Just Lowered [and now it shakes]

[EclipseTrbo420A]

Ok well I Just lowerd my car with a set of DZ shocks my dad bought me, and GC coilover sleve kit. also did the homemade rear camber kit mod.

When im driving the car shakes bad. Its from start to stop mosly at 30 mph, but bad all around. I dont really want to drive it till I figure out what the problem is. Could it be from the Toe settings getting thrown off ? or the camber ? Im getting an alignment ASAP, but just seeing what you all think could be the problem. It didnt do this before with my Gr-2's and stock springs, which was about 6 days ago so no the car hasnt been down long

thanks.

 

[Galaxy]

Your Toe angle should not have changed any unless you moved the eccentric cam bolts in the back or the tie rod ends up front.I don't see the shocks shaking the car but I've never messed with coilovers so its possible those could be the problem. Can you tell where its coming from? Front,Back,All 4 tires?

Not sure why the camber kit would shake the car but it would probably be the easist to remove for troubleshooting purposes,drive then and see if it still does it.

Thats all I have for now but double check everything on your install,I had a friend help me switch rims only to get halfway across town and hear a clunk,clunk. I get it to a parking lot and had to hop out and walk with it as it was rolling to find that out.

EDIT: Here's an afterthought,my car shakes because the tie rod end is worn on the drivers side,could you have a worn part that wasn't getting stressed like it is now with it sitting lower?

 

[wret]

Yes, your toe will be off. Yes, your camber will be off. No, these things should not make it shake. Shaking complaints can almost always be traced to wheel balance.

 

[EclipseTrbo420A]

Thanks for the thoughts guys. I took off all the wheels, and put em back on again. The drop isnt to drastic either. I went for a drive and it seems to have subsided a bit, but its still there when it should not be. Also after driving again I found its not only in the rear...I cant pin point it, but its not just in the rear.

I drove over my buddys toe machine reader thing, and it indicated that my front was right on and my rear was 44 in he said that means that after a mile my tires will be 44 feet of track.

I also dont want to get an alingment untill I get this shaking taken care of.

One more thing....the stabilizer bar for the front sway bar on the passenger side stripped out so i had to improvise to get that off and when i put it back on i used a washer to ( lock washer ) to hold it tight ......i dont think something this small could throw it off but what do you think. Thanks.

 

[Old Mitsu Tech]

Shaking. Like Wret said, when you change the height you change Camber and Toe.

Both wear tires. How much depends upon how out of align it is.

One thing is for sure, we can't see or feel what you are experiencing.

But I bet the alignment guy will know real quick.

He can't align it if anything is loose out of spec.

Ask for a printout.

Good Luck

 

[oldman]

Every time the springs and shocks are removed, an alignment should always follow.

 

[Old Mitsu Tech]

Absolutely

 

[Galaxy]

I stand corrected,your toe will be off,although I would think lowering would not effect toe as MUCH as camber.

Like Old Mitsu Tech said,I bet you can have an alignment guy drive it down the street and back and tell you whats wrong.Then you could fix it on your own and bring it back to him to have it aligned.

Just don't keep putting off the alignment like I did for 2 years,now I have to roll around on little RS wheels till I can afford tires.All this from a simple rim swap...I should not have assumed it was aligned when I got it.

 

[EclipseTrbo420A]

Just got back from my buddys shop, and now I dont know what to think.

My toe is out 32 or so and my car still shakes....we raised the rear end up, that did nothing. We moved on to the wheels. I removed the front two, and replaced them with the same make of rim only these had slicks on them. Went for a ride, and from what I could tell the shaking eased alot. So we think ok Tires ( I bought these 2 months ago, and have only about 1500 miles on them ) So I put the front driver side tire back on and kept the pass slick. The car felt more shakey, but not as bad ( could have been psycological ), But in case it wasnt I swiched the front pass for the rear to see if the less weight on the tire would make a difference. It didnt, and the car still feels like crap till about 40 when just crusing. If i hit the gas even alttle bit at 40 then it will shake, but coasting and very light throttle is ok ( compared to accelerating.)

Questions

Wouldnt the car shake all the time if the tire was bad ?

