suspension problem?

[feifeiguigui]

i just bought a '89 240sx 5 spd hatch, and i like it very much. yesterday i took it to an empty parking lot to test it out. i was turning past what the tire will allow to try and drift, or at least swing the back out. it doesnt. instead, it makes a grinding sound and keeps going straight. i look at my tires to make sure they are actually turning, and they are. the car keeps going forward regardless of the direction my front tires are. my friend was going full sideways in his stock corolla gts. if i had to guess whats wrong, i'd say theres either too much body roll and i need to get struts and coilovers, or my front tires don't have enough grip. but im fairly new at this. could someone with more experiance help me out? thank you.

[mattback]

front tires probably suck really bad and your rear shocks are blown causing the car to understeer horribly

[float_6969]

I think it's because you're "driving moms car" JK! It sounds like serious understeer. see what kinda tires you have on the front. They prob arent' stickin.

[driftaholic]

i agree, it's some damn ugly understeer

[feifeiguigui]

hehe i can proudly say im not driving my mom's car anymore! the tires say futura on them. i dont know what the specs on them are cuz i didn't buy them but the tread looks pretty good. almost new. i dunno if that would be considered understeer.. the car is not following the path of the tires and just keep going straight.

[1991240xs]

"hehe i can proudly say im not driving my mom's car anymore! the tires say futura on them. i dont know what the specs on them are cuz i didn't buy them but the tread looks pretty good. almost new. i dunno if that would be considered understeer.. the car is not following the path of the tires and just keep going straight."

^That's understeer~

[feifeiguigui]

hehe i guess im wrong then. i thought understeer was not being able to turn your steering wheel/wheels as far or easy as u want to due to speed and grip. thanks though.

[Sano]

Hi all, I'm his friend that was going sideways in the stock AE86. Yeah, I tried EVERYTHING I did in the Eight Six in his 240 and couldn't for the life of get it to go. Quick downshift to shift the load, quick countersteer to try to initiate the turn all to no avail. I knew it couldn't just have been him.... but the tires are sticking enough that I shoul've been able to throw the rear end even if it was just to pull a donut or spin out. I thought maybe body roll too, but seems to be from what you're saying blown rear shocks. Ouch, that can't be good...

[driftaholic]

fei: fyi, understeer is when the car turns less than the amount you turn the wheel, and oversteer is when the car turns more than the amount you turn the wheel. since you crank the wheel and your car doesn't turn at all, that is some INSANE understeer and your car is probably generally unsafe to drive.

blown rear shocks are good. it means you have a perfect excuse for getting some awesome new ones

[240_Keyy]

get going about 20 or so, flick the car quickly to the right, once it starts to go right a bit, jerk that mofo back to the left and nail the throttle, that should upset the car enough to get it to have mad power oversteer. I had no problems whatsoever getting my car to "drift" even with crappy wingfoot HP's and 4 blown struts.

just keep trying, you aren't quite doing something right.

[Dori Dori]

It's your tires. You are riding on the sidewalls (you can mark the sidewalls with a wax pen to see just how far they are rolling over...i'd bet a lot), that's what that sound is. Put more air in the front tires. That should eliminate the noise. If you are stil understeering, then you just have some suck *** tires and you should replace them.

Also, your rear struts being blown would have nothing to do with it. My 240's rear struts are blown and the car slides just fine. I would look into changing them regaurdless...