Scarmiglio

I purchased new wheels/tires about a month ago, and then 2 weeks ago I had Eibachs installed on my car. I did not install new struts, but realize that this is recommended. When I had the Eibachs installed, I got the car aligned and everything seemed fine. I realize that there is a certain amount of tire steer present when using grippier tires, and I know that high-performance struts are recommended for best results (waiting for Koni or Bilstein to get their acts together). However, my car handled great until 2 days ago. All of a sudden, the steering wheel feel seems to have loosened up. It tends to twitch around on roads where it never has before (that I remember). I drive about 10 miles to work every day on the same roads, and I really pay attention to feedback from my car (steering wheel, brakes, suspension). Not only that, but the steering feels a little bit less precise - perhaps a bit more floaty. I searched the forum and didn't find a thread with this kind of issue - Does anyone have any ideas as to what might be wrong? I checked all my lug nuts and strut tower bolts and they are all tight. Everything felt much stiffer right when the springs were installed, and perhaps they are just breaking in? This is the first "sport compact" car I've ever owned/worked on (used to drive an Explorer) and I've never come across these issues so I just wanted to know if this is normal. Thanks for your help!

carguycw

Couple of possibilities...

(1) Your front struts just died. (Best bet IMHO.)

(2) A suspension bolt is loose and a suspension part just shifted and threw the car out of alignment.

Scarmiglio

My car only has 4500 miles on it, so I hope it isn't the struts! I checked the bolts on the front strut towers, and they are all tight. I'll have to tear apart the back to check the rear strut towers as well, but I watched the spring install, and it looked like they tightened everything down really well. Any other thoughts? Has anyone else experienced this? Is it all in my head?!?

mtbfreak40

im with carguycw, its probably your struts. it doesn't take long to wreck your soft struts after you lower it. stock struts just aren't made for the kind of abuse they take with lowering and it increases the wear on them greatly.

obender66

Struts do not "die'" on car with 4500 miles on it and 2 weeks on lowered springs. You guys would make good mechanics to rip off your customers.
Check alignment again. Yeah, i know it's extra $50, but that's the ONLY possible cause under your circumstances.
Alex

Scarmiglio

I'm beginning to lean that way myself (needs to be realigned). Perhaps I can get the shop that installed my springs and did the original alignment to warranty their work. Thanks!

carguycw

'Nuther thought... did the shop reinstall or modify the bumpstops when they did the spring installation?

If they left them out or cut them down too much, the car may have bottomed out, which is likely b/c Eibach Pro-Kit springs tend to be fairly soft. If the car has no bumpstops and it bottomed out, it may have smashed the internal valving in the struts and ruined them.

Scarmiglio

That is a scary thought. When they did the installation, they cut the bump stops down about half way. Then, last Thursday, I drove with the guys for a business lunch, as my car was the only one with 5 seat belts. We must have looked pretty funny - 5 full sized guys in a small car. We probably weighed a thousand pounds combined. I didn't really think much of it at the time, but I wonder if I blew out my struts then. I'll get my struts checked out this weekend. I hope that they are ok. I only slapped on the Eibachs so that the car would look right until I have the $$ to buy JIC coil overs. Besides, the Eibachs only cost me $120.

dialup

Hey CW, we know that Eibachs and stock struts are a bad combo. What about this combo: Racing Beat Springs and MP3 struts? Thoughts on the matching of the rates etc would be much appreciated. I'm the guy who bought Eibachs and then paired them with Mazdaspeed adj's and whose shocks are now shot. (I have lots of clunking going on, and squeaks galore coming from the dampers) Ideas??

Installshield

Just a thought but what tires are you using? Damaged struts will give a bouncy feeling. If your tires are underinflated or unevenly worn you could be loosing precision from that alone. Are they wider? Wider tires can cause "hunting" which will make it pull laterly as you drive in a straight line. A lot of people have dropped their pros on stock struts and haven't reported problems until 6 to 8 months or more. If you hit bumps and "ghetto bounce" up and down for a while it is most likely your struts.

I would install the stock wheels and tires and see if the problem is the same. If it is, as said before, get it realigned and check all the control arms and swaybars mounting points to see if everything is in check.

Scarmiglio

I'm not really getting any bouncy feelings from the car, just twitchy steering, so maybe it isn't the struts at all. I'm using new tires, but they are wider than stock (215/40-17). They are only a month old. I definitely feel the "hunting" from the wider tires, but it seems to be more than just that. I'll put on my stock wheels this weekend (at least on the front - I only have 3 useable wheels as one of my stock tires is blown) and see if it still feels that way. Thanks for the idea!

Installshield

No problem man.

Sorry I didn't read your sig and notice the tire and wheel size. You are using high quality tires so they should be fine unless unevenly worn for some reason. Also do you use a torque wrench to tighten the lugs? I use to just use the stock iron and ran into problems with overtightening lugs to the point where it needed new studs. That could create some twitchy feelings from the unbalanced wheel spin. I know you said you torqued them properly, just wondering. Also after thinking about this problem more, it sounds more and more like a swaybar issue, if not just the tires. you could get a floaty feeling in turns becuase of the extra grip from the tires. This will make body roll much more pronounced. Make sure to check the endlinks when you install the stock wheels to be sure they were properly mounted when the springs where installed.

Scarmiglio

I checked my rear sway bar (visually) and one of the endlinks looks like it is less straight than the other, but perhaps this is normal. It's definitely not my lug nuts. They were all put on with a torque wrench. They have to be put on by hand to spec becuase I use 7-sided racing lugs (light weight and wheel security at the same time). If you over torque them they will strip.

What tire pressure do you guys run? Mine are all at 35psi, but I think that the stock tire recommendation was 32psi. Does 3psi make that big of a difference? I figured that lower profile tires should be run at slightly higher pressure to protect the rims going over bumps. Thanks!

Installshield

I run my S-O3's at around 33-34psi. It is true that a higher psi will protect the wheel a little better, but also increases the risk of blowing the sidewall and gives a hell of a punsihing ride. Check your tire wear if there is any. If the middle section is worn more than the outside the tire is most likely overinflated, though I don't know what this would do to the steering.

As for the rear endlinks, that is not normal as far as I know. I checked mine today (nothing else to do, we got 11 inches of snow) and they were both straight, no bends or anything in the endlink. They were also at the same angle fromt the end of the bar to the to strut. Maybe try reinstalling it or replacing the endlink. If your front swaybar is fine and the rear is not setup properly you would be plowing more than normal

Scarmiglio

Hmmm, that's interesting. Let me give you the whole story. I was driving out to the SEMA show in November, and about half way my rear tire blew out. I hit some debris coming off the road with the same rear tire. I put on the spare, drove the rest of the way to Vegas, and then drove all the way home. I put about 500 miles on the spare (not smart, I know), then put on new wheels and tires. When putting on the new wheels, I noticed that the sway bar endlink on one side looks a lot more twisted than the other side. I figured that it might just be the way it mounted or something. What I mean by twisted is that on one side the endlink attaches straight, and the bushings are straight on. On the other side the endlink is at an off angle, and the bushings are off center. I'll try to align them tonight. I hope that I don't need new endlinks. Thanks!