Am I kidding myself?

[DaddyGlenn]

Hopefully some of you with more experience then I can answer this....

I've done a couple years of local autocrossing and am trying to listen to what the car is telling me and paying real close attention to how it handles and behaves at its limits. I even figured out throttle steering! What a cool day that was! Anyway, I suspect that my corner balance is out of whack cause my right rear wears faster then my left rear (could be alignment) and I noticed that in extreme braking, the right front locks long before any other wheel. So I figure most of the weight is on the left front and the right rear. I believe I can actually "feel" the right rear biting during hard left turns and the left front doing most of the work during hard right hand turns.

So here is the question.... is it possible that I am really sensing the uneven weight distribution or am I fooling myself?

P.S. I'm doing a complete suspension refresh later this year and will correct everything.

[3rd_gear_Ted]

one more fact might help, do you have an open diff or a limited slip transmission?

[DaddyGlenn]

Originally Posted by 3rd_gear_Ted

one more fact might help, do you have an open diff or a limited slip transmission?

It is a stock 915 transmission. I don't remember if that is LSD or not. Never had wheel spin problems...

[paulgtr]

disconnect your sway bars and get 4 scales. find a true level floor and see what numbers you get with you in the driver's seat. at least i think that is how you tell corner weight.

[cstreit]

Corner balance could be one cause of this... but so could:

- boogered up alignment
- calipers than need rebuilds
- too much preload on swaybars
- failing shock absorbers

I'd start looking in that order (balance, alignment, etc..)

[DaddyGlenn]

Redirect, your honor?....... I know what could be the cause of the handling issues and will correct all of it when I do the suspension refresh later this year. (all new bushings, 21/28 TBs, New Sport shocks on the rear. It has sway bars from an '86 already)

My question is can I really feel the difference in weight transfer to an individual wheel during cornering?

Thanks,

Glenn

[JeremyD]

You can if you do a LOT of performance driving.

My guess is that you have some of your original rubber/shocks that worn more than others - and you are feeling the car leaning more to one side or another. Alignment can also effect your braking.

The 911 suspension is not really complex. Even tire pressures can effect whether you lock up one wheel before another.

[fredmeister]

If your really good you can feel it possibly.
I can feel the difference in handling with and without a passenger.
It wouldn't hurt you to have a corner balance and alignment done to eliminate this possibility and find out what you got.

[cstreit]

I dunno... I'm not sure I could other than the gross handling of the car (oversteer/understeer).

[petevb]

Originally Posted by DaddyGlenn

So here is the question.... is it possible that I am really sensing the uneven weight distribution or am I fooling myself?

I think it's very possible that you're not kidding yourself and you can feel something. Obviously if you are getting uneven wear on the tires then something pretty major is out of whack, and I'd certainly expect you could feel that much asymmetry through the steering wheel, etc. Now weather or not you're actually only feeling a difference in weight? I suspect it's more likely that alignment, etc is also off, and that's contributing to what you're feeling. But if you've got enough cross weight to wear your tires unevenly (that's a lot, by itself) then yes I think you could feel it if you're tuning in.

$.02

[DaddyGlenn]

So chances are I am feeling "something" or more likely "somethings" that are outta whack. It will be interesting to see how it feels after the suspension refresh.

Thanks everyone.

[crashmy911]

Yeah your car is ****. FIx it!!!! Then learn to drive!!

[DaddyGlenn]

Wow Crash, that was pretty uncalled for. I don't think we have ever met. Did I offended you in a previous life or are you always like that?

Glenn

[Flieger]

Get the car on scales before you do the suspension work. Then you will know how far off of diagonal balance the car is. When you get the running gear sorted and the car aligned, post the weights and give your handling impressions. You will then know if you were able to tell the balance was bad.

[burgermeister]

If you're on stock tbars, the wheel rates are pretty soft (25-ish N/mm), or about 5 lb/mm. So if you measure ride height the factory way (wheel center to torsion bar center distance) on level ground, and you're within 5 or 6 mm side to side, your corner balance is not off by much.

Garage floors are rarely level, BTW, but if you measure carefully with a good level you can usually shim the car level with 1/4" & 1/2" plywood squares. This provides some challenge in measuring ride heights, of course, as you now have to adjust your measured height by lateral measurement location ... not complicated math, but annoying no less.

[burgermeister]

Hey - you have 917 posts, Glenn!!! Like getting 111111 on the odometer ...

[Dave at Pelican Parts]

Another way to "shim" the tires is to use linoleum tiles. It's pretty decent if things aren't too far out, and you can get really ugly ones for cheap. You can mark the garage floor for how many tiles are needed in which spot so your measurements are repeatable, which is usually a good thing.

--DD

[DaddyGlenn]

I'll be closing on a new-to-me garage in May. (it even comes with a house) Once we're settled, I'll get to work and let everyone know what I find.