Ground Control

[MN Probe GT]

I got my GCs today. Who wants to help with the install? JK.....I still need to buy camber correction stuff and shocks. Should I really get the 5 way adjustables??? I still need to see what that one guy did with his.

[tracer bullet]

"the other guy" - is that me?

I can go over it with you next time we meet up. It's a real pain in the ass, but the concepts are pretty easy to grasp.

I really think you should get the 5 ways, or your springs will overpower your struts and you'll feel bouncy all over the place, nothing to control the springs. The other ones aren't stiff enough, it's got to be the Illuminas to go to 4 or 5.

[rebby]

kirk, what did these cost you? the leda deal went south... we weren't being quoted the correct pice... actually we were decieved...

[everetty]

Originally posted by rebby
actually we were decieved...

when you are decieved (or lied to) your freedom is taken away and this is impermissable under Kant's formulation of autonomy and the kingdom of ends.

dear god, I have been writing this ethics paper since 9:00

Please............make it stop

[rebby]

yeah, please stop... all that happened was we were quoted a price for what we assumed was the whole kit including springs... what we found out, no springs included on the deal...

[MN Probe GT]

I told you!!! Didn't I say that something sounded screwed up about that BB??? The GCs were $340. In the BB thread on PT, someone posted a link to a company that will sell them for that price with no BB. I look forward to seeing how you installed your GCs. :)

[rebby]

Originally posted by MN Probe GT
I told you!!! Didn't I say that something sounded screwed up about that BB??? The GCs were $340. In the BB thread on PT, someone posted a link to a company that will sell them for that price with no BB. I look forward to seeing how you installed your GCs. :)

that thread is huge... do you have the link?

[MN Probe GT]

I think it's on the 4th page. I'll try to find it.

[MN Probe GT]

http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/Shop/5212/gc.html

I can't go there. Geocities has completely banned me or something. I don't even use them so I don't have any idea. I doubt their server has been down for over a day.......

[rebby]

Originally posted by MN Probe GT
http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/Shop/5212/gc.html

I can't go there. Geocities has completely banned me or something. I don't even use them so I don't have any idea. I doubt their server has been down for over a day.......

i can't get there either...

[tracer bullet]

Works for me, but I'm at work... It's a picture of GC's on a desk with a monitor behind them.

However, from home last night I couldn't get onto PT, I wonder if this is the same deal?

[rebby]

Originally posted by tracer bullet
from home last night I couldn't get onto PT, I wonder if this is the same deal?

no, see the lounge for more info on that...

[Racer X]

befor you put these on we should talk. fist of all its easy. as longs as bottom strut bolts come out ok. if your not useing air tools i can help they will make the job ten times faster. second ive done a secret mod to mine if you get the tokikos i may be willing to show you. ive only done it to the front so far. i like

[rebby]

what's this secret mod do??? i will be getting those stuts so i'm interested in knowing...

[Racer X]

its a secret i cant tell you. actualy its no secreat. at all all i did was cut off he old spring pearches. but i do have another mod im working on if it works ill let you know. all i know is that when are cars are lowered we almost no suspention travel. im tring to fix this.

[tracer bullet]

I can tell you about two things to consider:

1) I didn't really show anyone, but explained it to somebody... The rear interior panels can be modded pretty easily to allow that flat piece over the rear struts to come up and off without having to remove the whole giant panle every time. Basically undo all the screws that hold it in, and trim a tab or two. After that it pretty much presses into place, and doesn't squaek or rattle either. Makes it a 5 minute job to change the strut settings.

2) On ride height - yeah the normal GC kit leaves almost nothing when it's max lowered. But - the upper strut mounts in the front of the car can be hacked on a little to gain some more lowering. Basically you are shrinking the distance between the top of the spring itself and the point where it bolts to the car. You can reduce the fender gap but not reduce suspension travel. 'Course that's why I got the longer ones. I wanted the stiff springs only really. I still have like 2" of travel for the potholes.

