Skip to main content

Closed12 replies

Suspension needs dialing in....

FM Former Member
Sooooo, I'm really enjoying my Beck since I got it in june and I've been learning about the upper limits of the cars handling. I had the opportunity to take it on the racetrack (Grattan in Michigan) for 5 "spirited" 20 minute sessions. I had to keep top speeds down a bit as I don't have a roll bar installed, yet. But the spectators said it sounded awesome;) And it is sooooooo much fun to hang the rear out at will exiting corners. Any corner;)

Here's the issue. When I wick it up a bit I'm getting severe tire rubbing. So much so that after a lap or two you can smell burning rubber while driving. It's rubbing on all corners. After the "hottest" of sessions all four tires had dark sticky streaks on the outside edges of the tires where they are rubbing on the fenders.

I'm planning on running the car fairly aggresively next year in track days so this just won't do. Blue smoke trails off the tires in every corner is bad, unless the smoke comes from the tire/road contact;)

I like the ride height (as set by the "factory")and really don't want to jack up the car for more clearance if I don't have to. In fact I would prefer to lower the ride height some.

I was looking at the car with a very critical eye last night and noticed either the body is mounted on the frame slightly crooked, or the front suspension was mounted off center. The rear is fine, but the front wheels are slightly to the left by about 3/8", allowing the left front to rub more than the right front.

Is there a way to "stiffer up" the stock suspension?

A friend suggested "tiny coilovers" that people use to "slam" Old Beetles.

I saw a website (johnmaherracing.com.uk) that has some suspension stuff on it. Anti roll bars, traction bars etc. Does anyone make anything that I might bolt on the car?

Does anyone else have any thoughts on this?

Thanks,

Doug
Original Post

Replies sorted oldest to newest

FM Former Member
Sooooo, I'm really enjoying my Beck since I got it in june and I've been learning about the upper limits of the cars handling. I had the opportunity to take it on the racetrack (Grattan in Michigan) for 5 "spirited" 20 minute sessions. I had to keep top speeds down a bit as I don't have a roll bar installed, yet. But the spectators said it sounded awesome;) And it is sooooooo much fun to hang the rear out at will exiting corners. Any corner;)

Here's the issue. When I wick it up a bit I'm getting severe tire rubbing. So much so that after a lap or two you can smell burning rubber while driving. It's rubbing on all corners. After the "hottest" of sessions all four tires had dark sticky streaks on the outside edges of the tires where they are rubbing on the fenders.

I'm planning on running the car fairly aggresively next year in track days so this just won't do. Blue smoke trails off the tires in every corner is bad, unless the smoke comes from the tire/road contact;)

I like the ride height (as set by the "factory")and really don't want to jack up the car for more clearance if I don't have to. In fact I would prefer to lower the ride height some.

I was looking at the car with a very critical eye last night and noticed either the body is mounted on the frame slightly crooked, or the front suspension was mounted off center. The rear is fine, but the front wheels are slightly to the left by about 3/8", allowing the left front to rub more than the right front.

Is there a way to "stiffer up" the stock suspension?

A friend suggested "tiny coilovers" that people use to "slam" Old Beetles.

I saw a website (johnmaherracing.com.uk) that has some suspension stuff on it. Anti roll bars, traction bars etc. Does anyone make anything that I might bolt on the car?

Does anyone else have any thoughts on this?

Thanks,

Doug
FM Former Member
Hi Doug,
My car is a TR which of course is genetically joined at the hip to your Beck. Our car is also body on chassis a bit crooked. Drove my poor husband nuts when we were first setting up the car until he figured out that the body is indeed crooked. Don't worry, the chassis is straight and as you know, it aligns just fine...

As far as the tire rubbing issue goes, depends on where it is rubbing. A different offset wheel or small spacer may help you. You might have a set of "track" wheels/tires in a smaller diameter. That would let you leave your height the same, just change the wheels for the track. Won't look as good on the track, but it would look MUCH better than the nice trail of smoke from your tires rubbing! And it would let you explore some wildly impractical tires that would not live at all on the street.

Exactly where is your car rubbing? Mine tends to rub on the inside tire edge to body or impact the tops of the fender on nasty potholes. Sure glad to see you are giving this car a good workout. I'd like to take mine to the track, but so far no one will let me go play without a roll bar. angela
FM Former Member
Hi Angela,

The track I live across the street from (yeah, bummer) lets the clubs that rent the facility do "lunchtime touring sessions" that are "paced" sessions for cars w/o the proper racing equipment. I got lucky and only a few people showed up so the pacecar and I just kind of took off!

The tires are rubbing on the outer edges. When the suspension compresses from the forces induced in a turn and the body rolls a bit the tires contact the lips of the fenders. The lip of the fender is wider than the material thickness of the fender so I guess you could grind the lip off the fender for more clearance, but I'm thinking that thicker molded lip is on that fiberglass fender for a reason!

I'm leaning against a separate set of wheels and tires fro track days as I drive the car to the tracks I go to and it might be hard to carry 4 spares and the jack etc with me in the car! Interesting but not practical...

