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Added upper/lower control arms, relo brackets and tires. Something is NOT right!

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so something is really off with my ride. I just got it back from the shop. They added upper/lower arms and relo brackets, and 305/35/20 MT ET street radial tires. I already had the car lowered with an eibach sport line kit and an adjustable panhard bar. The thing was on rails before and now it handles like a stretched 71 cadillac. Let me try to explain.

The steering is super sensitive in either direction and the back end feels like it's connected by an elastic band. I can't control the car at high speed and almost lost control trying to change lanes.

There's a delay in the steering: when I jerk the wheel to the right, the car doesn't react immediately, almost like a fraction of a second behind....then I have to overcompensate to the left to correct - same when I do this in the other direction. It feels like the rear is loose or on ice and not as tight as it was before.

I was at 100 mph on the highway this morning and approaching a gradual curve in the road. It was very hard to keep the car in the lane; rocking all over the place. Does anyone know what I'm talking about here? On a good note: My Mickey's are incredible and I'm hooking up in almost every gear. :)


Either way, I'm taking it back to the shop next week.
 

steveespo

Lord knows I'm a Voodoo Child
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Not sure if ET streets are designed for cornering. Flexible sidewalls for good launch bite maybe? I know when I rans Mickey 26x10.5 slicks my 87 GT would be doing a hula dance at the top end of a 1/4 mile pass (131 mph). I know slicks and ET Streets are not the same but they are drag oriented right? Also ask them if they torqhed the suspension bolts with the weight of the car on the suspension, if they did it with the wheels hanging the suspension will have some really strange preload in the bushings and will cause all kinds of handling issues.
Steve
 

Grant 302

basic and well known psychic
yankeehick said:
so something is really off with my ride.

305/35/20 MT ET street radial tires.

This. I would not expect these tires to handle well. If you're hooking up great and there are no bad noises...then the shop didn't do anything wrong!
 
Thanks for the advice. If I knew the MT ET Street Radial II handled like this, I wouldn't have purchased and would have bought toyo R888 or Nitto NT555. Yes, They are a drag radial steve.

I'll see what the shop says about the suspension bolts but I can't imagine they would overlook that. I wish there was something that could be done. If not, I might sell these tires. Thanks for the input guys.
 

Senderofan

Having more fun than should be allowed..in my Boss
Did they change anything on your alignment specs?? If you're running a bunch of negative camber up front.....it can get twitchy ( is what I call it )....following ruts in the road....darting side to side. Also...the softer side walls on your drag radials is going to affect your handling...like the others said. I'm sure they are better for your launches....with the S/C'd motor and all...but you give up in the handling department.

Wayne
 

576

Put on my Ford relocation brackets and the Ford lca's with poly bushings. (Wrench for a living, so I do my own stuff). The lca's are side specific, but I could imagine someone could swap them if really motivated and had an extra helping of spinach for breakfast! You never know. I have seem some crazy stuff over the years. Sounds like something is binding. Tires or otherwise, take it back. Ask the shop to look it over. By the way, with the lca's, relocation brackets and roush upper link my car feels great. Should have done the lca's a long time ago. Good luck.
 

Domestic Product

Big fat tires and everything !
I would have them double check all to be safe. But I think its the back tires. If you saved the old rear tires, put them back on and see if all is well. What tire do you have on the front?
 

Justin

Save the dawn for your dishes!!!
Everything was torqued with the weight of the car? What relocation bracket hole did they use? What air pressure is the tire? If they are aired up they shouldn't be that unstable at all. I run the radial pro at 15psi and it doesn't do what you are describing not even close


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I'm not exactly sure what hole they used for the relo brackets. That could be a part of the problem.

I'm running a toyo proxes 4 in the front. 255/30/20. Before I put the Mickeys on, I ran the same toyo in the back at 295/30/20.

I just got back from a spirited run tonight and something is DEFINITELY off. I didn't realize this until 30 min ago but when going into a turn the tires are rubbing like crazy! This is affecting my braking in the corners as well - breaks are locking up now! I can feel the abs kicking in. I'm pretty sure it's the back tires but I can't be sure. Could it be the fronts?

I will find out on tuesday if everything was torqued with the weight of the car. I was told when I picked it up from the shop I was at 32 psi, but haven't checked it yet myself.

I'm pretty sure they didn't change alignment...only mounting and balancing the tires and wheels, but I'll double check. I'm telling you guys the car is extremely difficult to control while in a turn, changing lanes etc... Forget combining that with any speed. I would be in a wall. I'm not happy.
 
yankeehick said:
I'm not exactly sure what hole they used for the relo brackets. That could be a part of the problem.

I'm running a toyo proxes 4 in the front. 255/30/20. Before I put the Mickeys on, I ran the same toyo in the back at 295/30/20.

I just got back from a spirited run tonight and something is DEFINITELY off. I didn't realize this until 30 min ago but when going into a turn the tires are rubbing like crazy! This is affecting my braking in the corners as well - breaks are locking up now! I can feel the abs kicking in. I'm pretty sure it's the back tires but I can't be sure. Could it be the fronts?

I will find out on tuesday if everything was torqued with the weight of the car. I was told when I picked it up from the shop I was at 32 psi, but haven't checked it yet myself.

I'm pretty sure they didn't change alignment...only mounting and balancing the tires and wheels, but I'll double check. I'm telling you guys the car is extremely difficult to control while in a turn, changing lanes etc... Forget combining that with any speed. I would be in a wall. I'm not happy.

Sounds like the PHB wasn't adjusted correctly after they did the work.
 
Grant 302 said:
Take it back. That doesn't sound safe now. Rubbing where?

Can you post some pics? We might be able to diagnose a hardware problem that way.

I'll post some pics tonight underneath where the suspension is. Thanks for the help guys. The back tires are rubbing. How do I find out exactly where they are rubbing though. Kinda difficult to do this while driving.
 

Mad Hatter

Gotta go Faster
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Santiago, Chile
My friends GTs home made adjustable panhard bar broke last week at the track. His symptoms match yours. Something is not right!!
 
Mad Hatter said:
My friends GTs home made adjustable panhard bar broke last week at the track. His symptoms match yours. Something is not right!!

Do his tires rub like mine?
 
seca954 said:
I've got 19" MT D/R's for my car. They are designed to go straight only. Put your stock wheel and tires back on and see how it rides.

if i knew it would only be good for a straight line, I would never have bought them. if you could drive the car, you'd understand the issues. Even with the MT's on they shouldn't be handling this way. I can give up a little in the handling department knowing I have a street legal drag radial but not when the car is dangerous to drive.
 
Some pics of the rear suspension. I hope I took these right.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/33937279@N03/13931863659/
 

Grant 302

basic and well known psychic
Gone through the pictures and I don't see anything wrong with the parts I can see. The upper arm would be hard to take pics if you don't jack up the car or put it on a lift. How do you know the tires are rubbing? Are there any visible marks or cuts on the tires? Maybe you're hearing gear whine? Sometimes aftermarket parts transmit new noises into the cabin.
 

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