Can you help me understand coilovers

[stef1808]

Ive got Ohlins Road and Tracks coilovers on my 335 and the difference is very noticeable - Very planted on the bends and sharper turn-in (although i did also do a lsd and semi slicks at the same time)

After driving though ive noticed a negative effect: under heavy breaking the car pulls to 1 side and wheel shakes violently - naturally you would think this would be the brakes but haven't touched them since doing the mods
could it be the coilovers adjuster? maybe the spring load? or perhaps a simple geometry or new brake calipers would fix it ?


Maybe this is even a common problem after installing the LSD ?

Anyway appreciate your help

(p.s. after the huge gains I found after these mods - would changing control arms, sway bars and bushings have noticeable effects ?)

[BBS-LM]

Sounds like a leaking shock to me, I would get it checked out ASAP.

[PhillipM]

Or a knackered/loose joint since disturbing it to change the dampers.

[Ahonen]

PhillipM said:

Or a knackered/loose joint since disturbing it to change the dampers.

This seems most likely. Pros occasionally find it hard to spot a dead damper in a race car, so it's fairly unlikely for a damper to cause this much trouble on the road.

[Hairbrakes]

Not to derail the thread too much, but could someone explain to me why coilovers are better? I've never understood why having the damper tightly wrapped by the spring makes such a difference to a standard arrangement of a separate spring and damper

[The Wookie]

Hairbrakes said:

Not to derail the thread too much, but could someone explain to me why coilovers are better? I've never understood why having the damper tightly wrapped by the spring makes such a difference to a standard arrangement of a separate spring and damper

Packaging and equal motion ratio

[GravelBen]

I don't know if I've ever had a car with separate spring and damper, do they still make them?

[The Wookie]

GravelBen said:

I don't know if I've ever had a car with separate spring and damper, do they still make them?

Loads of modern cars do, in fact most FWD. Ironically, considering my first statement, it's actually done for packaging as it allows for better boot space/shape.

[With these feet]

Was it corner weighted when the coilovers went on?

Vibration under braking is usually associated with a disc or suspension joint issue unless a damper is allowing the wheel to bounce under braking though you would more than likely notice the car pogoing as well.

Could be a worn tyre - if youve tracked it its not uncommon for the tyre to wear in an irregular way. Usually the inside edge becomes feathered.

[Scuffers]

With these feet said:

Was it corner weighted when the coilovers went on?

Vibration under braking is usually associated with a disc or suspension joint issue unless a damper is allowing the wheel to bounce under braking though you would more than likely notice the car pogoing as well.

Could be a worn tyre - if youve tracked it its not uncommon for the tyre to wear in an irregular way. Usually the inside edge becomes feathered.

this.

[The Wookie]

With these feet said:

Was it corner weighted when the coilovers went on?

Vibration under braking is usually associated with a disc or suspension joint issue unless a damper is allowing the wheel to bounce under braking though you would more than likely notice the car pogoing as well.

Could be a worn tyre - if youve tracked it its not uncommon for the tyre to wear in an irregular way. Usually the inside edge becomes feathered.

This.

If you run out of horses and start looking for Zebras then have a quick look at the pads when everything is off. You never know, the friction material might have separated from the back plate and started causing issues.

[GravelBen]

The Wookie said:

GravelBen said:

I don't know if I've ever had a car with separate spring and damper, do they still make them?

Loads of modern cars do, in fact most FWD. Ironically, considering my first statement, it's actually done for packaging as it allows for better boot space/shape.

Ah, never owned a Fwd car (that wasn't Rwd as well) so maybe thats why.

Come to think of it the leaf springs on the back of the old Hilux had separate dampers too!

[stef1808]

With these feet said:

Was it corner weighted when the coilovers went on?

Vibration under braking is usually associated with a disc or suspension joint issue unless a damper is allowing the wheel to bounce under braking though you would more than likely notice the car pogoing as well.

Could be a worn tyre - if youve tracked it its not uncommon for the tyre to wear in an irregular way. Usually the inside edge becomes feathered.

I don't think it was corner weighted - as far as I know during the coilovers install it was trial and error adjusting each set to get the balance (slighty higher for driver side to compensate weight)

Im getting the setup checked by a 3rd party to see if any problems with suspension joints

Thanks for your posts

[PugwasHDJ80]

Not being funny but have you checked all the simple bits- like ball joints being properly tight, all the bushings being installed and tightened properly?

its one of those jobs that takes 5 minutes, but could save you days of work