bolts or caster camber plates, adjustable panhard bar, shocks are generally recommended. It gets expensive.
 

Gruca

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Have you checked you rear shocks yet?

I haven't. I've suspected though because of the amount of noise the rear makes when going over bumps. How do does one check the rear shocks to tell if they are bad?
 

bujeezus

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The old school way to check your shocks is to push down on the car and see if it bounces more than once. Look for leaking fluid on the body of the shock. How many miles on are the car?
 

Gruca

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The old school way to check your shocks is to push down on the car and see if it bounces more than once. Look for leaking fluid on the body of the shock. How many miles on are the car?

Just hit 11k. I bought it this past New Years Eve with 7k on it.
 

stevbd

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If the shocks are oem they are bad. If I could change only one thing on the stock suspension it would be shocks. These cars are seriously underdamped from the factory, and your new bigger wheels and tires may be adding additional unsprung weight making the situation even worse. Get good shocks, Bilsteins or Konis or something similar, they are a great next step regardless. Use stock springs if you don't want to readjust other parts of the suspension.
 

Gruca

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If the shocks are oem they are bad. If I could change only one thing on the stock suspension it would be shocks. These cars are seriously underdamped from the factory, and your new bigger wheels and tires may be adding additional unsprung weight making the situation even worse. Get good shocks, Bilsteins or Konis or something similar, they are a great next step regardless. Use stock springs if you don't want to readjust other parts of the suspension.

I just said F it and ordered Konis, BMR springs, an adjustable pan hard bar, and caster camber plates.
 

frank s

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I just said F it and ordered Konis, BMR springs, an adjustable pan hard bar, and caster camber plates.

You'll have to install one item at a time if you want to know what cures the problem. Might not be worth it to you, but sometimes science is expensive.

Start with the Konis. Alone.
 

Saleen304

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Does the issue happen at sustained higher speed or only while accelerating? I had a similar issue and it happened only during hard acceleration above 70 or so. Turned out my MPSS tires were out of round. Standard balancing wouldn't detect it and I had to use road force balance. They wouldn't pass road force balance so I had to spend another $1000 on two new rear tires. I was able to narrow it down to the tires by installing my drag radials and the problem would go away.
 

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