Hmm, I wonder what else he's thinking about?

[Racer X]

what i meant by suspention travel is upward travel. ive got like an inch right now. so by closing the gap ive decreased the amout my wheel will go up realitive to my ride height. i think my mod will work but until i ge it to work on my car im not talking. tracer what did you get longer? wont hacking the top ruin where the strut bearing sits?

[tracer bullet]

Well, I didn't actually do anything it's just a thoery - remember I got the 8" long springs, so even at max drop I'm only down about 1/2 or 3/4" below stock. I've still got a lot of travel so I didn't worry about it.

What I was thinking was on the upper strut mount itself - and now that I'm thinking about it more, it might not work so well - was taking material off of the bottom of it. I was thinking about this a long time ago, and then Brian Berryhill on the PT board actually wrote up a post about it with pictures. Anyhow, the material came off of the bottom of that mount, the opposite sides from the studs, where the GC upper perch sits into it. Basically if you're holding a disassembled strut in your hand, take a look at how the pieces come together. As I remember there was some air space where pieces didn't match up quite right, and a little extra metal on the mount that didn't add any support to it, just got in the way.

That was coming up on a year ago, I don't fully remember what I had in mind.

[Turbo Probe GT]

Ok, I have replaced so many parts and I could use some ideas. I have a shake in my steering wheel, it is comming from the front left side. I have replaced my CV joints on both sides, steering knuckle on the left front, rotors, brake pads.....it is really bad around 65 - 70. Anyone have any ideas I would really appreciate it at this point.

[tracer bullet]

How do you know it's coming from the front left side?

If anyting is loose underneath (arms, joints, etc.) any decent mechanic should be able to find it right away, you could too - but the secret is to get it on a lift and hoist it up in the air so you can get underneath and wiggle things.

I didn't see you mention anything about the wheels or tires. If I had a shake, first thing I'd be looking for is a wheel out of balance - this should be easy - take it to a tire shop and have them rebalance it.

If that doesn't work, there could be a problem with the tire itself. I had this on mine - also front left tire actually, I ran something over one night and it actually damaged the tire. I had the whole deal (tire + rim) checked and the balance on it was perfect, but there was a little shake and a lot of pull. So - try this, it's what I did - simply take the front left wheel and swap it with the front tight wheel. For me, this made the problem switch to the other side of the car, so I knew it was related to the wheel and tire. I ended up replacing the tire and it all went away.

So try that - swap front left and right wheels (unless the tires are directional, if so you'll have to swap front left with rear left). Anyway, if the problem follows the wheel, you know it's either a bad rim or tire. If it stays in the same spot, then somethings loose down there.

Lastly - check the brake again. Drive it for a while at a fast speed, and then bring it to a stop (not sure where or how, but find somewhere). The trick is - bring it to a stop without using the brake pedal... So use the engine to slow it down a lot, and maybe the parking brake to bring it to a stop. Where I'm going is - after a good drive, don't use the front brakes.
But check and see if the rotors get hot. If they're cool, you're OK, but if they're hot, one of them is sticking. Perhaps it doesn't release all of the way... If that's the case, it'll always be a little clenched onto the rotor, and that'll cause problems.

I've seen several older Minnesota cars where the little pins that the brakes slide back and forth on are all seized up, causing the brakes to rub.

So switch wheels and let us know what happens.

[rebby]

Originally posted by Turbo Probe GT
Ok, I have replaced so many parts and I could use some ideas. I have a shake in my steering wheel, it is comming from the front left side. I have replaced my CV joints on both sides, steering knuckle on the left front, rotors, brake pads.....it is really bad around 65 - 70. Anyone have any ideas I would really appreciate it at this point. i had this prob w/beth's car...found out that her rim is bent.. getting new ones in a few weeks...

[Turbo Probe GT]

Thank you to both of you for some ideas. I was thinking it could be the rim, I have had problems with flat tires off and on. I will do the tire swap hopefully tonight and see if that changes things. Thank you soo much for the ideas!!!