Need suggestions on steering & suspension issues - 1990 Q45

[gniknave]

When I bought this car last May the previous owner was running stock shocks in the front, and Tokico Blues in the rear. I also have the 28mm and 20mm "a" sway bars and poly bushings. It also had the piepan wheels with 235/60(?)/15's and the car rode and handled smooth and effortlessly.

A month after buyin the car I added the 16" Fittipaldi Polaris wheels with 255/50/16's all around (came with the car, but just put them on later). I immediately noticed a lot more bump steer and less handling control. I then switched back to the piepans. No more problems.

I eventually went back to the Fittipaldis (and the wider tires) after realizing it wasn't THAT big of an issue, and I finally got used to it.

In late January, I added the California Custom springs in addition to all new Tokico blues all around. I immediately noticed that the car had a LOT more bump steer, which is expected of a lowered car with wide tires. However, I also noticed that my passenger side front came out lower than my driver side front by about .5".

I thought maybe the new springs needed to settle in, so I just let it go for a while. I got an alignment, and the ride seemed to be a bit better for a little bit. However it got increasingly worse thereafter. Also, the passenger side was STILL lower.

Finally last week I'd had enough. I decided to lift up the car and take a look at the springs/shocks to see why it seemed lower on one side in the front. I found that the upper rubber seat on the passenger side had cracked and allowed the spring to be nearly touching the upper strut mount metal on metal (but not quite). The driver side seat was fine because ithad been replaced last year when I was attempting to make 300zx Eibachs fit...

I immediately ordered a new rubber seat and installed it the next day. I measured the height on flat ground and it was even! But then once I got the car moving and took a few trips, it's back the way it was - this time the rubber seat on both sides were fine.

So my issues are as follows:

1. Lots of bump steer, harsh bumps in front.

2. Passenger side front lower than driver side front.

3. Steering feels really loose.

Today I lifted the car and took a look at the other suspension rubber.

The tension rods look absolutely perfect. The sway bar links and bushings have all been replaced within the last 8k miles. The upper links were replaced last July. The tie rod ends looked perfect.

But the passenger side rack boot had some seepage and the passenger side rack bushing had a tear around the edges. I'm sure the rack bushings need to be replaced, but I know that can't be causing all of my issues.

I've been having thoughts (after reading a thread by Q45tech on sway bars), about going back to the oem shocks and springs in front, and keeping the Cal Customs and Tokico's on the rear. I do feel that things are a little too harsh for my liking on the front end anyway. I figure the stiffer tokico's with supposed 2" drop Cal Custom springs, along with 255/50 tires, a FSTB, and 28mm sway bar with Poly bushings may be a bit of overkill for the front end.

I was thinking to go back to a 235/60/16 or something like that for starters and maybe the oe front suspension.

Any suggestions other than the obvious rack bushing replacement?

The Power steering fluid looks good, but I don't have a clue how to replace all the fluid in the system, or how to bleed it. I know that hasn't been done in my time as the owner.

[Q45tech]

ALL BETS are off when you lower 1" [ stiffen springs by 20%] even if you use adjustable arms [front and rear] to correct camber and caster...........the new angle of the steering rack to tie rods.......bump steer.

[Jeff Williams]

Dennis is right. You can make it better with toe, caster, and camber adjustments, but it will not go away, unless you raise the rack mounts to get the geometry right.

Just try to avoid bumps

Wider tires and wheels just magnify the issues.

[maxnix]

ALL BETS are off when you lower 1" [ stiffen springs by 20%] even if you use adjustable arms [front and rear] to correct camber and caster...........the new angle of the steering rack to tie rods.......bump steer.

Why I would like to get 10% - 15% stiffer springs taht ride stock height. Suspension travel is a good thing, and OEM geometry is the optimized best design for the car in street driving, which is what I do.

[gniknave]

Thanks for the responses guys! I'm going to go back to the OEM springs and shocks in front. Though the lower front looks nice, I'll sacrifice looks for a good ride any day of the week.

