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Thread: Handling problems with my Dutch S13

  1. #1
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    Handling problems with my Dutch S13

    Hi,

    My Dutch SX drives like hell. Since I replaced the lower control arms (rear + front), front tension rods, rear traction arms, rear toe arms and rear camber arms (all from Japspeed), my SX isn't just as fun as it was before. Besides this, I also put Apex Gen 2 coils under the car (10/8). Very stiff indeed :-). This year I changed those with Supaspeed suspension (6/4). More comfy, but still not better handling.


    All this results in a car, that drives shit. The handling in corners is not even close as it should be; like on rails. My 2012 Fiesta drives much, much better in corners. Besides that, the steering is irresponsive. A short pull at the weel does almost nothing with the car. De steering angle seems weird, somehow......


    About the brake test. The nose dives, but not in straight line. I checked the brakes and 300ZX callipers, but there's nothing wrong with that.


    In the last 2 years the car settings has been adjusted four times by two different garages. Check the latest results below (in Dutch, sorry for that):



    In desperate need of changing the drivability I replaced the front lower arms to stock. Still no improvement.
    Now I consider to replace ALL adjustable arms to OEM stock.

    And here's were I start this topic; it's hard to find new OEM parts for the S13. USA delivers (frsport.com), but are there shops/companies in the UK, where I can buy OEM S13 stuff?
    Last edited by TwinCamDude; 07-06-2018 at 14:17.

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    You could try a company called conceptua on eBay, they do a lot of stuff for sbodies but not too sure if they would do the OEM arms. It may just be the setup not being done properly, I’ve replaced most of my arms for adjustable one and polybushes etc and it drives like crap but I still need the alignment done so can’t really say until that’s sorted

  3. #3
    Dorset & Hants Rep pointz's Avatar
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    I have oem camber arms, tow and front tie rods in good condition

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    Japspeed stuff is not good quality. If they are rose-jointed, they are going to be less forgiving too.
    10/8 is feckin' stiff for coilovers.
    Never heard of SupaSpeed.
    You haven't said what tyres/wheels you are running and how much the car has been lowered.

    To get the set up right you need someone to do a 3D laser wheel alignment.

    Also, steering rack bushes can give a very vague feeling to the steering as can a perished rubber disk in the centre of the steering column. A lot of people replace them with a stainless disk.

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    I forgot to mention that I replaced the stock bushes to blue alu ones. The old ones were worn out.

    My S13 rolls on 225/35/17 front (Hankook V12 EVO 2) and 235/45/17 back (Uniroyal Rainsport 3). The previous tyres on the back was Hankook V12 EVO, also 235/45/17.

    Although the car is not as 'bumpy' as it was before (when I had the Apex 10/8, combined with the previous tyres), the car still feels not stable.

    The car has been adjusted with 3D laser equipment, almost 2 years ago. The guy, who did this, noticed that the car was crooked (not the body, but the Japspeed stuff). Last month again and between these periodes again and again.

    How is that possible without being tampered with by myself (is that even proper English? Lol.). The car lives by itself.........

    About the height; see pictures

  6. #6
    Guest R3K1355's Avatar
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    What condition are the front track (tie) rod and track rod ends in??
    There's a couple of ball-joints in those that once worn can give a real bad feel to the steering.

    Have you checked the steering rack for play?? Whats the condition of the PAS fluid?

    What condition are the subframe bushes in? Do you have locking collars or pineapple rings in?
    What anti-roll bars do you use? What condition are the bushes and drop-links in??

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    All good points ^^^^

    Also check for worn hub bearings.

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    Quote Originally Posted by R3K1355 View Post
    What condition are the front track (tie) rod and track rod ends in??
    There's a couple of ball-joints in those that once worn can give a real bad feel to the steering.

    Have you checked the steering rack for play?? Whats the condition of the PAS fluid?

    What condition are the subframe bushes in? Do you have locking collars or pineapple rings in?
    What anti-roll bars do you use? What condition are the bushes and drop-links in??
    The Japspeed stuff is from 2014. Condition is good.

    Subframe bushes are still stock. Not replaced.

    About the steering rack; I suppose that the garage will notice it by adjusting the arms???

    What is PAS fluid?

    Locking collars are from end 2017. Almost new.

    Update 2day: problem solved, I hope. The cause was....... wrong tyres. I will explain it later .

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    Well...... The big issue was.......tyres and height. For years I drove with Hankooks V12 Evo, 225/35/17. That, combined with the height of the front and back resulted in bad driving.

    After replacing the camber arms and rods, the car didn't improve. Actually, it got worse.

    Yesterday the guy from SW Performance (Holland) pointed out that the front was too high. Since two weeks I drive Rainsport 3 tyres on the back. Not a good decision to buy those.

    After replacing all tyres by 215/45/17 semi slicks from Westlake + lowering the car in front the SX drives much more stable.

    So...... problem solved.

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    Great that you have solved the problem. Out of interest, how did you set the ride height originally ? Most people take the stock settings, subtract the amount they want to lower and set to that figure (measured from the mid point of the arch to the ground.

    BTW, PAS fluid is the fluid for the power assisted steering. Goes in the painted grey pot on the right hand side behind the air filter as you look at the engine from the front.

  11. #11
    Guest R3K1355's Avatar
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    Also you might wanna think about replacing the subframe bushes, locking collars are a quick fix for bushes that are already worn.

    With a set of poly subframe bushes there's no need for locking collars.

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    I have those @home for years now (yellow ones). Not actually considering to replace those. Hmmmm....

    About the height of the car; I actually didn't adjust it at all after replacing the arms and coils. I just replaced them and drove several years, lol. No I know better......

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