Jump to content
SAU Community

Recommended Posts

Hi all,

Continuing on from my little flip out when I lost the back in the wet in my Mazda 3 I've noticed the car feels very loose when driving in the wet.

Driving Wakehurst Parkway when it's raining I need to do minimum 10kph under the speed limit around any bends. If I don't then the car feels like it's about to let go.

The tyres are all new; Falkens Azenis on the rear and Hankook on the front but I fear this is more a geometry type issue. Sway bar or similar.

What can I check for or should I go to a suspension joint?

Thanks guys,

Christian

somewhat more seriously though, I'd start by having the alignment checked as something like toe out would definately create that feeling.

It also may simply be the rear tyres are no good in the wet. If they are same size rims I would swap front to rear for a while and see if the problem switches ends

Leading candidates to consider at the rear end:

- Excessive stiffness in the rear. Considering the fact that it's a Mazda 3 and therefore the springs and dampers will be stock and shouldn't be wrongly matched to the front, that leads to thoughts of things that are stiff that shouldn't be. So,

- A bush or bushes that are tight and don't allow rotation where they should,

- A damper that has seized up in some way and prevents bump or rebound stroke,

- Tyre pressures set to something ridiculous,

- Maybe a stuffed wheel bearing or other stuffed bush allowing motion that shouldn't happen. Not so bad as you notice it in the dry, but bad enough to get it moving in the wet.

Thoughts at the front end:

- Broken front ARB link making the front roll stiffness low.

- Buggered front damper perhaps.

Thanks guys!

The car has 90k on it, its a 2008 model and bog stock with perfect service history so while still plausable, i'd argue that worn components wouldn't be likely. Is that a fair assumption?

The shocks are all nice and firm still at least.

Tyre pressures were really high. All tyres have a max 35psi and they were all close to 40 when I got the car (November.)

In the dry its still very 'light' but considerably more sure-footed than in the wet.

I might reverse it up on my ramps today and whack stuff with a hammer (using a rubber mallet) to see if anything is loose or broken.

Could do the front at the same time actually.

Wait...

You don't like your fwd because it feels like it wants to oversteer? I'm failing to see the problem. Any decent fwd steerer will tell you that's the optimum situation. You just counter it with throttle.

Maybe take it to a skid pan and see where it actually does break away. Feeling light and actually breaking traction can be 2 different things.

Otherwise check rear alignment. Fwds are very sensitive to toe changes. Couple with worn steering or bearings (after 90000k you could have worn components) you can find it feeling very skittish.

  • Like 1

So went to jax today to have a chat about this. The rear tyres are 2012 tyres which is slightly on the old side but he reckons they've gone hard. He straight up said that I should replace the rear.

Does this make sense? Not convinced 4 years is too old but can't comment on them being hard.

That's getting on a bit, and some tyres suffer from this more than others. However i wouldnt expect 4 year old tyres to cause this mucn of a problem. Worth swapping front to back (for some reason I thought you'd already tried this) to at least eliminate this option.

So went to jax today to have a chat about this. The rear tyres are 2012 tyres which is slightly on the old side but he reckons they've gone hard. He straight up said that I should replace the rear.

Does this make sense? Not convinced 4 years is too old but can't comment on them being hard.

Post up your alignment sheet and yes tyres sound old.

Probably hard as shit lol

Here's an idea, buy another Skyline. Wobbly end fixed :)

  • Like 1

soften the rear for more grip in the arse.

NO!

Kepner Tregoe problem solving 101:

If you have a problem where there wasn't previously, find what has changed and undo that change (yes, big over simplification).

I don't think that the rear Springs magically got too stiff by themselves (although some will tell you that being too stiff can lead to a loose rear end, but we'll leave that alone)

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now


  • Similar Content

  • Latest Posts

    • OK, next the shroud needs to come off and there are a couple of tricks. Firstly, there is a loom from near the passenger side headlight to the fans, coolant temp sensor etc and there is no plug to undo.  In my case I was OK to leave the shroud on top of the engine so I just undid the passenger side fan plug and about 10 of the clips which gave enough free wire to put it aside. The fan plugs were super tight, the trick I used was a small falt screwdriver to push down on the release tab, then a larger flat screwdriver to lever the plug out of the fan unit....be careful with how much force you apply! If you need to remove the shroud altogether for some reason you will have to deal with all the plugs (tight) and clips (brittle)....good luck. I removed all of the clips and replaced them with cable ties that I will just cut next time. Also, in the Red Sport / 400R at least, the intake heat exchanger reservoir hose is bolted to the shroud in 2 places with 10mm headed bolts; so remove them (the hose stays in the car; no need to undo it at the t fittings down at the radiator lower mount. Once you've dealt with the HX hose and the wiring loom, there are 3x 10mm headed self tappers holding the top of the shroud to the radiator; remove those.   The shroud then lifts out of the bottom mounts where it sits on the radiator, up and onto the engine out of the way. Simples
    • Ok, disregard my “rate them” comment, sorry for my unrealistic input
    • OK, now we are ready to get started. You need to remove the air boxes on each side for clearance. The cover is straightforward, undo the clips on the top and lift the front cover out of the rest of the housing. If it is tight you can remove the air filters first. The rear section of the airbox is trickier. On each side you need to remove the Air flow meter wiring which is held to the airbox with a clip; you need to get behind the clip on 2 sides if you want to remove it without breaking it - unclip the harder side and pull on the clip with medium force, then unclip the easier side and it should pop out The airbox is held onto the intake hose with a spring clamp; you need to get a flat bladed screwdriver behind the spring on both sides and pop them outwards. When you have got them in the right unclipped place they will stay there and the airbox slips out pretty freely. Put a rag in the intake to prevent anything getting dropped in there, and also to prevent you seeing that the turbo seal is leaking oil (as they do). Then. The top of the radiator is held by a steel plate, it is secured by 2x10mm and 2x12mm headed bolts . Remove them and remove the plate Also grab the bushings that hold the radiator to the plate on each side so they are not lost!
    • Next, remove the upper and lower radiator hoses, both are held with a spring clamp. While you are under there, tackle the Auto Trans cooler lines.  Again both are held on with spring clamps, and as mentioned above you should cap them on the radiator side with an 8mm cap, and on the car side loop them with a length of 8mm pipe - this will stop you losing a dangerous amount of AT fluid during the rest of the job If you've been meaning to add a sender for AT trans temp, this is a great time to do it; put a sender fitting into the passenger side line as that is the inlet to the cooler/radiator.
    • Next you need to remove the intake duct (as with pretty much every job on these cars), it is a series of clips you gently remove with a flat bladed screwdriver. They do get brittle with time and can break, and I have not found a decent quality aftermarket one that fits (they are all too soft or flimsy and don't last either) but the nissan ones are a couple of bucks each (ouch).  Once the clips are off (either 8 or 10, I didn't check) you lift the intake duct out and will see the reservoirs Undo the line into the radiator side cap (some bent needle nosed piers are awesome for spring clamps) and then remove the 4x 10m nuts that hold both in place.  I didn't get these pics, but remove the line under the radiator reservoir (spring clamp again) then remove that reservoir. Then you can get at the intake reservoir, same thing, spring clamp underneath then remove it. BTW This is a great time to put in a larger (+70%) combined reservoir that AMS makes..... https://www.amsperformance.com/product/q50-q60-red-alpha-coolant-expansion-tank/ They also make an Infiniti branded and part# version if that is your thing
×
×
  • Create New...