My Gtst Hates Uneven Roads

[dancn]

Hi All,

My R33 GTSt has some steering/handling issues, which are most noticeable on poor road surfaces.

On sections of road that camber slightly, it has a tendency to pull on the steering toward the side of the road, like severe tramlining.

Also if it hits a dip at the side of the road, it tends to dart toward the direction of the dip in the road.

AFAIK I have standard struts/ride height at all 4 corners.

On flat, and twisty roads there is no pulling of the steering wheel, and in a straight flat road I can let my hand off the wheel, and it doesn’t veer to any one side.

This is my second R33 GTSt, and is much harder to drive than the first. On uneven roads, I continuously correcting/fighting the steering, especially at higher speeds.

The first car did try to tramline,at low speeds, but nowhere near as bad as my current car. (on the same bad roads), and was much more predictable and stable at speed.

The first car had the same tyres/ wheel size, R17, 265 rear, 235 front, wall heights 45 I think, I can check later.

Although the offsets could be different.

I disconnected the battery overnight and centred the steering, in case of the HIcas being the cause, I noticed no difference

Anyone any ideas what would cause these handling characteristics.

thanks for reading

[TokyoTaxi]

Firstly, I'd get the wheel alignment checked ( front and rear ) and at the same time get them to check over all the bushes, bearings and joints for wear ( including steering rack & tie rod ends ).

Then if no joy, maybe do a HICAS diagnostic check and see if that gives you any indications ( hell, do it anyway, it's fun to watch )

[blind_elk]

Most cars will pull down the camber on the road.

That being said, this 33 is older than your first? The suspension is older. The suspension bushes are older.

As suggested by FAT32, it's probably time to start replacing bushes (particularly castor bushes), and maybe new shock absorbers.

[Nathan_G1]

my 32 did the same thing, but that was due to a drift set-up. i had adjustable camber and castor rods front and rear. the reason y my car liked to pull to one side is because it was specifically wheel aligned for flat surfaces. due to our roads having camber to left or right depending on lane and direction my car would pull toward the camber and follow any dips and bumps in the road. perhaps u have more then u think, or it was wheel aligned differently, check ur front and rear left tyres for there camber to the other side....if they have more u have problems if there the same, u got a good wheel allignement

[T04GTR]

yep, sounds like it has to much toe out on the front. and posibly rear.

camber will afect it but not as much as toe.

if its got big wheels with the wrong ofset it can cause the same problem,along with low profile tyres.

un evan caster can have the same afect(more than a degree diferance will do it)

if the caster bushes are worn it can make it toe in excesivly on braking wich will make it jump all over the lane!!

get a wheel alignment:

front have slight toe in. (+1mm or so total)(if understeering toe out 1mm ish)

rear toe in abit more (+4 or 5mm total) better stability

caster should be abit more on the left.(.25 of a degree or so)

camber should be evan. ie front -1.5 rear -1 or so

hope that helps

[Crimpage]

My car is doing the same thing at the moment.

However my car was handling fine, then I put it in to get services and they said my "power steering links need tightening". I told them to leave it, then I get it back from them, and it handles like shit.

I do need a wheel alignment tho so I'll see how I go. I'll keep watching this thread incase its something else...

Crimpage.

[dancn]

I’ll try and start with an alignment check, and inspect the bushings, but the usual clunking over bumps that comes with worn bushes is not apparent, there doesn’t seem to be any looseness when driving, it just seems to be a handful.

I’ll need to check for any non standard suspension components.

What I have spotted so far is a rear wheel spacer kit, to give a wider track, the car also has blitz racing split rims, front and rear.

Can someone post the factory geometry settings, I need to take the figures with me when I get the alignment checked.

The nearest place here in Ireland doesn’t list Jap imports suspension settings.

thanks

[benl1981]

maybe your shocks are cactus

[blind_elk]

Can someone post the factory geometry settings, I need to take the figures with me when I get the alignment checked.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I'm sure a search of the forums will dig them out for you (Probably in a thread featuring SydneyKid).

Alternatively, have a look at www.whiteline.com.au - they had a R33 project car; I'm sure the settings they developed will be there somewhere (start under "Your Car").

[Sydneykid]

Can someone post the factory geometry settings, I need to take the figures with me when I get the alignment checked.

I don't know of anyone here who uses the factory settings. This is what I recommend for a road R33GTST;

Front

Toe - zero

Caster - 6 degrees on the right and 6.25 on the left, more is better but keep the split around 0.25 degrees. R32/33/34's do not have standard caster adjusters, so if you have not added them they won't be able to adjust it.

Camber - between 0.5 and 1.0 degrees negative, that's both sides, don't have more on the left to stop the drift to the gutter, the caster split is better for that. R32/33/34's do not have standard camber adjusters on the front, so if you have not added them they won't be able to adjust it.

Rear

Toe - 2 mm toe in each side, and make sure the HICAS is zeroed before they start.

Camber - between 0 and 0.5 degrees negative. There are standard rear camber adjusters on the inner upper control arm that allow a small amount of adjustment (around 0.25 degrees).

Hope that helps

cheers

[Nathan_G1]

it all depends on wat ur doing with ur car........eg drifting, circuit or u just want a comfortable drive on the street. me i was happy with my R32 settings. Scott from AVS did a killa job, and that rear stabilizer bar u sent me was killa SK....car felt awesome out on the track

[dancn]

Thanks for the replys…

I got the front wheels off (for the 1st time) for a look, and surprise, surprise, I’ve got a wheel spacer kit on the front !!, as well as the rear !!

They look to be about 1” thick,

This car has the wider GTR wings (guards) , so I guessing they were fitted to make the wheel fill out the wheel arch.

So I’m guessing that the offset is screwed up.

I want to use the car for comfortable street use. Only downside is if I remove the spacer the wheel (blitz racing type3) hits the brake caliper.

The castor rods are stock, with some perishing of the rubber to be seen, but no excessive movement when levered.

I’ll need to get 2 front stock wheels with the spacers removed on the front and see how it handles.

[Sydneykid]

Thanks for the replys…

I got the front wheels off (for the 1st time) for a look, and surprise, surprise, I’ve got a wheel spacer kit on the front !!, as well as the rear !!

They look to be about 1” thick,

This car has the wider GTR wings (guards) , so I guessing they were fitted to make the wheel  fill out the wheel arch.

So I’m guessing that the offset is screwed up.

I want to use the car for comfortable street use. Only downside is if I remove the spacer the wheel  (blitz racing type3) hits the brake caliper.

The castor rods are stock, with some perishing of the rubber to be seen, but no excessive movement when levered.

I’ll need to get 2 front stock wheels with the spacers removed  on the front and  see how it handles.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

More caster on the front will help a lot. There are adjustable caster bushes on the Group Buy.

cheers

[KILL HSV]

does it get a lot worse in the wet?

[Syphon]

Dragging up an old thread here, but how exactly do you go about "zeroing" out the hicas ?

[blackprincegts]

not sure if this is your solution but my 32 also has this exact problem.one of my lower control arms in slightly damaged,not really bent as such,more so dinged. Took it to a couple of suspension places and they all told me that the car was behaving as you described due to my damged l.c.a..Iv got a replacement one sitting in the shed but havn't fited it yet.

just another idea for u