The front suspension now has poly bushes everywhere - wishbones,
top/bottom shocks, arb mounts, steering rack mounts(so won't be getting
aluminium mounts) as well as new wheel bearings, ball joints, trunnions
and brake pads. The shocks(woodhead) and springs are brand new and the
spring is 15% lowered so that the car points down towards the front
slightly. The tyres on the front are not matched (DPO) one is a
goodyear, the other a federal, both with good tread left. On the rear
are a new pair of pirelli P1000s. Last year I had the rear suspension
overhauled with a new diff, new shocks (girling), new diff, ujs and poly
bushes all round. Would adjusting tyre pressures help the back end?
At speed I find myself having to constantly correct the steering as the
car has a tendancy to wander. If I put my foot down too soon or too hard
on corners then the back end will slide out - this always used to happen
but it seems a bit worse now. The ride has improved greatly and bumps
are ironed out and the car feels more stable over bumps. The knuckle
joint seems to be a good candidate for replacement, are these parts easy
to replace?
I do plan to get new tie rod ends, it's just that the nuts on the tie rod
are totally stuck in position and the threads look to be quite messed up.
Which may mean that I will have to get a new steering rack if I can't
get the tie rod ends off. I might just get the new tie rods and take it
to a garage, get a fixed price and see if they can get the old ones off,
new ones on, and the tracking adjusted. It looks like the tracking has
not been touched for many years as those nuts don't look to have moved
for quite some time.
I was hoping to have a couple of months without spending more money on
Saskia...oh well!
cheers
John
--- "J. Koenig" <johnkoenig@greennet.net> wrote:
> Now wait a minute ... if the front is stiffer, that should increase
> weight
> transfer to the rear and reduce oversteer. What John said, however,
> was
> "lower," not (necessarily) stiffer, and he also mentions smoother ride.
> Maybe what's going on is lower front, less static weight on the rear,
> therefore more tail-happy. Hard to diagnose by e-mail, especially with
> springs, bushings (and perhaps tires?) all entering the equation.
>
> My two cents worth ...
>
> --John
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: richard@groke.co.uk <richard@groke.co.uk>
> To: spitfire-enthusiast@yahoogroups.com
> <spitfire-enthusiast@yahoogroups.com>
> Date: Tuesday, November 20, 2001 12:47 PM
> Subject: [spitfire-enthusiast] Re: Saskia's back!
>
>
> >
> >Hi John,
> >
> >If you've stiffened up the front then oversteer (i.e. wayward back
> >end) will increase in relative terms because you will have reduced
> >understeer. Most modern cars seem to have understeer dialled in at
> >the factory, probably to make them teenager proof.
> >
> >If it were me, with the nominal cost involved and the potential for
> >disaster I would replace the track rod end rather than try and lock
> >the threads.
> >
> >If there isn't any play in the rack then replacing it probably wont
> >gain anything, if there is any play in the track rod ends, they
> >should be replaced immediately. Have you considered getting some
> >solid aluminium rack mounts? I seem to remember they're only about
> >twenty quid.... If you get someone to rock the steering while the
> >car is stationary and you can see the rack moving - there's at least
> >a part of it. Have you had the tracking & geometry checked since the
> >suspension overhaul??
> >
> >
> >
> >Regards
> >
> >Richard
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