I was thinking of stiffening the "springs" (torsion bars?) or adding anti-roll bars in combination of giving the car a wee bit more ride height/clearance.

Although a good excuse to get a set of custom offset, 16", magnesium (or aluminum) wheels and race rubber would be welcome;)
FM Former Member
Here's some advice I garnered today from a reliable source....

1. Trash the crappy stock Brazilian poor excuses for shocks. Replace with KYB, Koni, Bilstein, etc.

2. Grind the inside lip of the fender wells off. Leave at least 1/4" thickness of material, no less.

3. "De-camber" the front end a bit.

4. Add sway bars only if the above three do not improve the situation enough.

Anyone/everyone care to discuss ad-nauseum? Please do so, I think this makes perfect sense, but then I'm not perfect......
FM Former Member
I actually autocross all the time. The front end's pretty low but I only tend to rub on the left side while hitting a bump. I narrowed my adjustments down to just adjusting tire pressures and driving the crap out of it attempting to know what the limit is before it spins/or/FAST hands!
FM Former Member
Thanks Bert,

What wheels/tires combination do you run? I have 4.5" rims up front with 185/65 Dnlops and 5.5's with 205/60 Dunlops in back. All four tires are "fat" in the wheel wells, they stick out very slightly. I assumed when the suspension compressed they would "tuck in" and clear the fenders.

What shocks are you using? I'm definately going to change, probably Bilsteins or Koni's, maybe KYB.

I've never Autocrossed, but I might try it next year. Right now full on track days are far cheaper for the amount of time you get on a course. And I'm partial to road racing;)

Thanks for your reply,

Doug
FM Former Member
I'm running 185 65's on 4.5's in front and 205 50's on 5.5's in the back. The rear rims have been cut and pushed back 1" so they fit perfectly in the wheelwells. I have Bridgestone RE950's, I like them, and I'm sure there are better tires.

Shock-wise I am running the KYB's, frankly they seem pretty stiff in front. I think I actually need to change the springs in the front but that's another day!
FM Former Member
I'm running Dunlop AZ Sports 185/65 on 4.5 wheels on the front and 205/50 on 5.5 wheels in the rear, with KYB shocks. Jake Raby set up my suspension for me and it is dead on in terms of tracking and handling.

Yet, the left front rubs slightly on hard right hand turns (Which tends to compress the left front suspension). For me at least, it's not worth fooling with....I been involved in too many mechanical situations where something "slightly wrong" became a major issue when someone (me) tried to "fix" it.

TMc
FM Former Member
Hi Terry,

Yeah, I can relate to trying to "fix" something and digging a deeper hole. It usually results with my wife telling me lots of things I don't want to hear....

I am contemplating getting a set of 16" Aluminum rims for track use only and having the centers cut and re-welded to allow the tires to tuck in under the fenders. Wonder how this will affect the handling dynamics of the car.

I also checked last night and I also have 205/50's on the rear, not the /60's. My rear rims look like the centers have been moved in about an inch. I'm comparing them to how the front rims look. Maybe they have been moved? About the 1 inch of extra width in the 5.5" wide rims on the back (rear 5.5" vs. front 4.5"), are the centers spaced off (offset?) the inside or outside edge of the rims? If it's the inside then the extra visual width of the rims in the rear makes sense...or am I babbling again?



Hi Bert,

Before you cut and moved the rear centers did the rear rims appear to be wider than the front by looking at how much rim projected out from the centers? And after you moved the rears do they now appear "equal" in exposed rim outside of the centers?

(Did that make any sense? I haven't had a full cup of coffee yet this morning...)

Also, did you notice any handling changes after you modified the rear rims?

Thanks,

Doug
Post Content
Remove This Ad

Membership Required

We're sorry. You must be signed in to continue. Sign In or Register
×
Are you sure you want to remove from your Block List?
×
Loading...
×
When you block a person, they can no longer invite you to a private message or post to your profile wall. Replies and comments they make will be collapsed/hidden by default. Finally, you'll never receive email notifications about content they create or likes they designate for your content.
Note: if you proceed, you will no longer be following .
×
Link copied to your clipboard.
×

Access to this requires a premium membership.

Supporting Member

Please help keep us running!

Supporting members have donated about $4.00 a month ($49.00 US per year) paid annually.

  • Priority support
  • Removal of inter-page (between thread) advertisements.
  • Access to Build Manuals
  • Access to Knowledge Base
  • Access to Supporting Members events.
  • Access to Leveraged Group Buying from site Merchants.

AUTO RENEW: You membership will auto-renew after 12 months. If you prefer not to auto-renew, you can cancel your premium membership at any time and it will remain in effect until the end of the 12 months. To cancel, sign in at SpeedsterOwners.com and navigate to: (Your User Name)  > Premium Membership.

PLEASE NOTE: Your credit card will receive a charge from CROWDSTACK PAY, the payment processor, not SpeedsterOwners.com.

$49.00 per 12 Months (plus tax if applicable)
×