Are 90-93 Tokico Blues stiffer than 94-96 Tokico Blues? Reason I'm asking is because when I drove Wes's 94 last November, I noticed it wasn't nearly as harsh riding as my 90 is (after putting springs on). We have virtually the same setup except he has the adjustable tension rods and upper links in front.

Also, what's the ideal tire size for a 16x7" wheel for the front?

[sijoko]

How much camber do you have on the passenger side in comparison with the driver's?

My car had more camber on the passenger side after lowering. This caused the ride height to be less on that side.

I put washers behind both upper link mounts to get camber back to factory specs. I had to put more on the passenger side.

[tkd_q45]

How about all of those others who have the CA Custom springs? Shouldn't everyone have this issue (bump steer that is)?

[gniknave]

How about all of those others who have the CA Custom springs? Shouldn't everyone have this issue (bump steer that is)?

Exactly what I was curious about. I think the majority of my problem is the fact that I'm running 255/50's on the front. Seems as if nobody else is doing that with the Cal Customs.The widest I've heard of is 245's, and that was on Kevin Falks 97 Q (with Tein springs).

I did put the front back to stock springs/shocks, and found that it rides much better, even with the Cal Customs & Tokico's still in back. Feels extremely well balanced, but there's still a bit of 'bite' when going over bumps which I'd bet is due to the tires.

Though I do like that it rides better, it doesn't handle half as good. Not even close. With the CC's I was able to take turns that I could only take in my old 240sx that had Eibach Pro Kit springs. Too bad Eibach doesn't make springs for the Q anymore. I think they would be ideal for me.

I'm going to go with a 225 or 235 width and then give the Cal Customs a shot again. I'm also going to buy the Z32 anti-bumpsteer tierods as well to soften things up.

[Q45denver]

I have a set of Eibachs with the 255's and Tokicos on my 1990. I haven't driven it for a few months but don't recall an issue with bump steer. With the rear sway bar, the handling is fantastic. I was planning on putting the stock springs back on as soon as it warms up here because the Eibachs are a little too low and harsh for my taste.

[elwesso]

See the thing is I dont have bump steer hardly at all... It was certainly no worse when i put the cali's on... HELL, i dont even think it was much different than with my STOCK car (a little bit though)

My guess is you have a bad tie rod... Thats the only way I can think that it would do anything... when i drove jesda's Q with the bad rack bushings, it really didnt make handling much different, just kinda sloppy, but not really big deal...

The cali's are WAY WAY WAY better than the eibachs, trust me!!!!! MUCH better springs..

[JohnPa]

Hey Wes, you have a 't' model. Is your HICAS system still hooked up with the Cali springs? If so, any problems? I've got yhe Calis to put on my 90 Q45t and I really don't want to disconnect the HICAS.

Thanks..............John

[elwesso]

Yes john, my HICAS is still hooked up... If I had to do any crap by disconnecting anything, i wouldnt do it.... THeres a lot of people out there that dont like HICAS but personally i like it, it works relaly good for stability on longer wheel based cars... I can see why some dont like it on 240s, Z32s, and such, but on the Q it works great, IMO.

[JohnPa]

Yes john, my HICAS is still hooked up... If I had to do any crap by disconnecting anything, i wouldnt do it.... THeres a lot of people out there that dont like HICAS but personally i like it, it works relaly good for stability on longer wheel based cars... I can see why some dont like it on 240s, Z32s, and such, but on the Q it works great, IMO.

Thanks for the input, Wes. I like the HICAS too! As you can tell from the other posts i'm involved in, I'm about to take the Q down for a couple of months and I'm deciding just how far to go with the Mods. Your comments are invaluable!

Follow-up question: Are you experiencing 'bump steer' with your 'Cali' springs? Ever give any thought to modifying the tie rods to compensate for the lowering problem?

Thanks...............John