heavy steering

[redsprinter]

Car - ae86

motor - 4age

use - daily / track

problem - heavy steering

occurs/started when - not sure

personal situation - might have girly arms .. :crying:

so any ways was drving my mate 86 the other night and his steering is sooo much lighter then mine . have no ide a why .

supension in comparsion :

mine :
-ma70 (or something) strut type coilover + brake
-unknown spring rates
-15x7.5 (unsure of offset but in the negative range )
-195/50/r15
-non standard (longer) lca
-non RCA

alignment
-2 camber
caster i belive is maxed out on stock ae86 caster arms
+1 toe out on each side

mates :
-s13 coil over supension +brake
-unkown spring rate ( would say its heavier, since its intended use is for a heavier car)
-15x7 ( offset is no where near as negative as mine)
- 195/50/r15

alignment
-1 camber
caster - im not sure
toe - im not sure

ATTN: EVIL86 update the suspension details if i wrong .

[.ady]

im pretty sure if u start increaseing your castor it gets harder to steer. so maybe your mate has less castor then you do hence feeling slightly lighter

[ae86]

prob due to more camber and more toe.
edit: can also depend on tyres even, each time i buy a fresh pair of re001's my steering feels much better, dno why but thats just how it feels

[lolwat]

get bigger arms

[Touge Boy]

Easy answer...

http://lh4.ggpht.com/koolblu7/SHfGXMHMFmI/AAAAAAAAANE/ctwaZD4zyt4/s400/dumbbells.jpg


Serious answer... Id also say it's down to the alignment, although tyre pressures, the actual tyres and some other things will all make a difference....

[hachi_dk]

yep tyre pressures make a big difference.
the next place to check would be the difference in castor.
as ".ady" said...

[redsprinter]

ok might try the tyre pressure . currently i run 32psi from memory . should i go up ?

have also heard caster can make it heavier might have play with it after the 28/11 (track day) since its so to speak drift ready .

[keiichi]

ok might try the tyre pressure . currently i run 32psi from memory . should i go up ?

have also heard caster can make it heavier might have play with it after the 28/11 (track day) since its so to speak drift ready .

+ toe is toe in so that'll make it feel tighter, while you're moving only though. maxed out castor will make it feel tighter and heavier when stationary or doing u-turns etc. 32psi is pretty low - try put in 36 or even 38 (prob 36 to be safe). have a good look at ground level from the front of your tyre make sure not too much if any tread is off the ground on the outside.

heavier isn't necessarily a bad thing, as long as your components are in good nick and the setup suits your driving.

[FAST EDDIE]

witht he s13 sus he will be running less castor as its harder to wind on, its definaltely lighter, does he have s13 rack that would also make a difference, my ae86 with s13 sus and 86 xmember is a million times harder to turn than my ke with s13 entire front end, yes i do have ps on the ke but even with the engine not running

[redsprinter]

Eddie - mates setup only consist of the S13 coilvers and brake. Castor arms are Ae86 rose jointed one i believe. and the rack is ae86.

update: went to the servo last night and met up with a couple of mates with their sprinters .

and i compared each car steering.

this was all done at low speed ( car park speeds) where it counts =),

results :

stock ae86 + stock suspension setting - running 15x7.5 re001 bridgestone .
-steering was light as a feather . almost felt like a jdm power steering ae86 .

ae86 + s13 suspension . - running the above s13 setup + above rims
-steering was slightly heavier then stock. nothing to complain about tho .

mine - was alot heavier then the above, worked out to be the tyre pressure was at a all time low of 30psi all round ... so i bumped it up to 38psi and feels alot better. lighter, little more responsive , all round good. not as light as the above 2 cars but hey i didnt buy a sprinter to cruise around in ..

thanks all .

and a Special thanks for boys who let me drive their cars last night.

[Jonny Rochester]

Steering ratio changes how light the steering feels. If you have the short steeering knuckles (PS or GTV) then you effectively have a quicker ratio, which will feel heavy. The Nissan knuckles probably have a different length and feel.

As said, caster is a huge factor. With lots of caster, you actually lift the front of the car up while turning. Do it in the car park, see the bonnet get higher. The weight of the engine makes the steering heavy when you have lots of caster.

I recomend zero toe-in, and not so extream caster and camber settings for a starting point. Especialy if you are having problems.