R33 Bad Handling

[dan the man]

hi guys i recently purchased a s2 r33 96 gtst and am a bit worried about the way that it drives so il give you the story and hopefully somebody can help me.

Ok i when i got it it was LOW like on the bump stops low had aftermarket suspension KYB i think was flogged out. When i hit bumps on the road the rear of the car would kind of kick out sideways ( that i understand becuase all that energy has nowhere to go)

So to solve the problem i brought a set of genuine coilover of this forum and the guys assured me that they were mint and working perfectly.

So on the weekend me and a mate went to his workshop and fitted them (he is a mechanic) and the underbody of the car looks great and all the bushed look fine aswell.

After fitting the used genuine coilovers i was very dissapointed as the car sits fine now but the shocks are f**ked the car just bounces like crazy and going fast around a corner the rear just bounces across the road.

But here is my question when i hit bumps still the back kicks out just a little no where near as bad as when it had no suspension but still just little, and im done with seconhand shit so i brought brand new adjustable coilivers and will fit them on the weekend.

Is it possible that the rear cradle is moving sideways or just a case of rooted suspension all round, i like this skyline appart from that and i dont want nothing fancy i dont race etc or should i just sell it?

[pistol-pete]

sounds like you bought jap coilovers that have way too stiff spring rates for our roads. there probably wasnt anything wrong with them other than that they were unsuitable for what you want them for

[dan the man]

Na i had a look underneath it, was sitting on bumpers just wondering why back is kicking and unstable over bumps.

[FineLine]

Na i had a look underneath it, was sitting on bumpers just wondering why back is kicking and unstable over bumps.

Get a wheel alignment. If the car was so low it was on the bump stops bfefore and now its at standard height your settings will not be the same.

Get it aligned and start again. I have a stock series 2 and it handles and rides just fine.

[dan the man]

yes i know that, i have new coilovers and new tie rod ends going in on saturday then il get a wheel alignment on the following monday, my questions is why is the rear UNSTABLE as hell and kicking out, will new coilvers fix the problem or should i be looking elsewhere for the issue, and all the bushes are fine.

[MBS206]

yes i know that, i have new coilovers and new tie rod ends going in on saturday then il get a wheel alignment on the following monday, my questions is why is the rear UNSTABLE as hell and kicking out, will new coilvers fix the problem or should i be looking elsewhere for the issue, and all the bushes are fine.

When it was super low, you would have had bump steer. That is, hit a bump and the rear wheels will actually change alignment so much it "kicks".

Now that it's raised, your rear toe and camber will be so far out, it's not properly gripping in the back, and it's just moving around.

[PM-R33]

As has been said. If the car was sitting on the bumps stops it was FAR to low for a Skyline to handle properly. Once a Skyline gets that low the suspension geometry goes to shit.

You then put in different suspension which im assuming raised the car back up? Or did you simply reuse the old springs and put in new shocks? Because that would have been pointless.

So if the car is back to normal ride height than you will now need a proper wheel alignment as you have changed the suspension geometry again.

New suspension will not fix the problem if your alignment is completely out of whack.

Also you havn't said what springs rates any of the spings were. As was mentioned, if they were Jap branded they could have been ridicolously stiff which in conjunction with a very low car would result in poor handling on the street.

[chiksluvit]

raising the car will make the rear toe in

excessive toe in at the rear will make it very unstable exactly like you've described

so like what others have said

wait til you get an ALIGNMENT

problem will most likely go away

[drunkn snail]

raising the car will make the rear toe in

excessive toe in at the rear will make it very unstable exactly like you've described

so like what others have said

wait til you get an ALIGNMENT

problem will most likely go away

i thought excessive rear toe out would make it supre unstable, and toe in would stablise it?

or is it just any excessive toe makes a car unstable?

[Spurdo]

i thought excessive rear toe out would make it supre unstable, and toe in would stablise it?

or is it just any excessive toe makes a car unstable?

this, and other valid points, all explained

[zoidbergmerc]

i thought excessive rear toe out would make it supre unstable, and toe in would stablise it?

or is it just any excessive toe makes a car unstable?

Yeah I thought raising the car would make it toe out and gain positive camber which would cause the problems OP is having. Either way, alignment is necessary. They're like $40, stop being a tight wad and get it done.

[chiksluvit]

You'll get toe out at the front and toe in at the rear when you raise the car

Look at it this way

Both front and rear are designed to toe in under hard braking to stabilise the car

But because when you step on the brake hard, front dives, rear lifts

So nissan had to design the Front and rear geometry to act completely opposite

Yes toe in helps stabilizing it but not when it's too much

Edited July 5, 2011 by chiksluvit

[chiksluvit]

And yes anything, toe in or out, that is excessive will caus the car to be unstable

I had some tyre place which dialed in 20mm toe in at the rear when I asked for 2mm

The rear would hop over bumps and crab walk, it was a complete nightmare to drive

[dori34]

i have the same issue on my car atm too (R34 GTT), i believe it is for the 2 following reasons;

1) rear shocks are dead as they are leaking (but not knocking)

2) toe needs to be adjusted as the last time i got a wheel alignment, it was out by heaps.

I had stiff coilovers before (G4s) and it handled perfectly so i dont thkn stiffness will be the cause of it.

[Stevoss]

have you removed the hicas, mine was absolute crap and swayed like crazy under boost in a straight line, till i removed it

[33GTRV]

Its an r33.......

that is all

[zebra]

Air bags, and 22"s will fix the issue