Folks,
Bob, the owner of a '75 TR6 in Fredericksburgh, VA, talks about his car
oversteering and the back of the car feeling like it wants to steer as well.
I haven't noticed my car oversteering, but I have noticed an odd quirk when
I accelerate through, and out of a sharp corner. After driving straight out
of a hard right turn, for example, when I make my next up-shift, the car
wants to dart to the right as I push in the clutch, and I have to make a
quick correction to the left to keep the car headed straight. (I'm using
right as an example -- the behavior is symmetric for right and left turns.)
This doesn't happen on slow corners or fast sweeping corners -- only when I
accelerate all the way through the corner and continue accelerating hard out
of it.
This has always happened, even after I rebuilt the entire suspension (all
new bushings, springs, bearings, u-joints, shocks, etc.). I used the rubber
bushing set from TRF, and my theory is that the rear trailing-arm bushings
are compressing on the outside wheel, tending to turn the car in the
opposite direction of the turn. As I accelerate out of the corner, the
compressed bushings are not allowed to relax, and I unconsciously steer the
car in the same direction as the corner to compensate for the deformed rear
geometry. Then, when I push in the clutch for my up-shift, the rear end
springs back into place, steers itself straight again, revealing the latent
overcompensation in the front steering that had, up to that point, been
counteracting the deformed rear geometry. As I scramble to grab the next
gear with my right hand, I make a steering adjustment with my left hand, and
we're finally on our merry way, heading straight down the road.
But, for this theory to hold true, I would expect all of you using stock
rubber bushings to experience the same thing. Do any of you? Although I
used the stock rubber bushings (and wish I'd used something harder instead),
I have the rallye springs (I didn't have the trouble with the wrong
ride-height so many others have reported -- my ride height is stock, or
perhaps a half-inch lower if anything), a slightly larger-diameter front
sway bar (forget the dimensions, but I didn't go far from stock), and 205-70
Firestone tires.
An alternative theory is that the splines in my half-shafts are not sliding
well, until the load is taken off of them when I shift, and this is somehow
affecting the rear geometry.
I'd love to hear of your similar experiences or your theories of what's
wrong with my car (stick to the suspension, though, as I don't need comments
on the oxidized paint, awful running, torn interior, leaky breaks, grinding
clutch, and smoking wires ;-).
And Bob, in answer to your question:
> I'd like to hear from anyone with "official" and personal information
about the
> car's normal handling characteristics and what improvements are gained
> from converting to tube shocks and installing a rear sway bar.
I can't comment from personal experience, but I'd expecting converting to
tube shocks would essentially just cost you money without adding significant
value to your car, and I'd expect a rear sway bar to make the car oversteer
quite a bit more. The stock rear lever shocks, though prone to rapid wear
in my experience, dampen the springs as effectively as anything else on the
market.
Kevin Riggs
Huntsville, AL
'72 TR6
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