Hi folks, thread starter here again, with some additional details.
I ended up buying the '85 Carrera that I was looking at, and over the winter, I refreshed the suspension. New Elephant Racing rubber bushings all around (A-arms, spring plates, camber plates), new front sway bar bushings (all 4), new Bilstein HDs all around, and turbo tie rods.
I just got it back from the alignment shop and... it still requires a
lot of steering effort -- like you need both hands firmly on the wheels for freeway on/offramps.
I'm pretty frustrated, but I still have faith that my Carrera can be dialed in to attain the "fingertip" steering that I've experienced in my buddy's SC, and a number of you Pelicans have attested that these Carreras are capable of.
Please take a look at all the info below, and let me know your thoughts.
Current alignment specs (
red numbers are out of spec range):
Front left
- Camber: -0.91 (spec range -0.17 to 0.17)
- Caster: 6.46 (spec range 5.83 to 6.33)
- Toe: 0.16 (spec range 0.08 to 0.17)
- SAI: 11.11
- Included Angle: 10.20
Front right
- Camber: -1.09 (spec range -0.17 to 0.17)
- Caster: 5.76 (spec range 5.83 to 6.33)
- Toe: 0.11 (spec range 0.08 to 0.17)
- SAI: 11.46
- Included Angle: 10.37
Front
- Cross Camber: 0.18 (spec range -0.17 to 0.17)
- Cross Caster: 0.70 (spec range -0.50 to 0.50)
- Total Toe: 0.27 (spec range 0.17 to 0.33)
- Cross SAI: -0.35
Rear left
- Camber: -1.72 (spec range -1.17 to -0.83)
- Toe: 0.31 (spec range 0.00 to 0.33)
Rear right
- Camber: -1.40 (spec range -1.17 to -0.83)
- Toe: 0.28 (spec range 0.00 to 0.33)
Rear
- Cross Camber: -0.32 (spec range -0.33 to 0.33)
- Total Toe: 0.59 (spec range 0.00 to 0.67)
- Thrust Angle: 0.02 (spec range -0.17 to 0.17)
Here are some additional details to consider:
- It was only aligned. The shop had their scales at the track that day, so I have to return for the corner balancing. While I fully intend to get it properly corner balanced, I have a hard time believing that it will alleviate the issue.
- The effort required increases with speed and also with the amount of steering angle required. Lane changes are reasonably easy, because they require minimal steering angle. Freeway on/offramps, or 20mph residential intersection turns are both quite difficult. Don't get me wrong -- it tracks through corners like mad, but it takes a lot of muscle to do get it to turn and hold it there.
- There's absolutely no binding in the steering column bushing, knuckle or rack. When the front end is jacked up, it steers effortlessly.
- The PO installed bump steer spacers on the rack. Not sure of thickness, but I'd guess 10mm or less.
- Wheels are Fuchs 7Jx16 front and 8Jx16 rear.
- Tires are Bridgestone Potenza S-03 Pole Position, size 205/55ZR16 front and 225/50/ZR16 rear. These were mounted by the PO, who knows when, and while they're not bald, but pretty well spent. These are pretty sticky tires, so they might be a contributing factor.
- Tire pressure is at the recommended 29f/36r. I've tried increasing the front to 32, and it helps some, but not nearly enough.
- It's at what I believe is very slightly below euro height. 25.25f/24.75 rear fender heights, and the front A-arms are level at static ride height.
- It's got stock sway bars and torsion bars, all around.
- All A/C has been deleted, and the spacesaver spare, jack and toolkit are out of the car. That's ~100lbs of weight loss, and my guesstimate is that it's about a 60f/40r split in terms of balance.
- I know this is anecdotal, but my buddy's 78 Targa steers so easy that it literally feels like he has power steering, when compared with my Carrera (and of course, he does not have power steering).
Again, your thoughts on this are greatly appreciated.
Cheers,