We ruled out CV joints because the car didnt grind during turns, and we got the car up on jack stands and got the speedo to 30....didnt see or hear anything

Couldnt the toe being out cause this problem ?

and lastly the alignment will be done by us on thursday with all proper hardware.

Things im going to try are putting my 4 wheels on my buddys gsx and his on mine.

add anything else ?

 

[ninjai_ruken]

Yes, your toe will be off. Yes, your camber will be off. No, these things should not make it shake. Shaking complaints can almost always be traced to wheel balance.

I agree, I had the same problem after not driving my car for about 3months as it was just sitting there so I took it and had new rubber put on as well as every thing else that needed to be done, alignment and so forth and the problem was fixed

 

[EclipseTrbo420A]

I agree, I had the same problem after not driving my car for about 3months as it was just sitting there so I took it and had new rubber put on as well as every thing else that needed to be done, alignment and so forth and the problem was fixed

Yea but like I said this is only the 7th day of allt his suspension work I have been doing. I had non of these problems till now. Ill let eveyone know what happend after i get the alignment on thurs and also Ill report back tomarrow after i swap a complete set of wheels from my buddys car and put mine on his. Thanks for the help guys and keep the suggestions comming.

 

[Old Mitsu Tech]

I stand corrected,your toe will be off,although I would think lowering would not effect toe as MUCH as camber.

Like Old Mitsu Tech said,I bet you can have an alignment guy drive it down the street and back and tell you whats wrong.Then you could fix it on your own and bring it back to him to have it aligned.

Just don't keep putting off the alignment like I did for 2 years,now I have to roll around on little RS wheels till I can afford tires.All this from a simple rim swap...I should not have assumed it was aligned when I got it.

Yes and no. Anytime you change ride height, by its very nature of how the control arms work, camber will be affected. This immediately affects toe. Camber and toe wear tires. Caster won't wear tires, but you can make a car pull to one side or the other by caster. Camber also makes it pull. Toe can make it pull if it's bad enough. Whether toed in or out.

Factory specs are there for a reason. It's to ensure control and allow for the maximum life on your tires.

Good Luck

 

[wret]

Wouldnt the car shake all the time if the tire was bad ?

Not necessarily. An off balance or out of round wheel will push or pull to one side as it rotates. This oscillation will be transferred to suspension components, to the chassis, and eventually to the occupant. Each of these elements has its own natural frequency of oscillation. As the vehicle changes speed, the oscillation of the wheel approaches, then matches the natural frequencies or harmonic frequencies of the other elements. The shaking sensation will be the greatest when these harmonics peak. As the wheel rotation speed passes through the frequency band, the shaking sensation will drop off.

An off balance load of laundry may shake the house as it enters the spin cycle but apparently even out as the revolutions speed up.

 

[EclipseTrbo420A]

Not necessarily. An off balance or out of round wheel will push or pull to one side as it rotates. This oscillation will be transferred to suspension components, to the chassis, and eventually to the occupant. Each of these elements has its own natural frequency of oscillation. As the vehicle changes speed, the oscillation of the wheel approaches, then matches the natural frequencies or harmonic frequencies of the other elements. The shaking sensation will be the greatest when these harmonics peak. As the wheel rotation speed passes through the frequency band, the shaking sensation will drop off.

An off balance load of laundry may shake the house as it enters the spin cycle but apparently even out as the revolutions speed up.

Thats what I was thinkin related to the speed thing.... also Im under the inpression that balancing the tires only counts for higher speeds not from a stop and sticking to slower speeds. also I took off the tires, and theres no physcial sign of anyproblem. Im going to Coup D'Etat's garage soon and swaping rims with him to see if it makes a difference. Ill report back.

 

[EclipseTrbo420A]

Alright, tires didnt make a difference so I decided to raise the front only. It worked. Now, that says CV Joints...My cars got 186,xxx miles on it, and probably these axles do also.

Is there anywyas to rebuild the axle ? with new bearings so it will wear from the lowerd angle more so from whats been ground in to it for the last 186,xxx miles. I dont really want to lose this suspension because of this. Give me your suggestions guys. Thanks

Also an alingment probably will not make this right, correct? Thanks