Advice on suspension/LSD setup for my MZ11

[Johnzoku]

Hello

If you haven’t seen it I’ve set up my Soarer with s13 coilovers in the front and s13 coilover shocks in the rear (no springs) (e.g. the Thread http://www.toymods.net/forums/showthread.php?t=22472) and I’m looking for advise on set up as recently I’ve been going on drives in the mountains around Brisbane and its been and overly rough ride with slight bump steer and I was wondering what peoples thoughts were on hill climb/ drift/ daily set up’s that would work well for this car.

I’m currently running –

Stock 6MGE
S13 SR20DET 280mm brakes.
S13 hubs
S13 Kai Office coilovers
Front 62 I.D. 9kg springs @ 10mm preload
Cut down EL falcon Springs at 280mm free height.
Front and rear at 3/4 dampening. (4 step dampening).
And full front end super pro bushings and std. bushings in the rear.
STOCK F DIFF.

As I said I’m mainly going to set this up as a daily/mountain run car with the intention of sometimes sliding it until I get a dedicated drift car. I’ve noticed with the current set up a few things like,
When going around corners and on very hard bumps its hard to get the power down smoothly with the ass end bouncing around.
When under braking and I hit a bump I get a slight lock up in the front brakes as I’m slowing down.
And when sliding its very unpredictable in how the open center behaves.
There are a few others but I can’t think of them off the top of my head right about now.

Also… what would be the better option in LSD? I was either thinking of finding a standard MA61 LSD and re-shimming it (if I can find one) or getting a SXE10/ GXE10 1.5 way mechanical LSD. I was considering a tru-tac but I hear there not good for drift at all and I guess a tight std. or 1.5 would work just as well.

Any advice would be great
Thanks.
X

[japlish]

why don't you just get a lsd through jesse ya bum!

look under gx61,ma61,mz12,gz10 (not gx71 cause its usually the bigger mx83 version)

in regards to your front end i think you should invest in a set of those rosejointed supernow rack ends, that will bring the rack ends down quite a bit and it may stop the bumpsteer......

[Johnzoku]

ahh, i will, but its jsut deciding if a 1.5 ways what i need for what im using my car for.

have you installed your new rack ends yet? the bump steer isnt that bad atm so im not worried for the time been.

[japlish]

yeah i reckon you'd need at least a 1.5 way, the stock ma61 and true tracs would be okish but not in the long run (for slidys)

i do have my rackends in now (inner and outer) i've got more lock than you can throw a stick at but now i need new castor rod bushes, mine are flogged to death

i think you may also need to do something about the neg camber on the back if you want any decent handling out of it (its kinda goin against the whole bozo thing though)

[Johnzoku]

well... the camber at the back has the opposite effect, for drift its poor but for turns its fantastic, it grips like a mofo!

the only thing with a 1.5way im worried about is slowing down for a turn in hills and it throwing my rear end out unwillingly.

[japlish]

from experiance with a locker i don't think a proper 1.5 way will be that snappy when backing off, a 2-way might do it but not a 1.5 way.

[ViPeR_NiPPleX]

Haven't considered sway bars? Also what is your toe angle like on the rear with the shorter springs?

[Johnzoku]

not as of yet, i was planning on jsut going some heavier whitline ones down the road. how would these add to the set up... jsut make it more stable? i guess i wouldnt have to run such a stiff setup to stop body roll (which atm. my car has none )

and toe angle is as per my last wheel alignment

[wilbo666]

Have you measured the spring rate of the cut EL springs?

I wouldn't be surprised if they were soft compared to the front spring rate...

Cheers
Wilbo

[japlish]

your rear toe difference is scary

i have the same problem aswell,

[Johnzoku]

well ive heard that at 280mm free height there close to 6kg... so im guessing around 5.5kg atm... they are quite soft thats why im running the dampering in the rear so stiff.

ive been planning on some 7kg springs but jsut not to sure of it jsut yet.... i dont want to get a set when i should of got a stiffer or lighter pair.

lol... i can change my toe/camber by adjusting the base height of my rear shock struts into the base... when that was done, there was a 10mm differance in height between the two rear struts... i fixed that one about a day later when i realised what was going on.

[ViPeR_NiPPleX]

EL front springs in the rear wouldn't be that soft (assuming that's the case).

Swaybars, LCAs, cornerweigh and measure rear spring rate.

ADDitional: Spring rates before dampers.

[Johnzoku]

EL front springs in the rear wouldn't be that soft (assuming that's the case).

Swaybars, LCAs, cornerweigh and measure rear spring rate.

ADDitional: Spring rates before dampers.

EL rear springs was thinking of tracking down some xr6 fronts, would that be a good plan?

what do you mean by "cornerweigh and measure rear spring rate"?

[ViPeR_NiPPleX]

EL rear springs was thinking of tracking down some xr6 fronts, would that be a good plan?

what do you mean by "cornerweigh and measure rear spring rate"?

Get some custom springs manufactured is the ideal solution rather than picking out springs that "might" fit.

To get the car cornerweighed means someone puts it on 4 scales (like what's in the bathroom, but more accurate with such amounts of weight), notes down the individual corners and calculates Front/Rear, Left/Right, and Diagonal bias. Knowing this makes it easier to balance the car.

If you want to measure you're spring rate, you will need a set of bathroom scales, a ruler, and a bench press. Compress the spring with the press with the scale underneath it. Compress it an inch or 10mm and work out how much weight difference was put down.

I would highly recommend having a study of Fred Puhn's suspension book as it's pretty good. Goes into light detail on semi trailing arms too. For more info online, check out BMW e30 m3 suspension tech info.