what are the things that can make a fox body wander around on the road?

fivespeedsteed · Aug 9, 2009

ive heard my sumitomo tires can do it, and my only having 2.87 - 2.93 ish degrees of caster. someone told me i should be aiming for 6 degrees but that would make the car bumpsteer all over the place. ive got allot of new stuff in the front end. what else can make it wander around?

93 LX · Aug 9, 2009

Caster or Camber? Caster isnt that adjustable with stock plates. Tie rods both inner and outter will cause it. Also bad rack bushings and control arm bushings. On my 86 it was ball joints....

HISSIN50 · Aug 9, 2009

What are your exact front suspension alignment specs?
Does it do this on smooth roads or just rutted or crowned roads?

old_blue · Aug 9, 2009

in the pass tires have been the culprit. a lot of directional tires will grab at lines in the road and want to follow that line.

fivespeedsteed · Aug 10, 2009

alignment is as follows: left - right
caster 2.87 2.92
camber -.66 -.70
toe -.14 -.15

its got mm cc plates, new moog balljoints and tie rod ends, new rack and pinion and pump, solid aluminum bushings for the rack, and new poly ca bushings. it does it mainly on un even roads. smooth roads is fine really. usually does it on rutted or bumpy roads.
and these tires are directionals for sure (sumitomo htr z II), thats their design, that might be it but i want to figure out what it is before i splurge on a new set of tires

strtrcr50 · Aug 10, 2009

When you changed all the front end parts, did you torque down all the parts with the suspension hanging in the air? If so, try loosening up everything, putting the weight on the wheels, and retorquing.

347HO · Aug 10, 2009

Push left/right on the front. Do the same on the rear.
If you hear popping/clunking... you need to check your fasteners and bushings.

You didn't mention "toe"... if it's toed out, you'd have the same symptoms.

fivespeedsteed · Aug 10, 2009

ive tighened stuff while its on the ground. only thing im not sure is tightenough is the spindle to balljoint nuts, its just allot of work to get to them, and ive made sure my control arms were tight on the ground before, but they were initially tightened in the air. if i push left right on the front i get a bushing like squak kinda. i can replicate it by spinning the strut by the top mount bolt. it does it when i sit in it too, it will make a little bit of noise.

347HO · Aug 10, 2009

fivespeedsteed said:
ive tighened stuff while its on the ground. only thing im not sure is tightenough is the spindle to balljoint nuts, its just allot of work to get to them, and ive made sure my control arms were tight on the ground before, but they were initially tightened in the air. if i push left right on the front i get a bushing like squak kinda. i can replicate it by spinning the strut by the top mount bolt. it does it when i sit in it too, it will make a little bit of noise.

Poly bushings squeek. It's the nature of the beast.

You still have to check your "toe".

347HO · Aug 10, 2009

fivespeedsteed said:
ive tighened stuff while its on the ground. only thing im not sure is tightenough is the spindle to balljoint nuts, its just allot of work to get to them, and ive made sure my control arms were tight on the ground before, but they were initially tightened in the air. if i push left right on the front i get a bushing like squak kinda. i can replicate it by spinning the strut by the top mount bolt. it does it when i sit in it too, it will make a little bit of noise.

Poly/Urethane bushings squeek. It's the nature of the beast.

You still have to check your "toe".

90lxcoupe · Aug 10, 2009

fivespeedsteed said:
smooth roads is fine really. usually does it on rutted or bumpy roads.
and these tires are directionals for sure (sumitomo htr z II), thats their design, that might be it but i want to figure out what it is before i splurge on a new set of tires

i think the tires are whats causing this, just in the fact that you said the car is fine on smooth roads. My lightning did the same thing, and it was much more noticable with that truck cause it had big 295 tires on the front.

HISSIN50 · Aug 10, 2009

The toe might be a little off (based on what you said it was set to), you could use more caster, and as noted, you seem to get some tramlining. Tweaking the settings might help however.

fivespeedsteed · Aug 10, 2009

its toed in about an 1/8th of an inch. what should it be?

fivespeedsteed · Aug 10, 2009

90lxcoupe said:
i think the tires are whats causing this, just in the fact that you said the car is fine on smooth roads. My lightning did the same thing, and it was much more noticable with that truck cause it had big 295 tires on the front.

it holds pretty still on smooth surfaces it just does it in rutted roads.

HISSIN50 · Aug 10, 2009

Did I misunderstand? Above you listed -.14 and -.15 on your toe.

fivespeedsteed · Aug 10, 2009

i shoulda clarified, thats what they put it at when they aligned it, then i reported that here, and thats what i copied and pasted, since that, after my alignment my friends dad put the ps rack in there for me which required him to redo toe. he made it tow in a total of 1/8th an inch. so i copied that from my build thread but the toe is 1.8th inch in. sorry for the confusion

strtrcr50 · Aug 10, 2009

So, 5speedsteed, did you torque all those nice new bushings while the suspension was hanging in the air?

fivespeedsteed · Aug 10, 2009

i torqued the control arms down where they normally sit with my springs, and by torqued meaning they are tight, and havent streteched any bolts. ive tightened the cc plate bolts (all of them) and the struts (top and bottom, all 3 bolts ) , and tightened the control arms down while its sitting. and the rack bolts, and tie rods. if theres a way to tighten the balljoint spindle nut down while its on the ground id pay good money to see that. what are you suggesting strtrcr? loosen then tighten everything while its sitting?

HISSIN50 · Aug 10, 2009

Mainly on control arms, you should have the suspension loaded before you torque the fasteners. This is easier to do if you have ramps to lower the wheels down on (it's the only way I can properly torque end links as well).

If you have any poly bushings, that can change things (as the poly isn't often bonded to the sleeve).

Beasty306GT · Aug 11, 2009

wide front tires will also make the front of the car wonder around the road

what are the things that can make a fox body wander around on the road?

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