New Front Arms & Top Mounts Fitted But Car Feels Odd (LCR)

[JamJay]

Hi to all those in the know.

Basically my car needed new top mounts, ball joints, and bushes for the front arms and believe it or not, the cheapest way of doing all this work was to buy new arms. The rear bushes were collapsing, the top mounts pushing their way upwards as they'd lost their stiffness and the ball joints creaking. So today I had all of the above work carried out apart from wheel alignment which will be done this weekend when I have more time off of work (car won't be used in between).

Anyway, on the 3mile trip back home, the car felt noticably different and not at all how I expected. Obviously it's sitting a little high at the front because the shocks and springs have been off and it needs to settle but the car feels very skittish at the front. For example, when running over a drain cover I can feel the wheels snap slightly left or right through the steering wheel. The car also feels very solid at the front and I notice the bumps more but I guess that this is because the bushes are all new and very stiff, not to mention using the newer type of rear bush as found in the TT roadster which is stiffer anyway. I just feel less confident in the cars handling, even with the shagged parts it still felt tight and planted but not now

Has anyone else experienced this when having this work done? Do I need to drive it for a few miles/days/weeks before it all settles down and ultimately handles either the same as before or better?

 

[andycupra]

sounds similair to when tracking is way out or the adjustment didnt take up 'play'. Id get the tracking done, and when you get it done make sure they are aware of all the work done so they should take care to make sure let it settle properly after adjustment rather than adjust and let you drive away.

 

[JamJay]

Thanks Andy, it's booked in for Saturday AM and I told them about the new arms & ball joints so they should sort it all out I hope. I can't imagine that having this work done should make the car feel worse in any way

 

[TubbyTwo]

full laser alignment should sort it mate

 

[JamJay]

Thanks for the reassurance, I hope that the laser alignment will sort this. I almost wish that I hadn't had the work done now but it had to be, the creaking and knocking noises got very bad and look at the state of the bushes .

 

[TubbyTwo]

ouch, they are pretty dead!

 

[wayne lcr]

i had this jay when i did all mine get it laserlined then see what its like

 

[wayne lcr]

Thanks for the reassurance, I hope that the laser alignment will sort this. I almost wish that I hadn't had the work done now but it had to be, the creaking and knocking noises got very bad and look at the state of the bushes .

that is bad mate lookie there

 

[JamJay]

That's from the car just sitting on the drive/in the garage and doing nothing, I don't use it really so over time I guess that the rubber has just perished. I suppose if I sat in one place for the most part of 6yrs, things would start to rot on me too .

So did the car feel good after the laser alignment Wayne?

 

[wayne lcr]

yea it drove 100% better mate

 

[Ronin225]

I found this too, but when all aligned properly is ok
Due to changing the wishbones you could be running a very strange camber angle, at first when i fitted mine it was 3 degrees of negative per wheel and towing out about 5mm.
Just spent a while at a garage recently now running 1 degree negative one side and 0.8-0.9 negative on the other to account for road angle and kept the tow angle straight as its a daily driver too not too heavily track orientated
Now handles like its on rails

 

[JamJay]

Thanks Ronin. Did the front just feel very light to you? It feels like driving on air and the tyre noise is different, I guess because it's running on perhaps half a tyre.

 

[Ronin225]

Felt like the car was on tip toes, not enough contact in the right place
Funny how a few angles take it from very good to undriveable

 

[JamJay]

I can't wait to get this sorted, it should drive very well afterwards I hope

 

[wayne lcr]

mine also felt very light when i did the bushes got it sorted and its nice to drive again.

 

[JamJay]

Just to follow this up and close it, the wheel alignment has cured my problem. I have a print out of the work carried out but I'm unable to upload at this time but it was 7° out on the offside and 6° out on the nearside, I guess that's what happens when you have no equipment to do it yourself at the time .

Anyway, they car feels superb! Understeer is massively reduced, turn-in is sharper and with less roll, acceleration seems a tad quicker now that the flex in the suspension has gone and is planting both tyres to the floor.

Thanks for the advise!

 

[wayne lcr]

mine was that far out as well glad all sorted jay.

 

[Neal]

So just for clarity please what shoud the toe and camber be for an LCR ? Camber = 1 deg neg and toe = straight ?

When I last had mine tracked the book they had didn't specifically list LCR so I'm not certain mine is correct and TBH it doesn't feel great.

many thanks

 

[Mandip]

IRC factory settings are -0.30 degrees for camber and 0 for toe.

The more negative camber you run the faster your turn in speed into corners etc can be, but you'll sacrifice tyres for this. The more negative camber you run the quicker the inside of you tyres will wear.

Just out of curiosity how much were your arms, ball joints and bushes? I'm thinking of doing this lot soon too.

 

[Ronin225]

Factory is about 0.5 degrees negative but opted for slightly better turn in and sacrificed a few miles on the tyres
If you are using your car on the road you really want 0 toe, if just a track hack then it would be worth it