Recommendations for TA22 wheel alignment specs.

[frr33q]

Hi guys,

I'm wanting to improve the response from the steering in my TA22. I've done a search on the here and haven't come up with much at all....

The car is fitted with AE86 T3 coilovers, T3 roll center adjusters, T3 adjustable strut tops, T3 radius rods, new Whiteline bushings in lower control arms, new ball joints, new inner and outer tie rod ends, new idler arm, new pitman arm, reconditioned steering box, new Whiteline swaybar.....

I'm also running 15x8 -0 wheels fitted with 195/50/15 Bridgestone Potenza RE002's

What camber/castor/toe settings have you guys had dialed into your cars? I'm not very happy with the feel/response of the steering still after returning for an alignment twice now.... i think they might be dialing in the wrong amount of toe and camber.....

Also if anyone can recommend a good place to go to get a decent alignment in western Sydney.. Anywhere around the Hills/Blacktown/Parramatta/Penrith region etc

Thanks heaps for your feedback everyone.

[stidnam]

If $ is no object there is the TRD quick ratio steering box you can try. About $2000-2500 ex Japan though.

[frr33q]

If $ is no object there is the TRD quick ratio steering box you can try. About $2000-2500 ex Japan though.

If money was no object I'd be driving a supercar like a Koenigsegg or a Pagani!! hahahha

But seriously i did see this steering box a while ago, it would be awesome but i just cant justify the cost.... and until someone can master the rack an pinion conversion into a ta22 without the questionable steering geometry and all the changes to offsets etc this is what we have to work with for our old girls....

[allencr]

Is the box in good condition? No galling, chunks missing from its worm & whatever gears, proper preload?
Mark what ya got and start playing around with the adjustments, there ain't many. WRITE EVERYTHING DOWN so you can set it back!
I doubt that you'll see much difference until you get it way outa wack, like twitchy - doesn't wanna track straight with a lota - 1/4in - toe-out.

What does 'I'm not very happy with the feel/response of the steering' mean to you, a little more specifically?
With a 15 & 0 offset, where does that put a straight line from the upper mount through the ball joint into the tires contact patch?
Good luck.

[frr33q]

Thanks for your reply allencr

yes the box is in good condition.... I will get the car up and check the preload to be 100% sure that its spot on. I'll make changes to the preload if i feel it needs it and see if that makes any difference.

"I'm not happy" means:
vague steering just off center, slight steering input (eg: making a lane change) car hardly reacts, slightest touch more input into the steering wheel and you're making a very aggressive change and having to over correct when you are in the next lane.
Car will track sometimes depending on the road.
Car will track under heavy breaking.
Hard to hold a smooth line through a long sweeping corner without having to repeatedly keep inputting into the steering wheel and making adjustments and corrections...

[NME308]

Hmmm that, on the surface of it, sounds like you have a nasty problem...

My stock standard TA23 steering and geometry is quite well balanced. That must be qualified by the fact that I think a lowered HQ holden handles pretty good!
You may well jump in my 23 and say it is far worse than your 22!!!

Hope you can find something to make your ride enjoyable mate.

Cheers,
Jason

[stidnam]

What are your toe settings and how much play is there in the box? A sloppy box will require a bit of wheel movement before you get any actual steering movemt

[frr33q]

There isn't any concerning or noticeable play in the box (bare minimum) any input into the steering wheel is instantly and relatively realized into the pitman arm and then consequently into the rest of the steering components and the wheels.

I cant find my read outs from my alignments... I've bloody misplaced them...

I'm seriously suspecting that the toe is dialed in waaaaay to aggressive and its toeing out too much, which is really messing with the stability and the steering response/feedbak, hence my question around what camber/castor/toe that people are setting their Celica's to..

What would be considered a reasonable set up for street use that would be ideal for a TA22?

does anyone know what the factory specifications are?

BTW it probably doesn't help that i'm a seriously fussy bastard LOL

[RX-22]

Sounds familiar mate, I think this is a inherit problem most of us have adopted from modifying the old girl.
Is your car lowered? just thinking out aloud here but if it is, even with 0 offset wheels doesn't that change the scrub radius? Also changing the diameter of the wheels from stock size changes all factory geometry too (which introduces these problems).
Try playing with castor for straight line stability and other benefits. Pull in the TC rods and if you have the adjustment up top too mate... before another alignment .
I think I have +2deg castor and still a few issues with this.
PS, I don't think theres a set of numbers that are a sure fix, every car is slightly different, it may be a case of 'suck it and see'
Interested to hear your results through all this though.

[frr33q]

Thanks for your reply RX-22... Your car wouldn't happen to be black and run around Blacktown area? for some reason your username is ringing a bell ...... i think we have friends in common but i just cant remember who at the moment!! LOL

yeah i agree it goes hand in hand with modifying these old girls... it takes patience to get them right

yes the car is lowered. The wheels are 15's with a 50 profile so the rolling diameter is almost identical to the stock 13's 70 profile..

can you please elaborate re:scrub radius? I'm not too sure what that is.

I'm wanting to dial in as much castor as possible within the clearances of the guards/body work etc... i read that +2 to +6 degree's will result in improved straight line stability ( keeping in mind that if taken too far it will start binding up the steering geometry)

I think i need to get the alignment back to factory settings/specs and start adjusting from there... that's why i just wanted to see if there was a common trend of what adjustments people were dialing in that was working out well and suiting the Celica chassis/steering.

[RX-22]

Na that's not me, mines yellow.
theres a lot involved with scrub radius/steering geometry etc. The more you read about it, you realise the complexity of it all, one adjustment or modification can compound many problems.
A quick google search will explain a lot of things better than I could. Did my head in a little when I was researching it.

[roadsailing]

i'd start with:

zero toe or a touch of toe in

1.5 degrees negative camber

as much caster as you can get, with the wheels you have i;d say camber is what you need most of all.

[frr33q]

Na that's not me, mines yellow.
theres a lot involved with scrub radius/steering geometry etc. The more you read about it, you realise the complexity of it all, one adjustment or modification can compound many problems.
A quick google search will explain a lot of things better than I could. Did my head in a little when I was researching it.

Yellow Celica's are the best aren't they!!! mine is yellow also LOL

thanks for that mate, i'll have a search and read up about it all.

[frr33q]

i'd start with:

zero toe or a touch of toe in

1.5 degrees negative camber

as much caster as you can get, with the wheels you have i;d say camber is what you need most of all.

I had a good search for the read outs from the last alignment and found them in one of the drawers in my tool chest!!

so the car is running:

0.5 degree negative camber
Unsure about caster as it doesn't show it on the read out..
and here is where i think the problem is.... its running 1.5 degree positive toe each side so its got a total value of 3 degree positive toe!!!!

Speaking with a few people over the last couple of day and everyone is saying that toe should be zero or even possibly negative 0.5 degree...

I'm starting to get a good idea as to how the car should be set up....

[SHEPPO3930]

if you want it to turn sharp and make the inside front wheel work mid corner, toe it out.

as much castor as you can get, so pull the bottom of the wheel forward as much as it can go before you hit the front of the quarter guard at full lock.

neg camber of at least 1.5deg. longer LCA's or adjustable strut tops.

if you're 22 has a stock steering box, the steering is never going to be nice and sharp. Never!

if you want the front end to steer nice, do a KE70 rack and xmbr conversion... it's night & day compared to the stock set up.