Hey everyone,
I think I know what my next move is but I wanted to throw this out and see if anyone else has commentary.
I've recently completed a full frame-off on my car which included of course total restoration / replacement of the suspension and brake system. A few details:
- DPI Spec front and rear suspension setup with added rear camber adjustment (upper arms), front caster limiting arms, but no front upper camber control
- Grady steering rack (recently had it out to replace springs/cups and set tie rod pre-tension)
- New tie rod ends
- Amsteer ball joints
- Superflex sway bar end bushings and DPNW front extension mount bushings
- Superflex upper A arm bushings
- DPI coilovers with ride height set to slightly lower than even wheel arch gap (made sure the frame was parallel to the ground, measured from the sides of the front and rear crossmembers)
- There is zero play in the steering wheel
- Hankook tires with under 1500 miles wear, set to 25 PSI front and 32 PSI rear
- Just had an alignment done and the end results are below.
My only suspension/steering complaint is the "return to center" isn't very sharp and automatic like, for example my daily driver Audi. In fact I'm sure the DeLorean did a better job of this prior to the frame-off work too. What I mean is, on my daily driver I can take a turn, and as I come out of the turn the wheel basically goes straight without any assistance. In the DeLorean, it goes most of the way straight but then I need to give it a slight turn to "finish the turn" and go completely straight, and then once again I am tracking forward with no wandering or anything. It's not bad but it's not right.
I had the front end off the ground this morning and made sure there is no rubbing or notchy feel to the steering when turning lock to lock - it feels very smooth and doesn't feel worn in the center.
I assume the issue to be alignment related. It's been suggested that it is tire scrub which could be reduced by adding camber adjustment to the front. That is something I'm willing to do if there's no other solution.
As I said, I just had the alignment done and I got the feeling the shop wasn't very skilled on the alignment rack. The main alignment guy is out due to back surgery (he seemed VERY good last time I was in) and they have agreed to give it another look and set it to any adjustment I want because I'm not satisfied with it. They said they want me on the shop floor to confirm everything and sign off before they are done. Cool with me.
See the alignment below - the passenger side caster isn't equal to the driver side which I think is probably an issue. Also I think the toe in needs to be stronger so it's closer to 0.12 inches per wheel (shown here in degrees, but total toe should about 0.50 degrees according to the alignment service bulletin rather than 0.41 as I have now). I'm also going to make sure they loosen the sway bar to frame attachment points before adjusting caster with the limiting arms so that the LCA bushings aren't being tugged fore or aft. I noticed that the passenger side caster arm is about 1/4" shorter (screwed in) more than the driver side. I know the frame, etc can affect the squareness of it but I want them to try this again.
I'm considering raising the car up perhaps 1/2" front and rear to help out the front camber. Is there anything else I can tell the alignment shop to look for that could be contributing to this issue? It's possible that whoever ran the machine (Hunter) didn't set up the reflectors or whatever they are correctly on the wheels?
Just looking for ideas since I can't just go to the alignment place repeatedly every time I think of something else.
Here is my current ride height as well as the print out from the alignment last week.
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