front ends a bit light ?

[Meatball]

The front end of the car feels a bit light and skitty and im not sure were to start looking for the cause?
Ive only driven 1 other chim and the front felt a lot more planted.

Any ideas..?

Cheers Ben

[dougc]

Take your golf clubs out of the boot

:runsawayveryfast:

[Hut49]

I'd start by checking the tyres for uneven wear and incorrect tyre pressures. Get the tracking checked anyway. A laser geometry set up would be next on my list (it made a dramatic difference in the driving feel of my 450). Any excessive play in the steering?

[bigdods]

a few things. The simple one - tyre pressure too high or worn tyres. The more expensive one, Geometry is out. You can get the geo checked and adjusted for about £100 (maybe a bit less). On Bridgestones the fronts should be at 22psi , with other tyres maybe 24psi

[mak]

depends wot kind of speed your talking about, if it's bellow 100mph then there's is something wrong, if it above 120 then thats how they all are unless you have a front spliter fitted.

[Meatball]

Ok geometrys sounds like its worth trying although i would have expected it was done when the ball joints and lower arms were replaced last year. Tyre wear is even and im using 24psi in the fronts which are 17" if it makes a difference.

The car still has the original drop links and arb bushes i might look at freshening up these as well.

[Bomber Denton]

Possibly too much toe in.

[Barreti]

Having the geo done on my Griff really improved the light front end feel I had on my Griff.
If your geo wasn't re-done after the work you had done last year it could be your problem.

For example, last year I had the car full geo'd with Steve Guglielmi and it transformed the handling. Over the winter I replaced both front hubs and track rod ends. I was really careful to make sure everything went back exactly where it came from but the handling was horrible, the NSF tyre was feathering on the inside and the steering wheel mid point was at 1 o'clock instead of 12

So it went back down to Guglielmi on Friday to get the front end looked at and he said it was 2deg out. Which just shows how much tolerance there can be in similar parts.

It's all back to the same settings as last year and feels great again. Well worth the money IMHO and if you're only having the front end done it shouldn't cost anything near £100

Sorry about the waffle, but I hope it helps.

Edited by Barreti on Sunday 1st June 11:52

[Taraka30]

My front shocks are past their best (originals as far as I know) and this is causing some understeer. Not cheap to resolve but if sorting the tyres and geo doesn't fix it then it gives you something else to look into.

[RumbleBee]

Missing front splitter is the most common cause, usually gets smashed off by a B$^%&(* speedbump after about 1 mile.

[Meatball]

I had full geo done today and its made a hude difference as it was out by a mile ???

Thanks for the help chaps

[chrispitman]

Hi Ben

Did you find a local garage to sort it or a place thatt does TVRs. Did you have a full four wheel laser check done. Also what did it cost, need to get mine done at some point my locals wont do tvr as 'it's not in the computer'.

[Meatball]

chrispitman said:

Hi Ben

Did you find a local garage to sort it or a place thatt does TVRs. Did you have a full four wheel laser check done. Also what did it cost, need to get mine done at some point my locals wont do tvr as 'it's not in the computer'.

Hello mate,

I had bathwick tyres do it on their 4 wheel laser thingy, i got the settings from absulutly shocks and paid £30 for 4 wheels.
Im well happy its much easier to control now well worth doing.

[chrispitman]

What did you have done for £30, I have been quoted that per adjustment so for camber and toe front and rear £120. Then they said if it can be done in there time frame or it will jump into a hourly rate.

[bigdods]

chrispitman said:

What did you have done for £30, I have been quoted that per adjustment so for camber and toe front and rear £120. Then they said if it can be done in there time frame or it will jump into a hourly rate.

Where are you based ? I've used Wheels in Motion (in chesham, bucks) for my Omega and they have the most amazing machine there. They specialise in performance/race cars so really know what they are doing. If you can get the settings from someone they can plug it into their computer. They have years of experience and dont just rely on the computer. They charge £85 for a full 4 wheel setup. Not sure what they charge but TopCats racing between AYlesbury and Bicester are also very good.

[Meatball]

chrispitman said:

What did you have done for £30, I have been quoted that per adjustment so for camber and toe front and rear £120. Then they said if it can be done in there time frame or it will jump into a hourly rate.

It was fixed price and i had the camber, toe adjustment and shock height and stiffness set. It wasent on a computer but was with those wheel laser things and it tolk about 1 hour. HTH

[Chimjunkie]

Just had mine fully geo'ed and corner weighted at TopCats Racing. Superb job, took him around 5 hours using the string box technique. Laser jobbies not as good as the good old techniques apparently. Car transformed. Had the alignment done at a dealer a short while before that but the rear was way out. Takes time to get everything properly done. Had a fast road setup though.