new coilovers causing my nova to get all bent out of shape?

[71 chevy]

i switched from moroso 47150 trick springs(2 coils cut) and CE drag shocks to heidts/strange coilover shocks with qa1 350 lb springs up front.

car used to ride pretty straight before with no issues. I switched to the coilover setup and I cannot make a clean pass.

I launch and it goes for the cones lol then i correct and I have to lift or I will for sure hit the wall. the car is now VERY twitchy

so.

the front end is aligned

ive tried from full soft to full hard on the shocks and no difference.

the springs are on the shocks in the same location, maybe a 1/8 turn difference AT THE MOST.

I dont want to go back to the old setup because the coilovers are so much easier to work with. If I have to change shocks or springs i will but Im staying coilover.

can someone help me try to figure out why all of a sudden the car is so twitchy.

[John_Heard]

Got any video of what it's doing?

Did your available travel and/or ride height change with this new setup?

[71 chevy]

i dont have video sorry. i really need to get some video im sure that would help.

i adjusted the ride height to be pretty much the same, and travel is the same at 5 inches.

[John_Heard]

Does it go the same direction every time?

Perhaps you have one side preloaded more than the other with the front springs.

You say it's "twitchy" - that sounds like a lack of caster to me. You said it's aligned... Who did it? What did they set things at?

[71 chevy]

Does it go the same direction every time?

Perhaps you have one side preloaded more than the other with the front springs.

You say it's "twitchy" - that sounds like a lack of caster to me. You said it's aligned... Who did it? What did they set things at?

it goes everywhere, but I want to say it goes left because when I leave in the right lane Im always pointing toward the cones lol.

I thought it might be preload, but I made sure the spring is on the shock in the same location on both sides. I actually counted the turns. it might be 1/8 turn difference from side to side .could that little difference cause an issue?

The caster is around 2 degrees positive. I can get it to over 5 degrees positive but then my camber will be like -1.8 degrees.

should I go with the higher caster number and run that much negative camber?

also, I havent tuned the ladder bars yet. we are doing that this weekend. could this cause the issue?

[John_Heard]

Part of that Twitchy feeling is likely the lack of caster, I don't believe 2 degrees is near enough, need to see what you can do to increase that. Camber should to be neutral but won't likely cause handling issues.

It sounds to me that you need to get the car on some scales to see where everything is at. You might want to look into taking the car to a chassis shop if there's someone in your area that is good. It needs to get the weights checked to see where everything is at, and fix that alignment issue.

[71 chevy]

Part of that Twitchy feeling is likely the lack of caster, I don't believe 2 degrees is near enough, need to see what you can do to increase that. Camber should to be neutral but won't likely cause handling issues.

It sounds to me that you need to get the car on some scales to see where everything is at. You might want to look into taking the car to a chassis shop if there's someone in your area that is good. It needs to get the weights checked to see where everything is at, and fix that alignment issue.

I can add shims and live with the negative camber. really I should buy offset control arm shafts that will allow me to run more caster without killing the camber, but Im saving for tubular upper a arms that have the extra caster built in.

I agree with you about getting the car professionally set up. Im thinking the rear end is a bigger problem than I was thinking and I dont have too much experience in that area. I'll look around for some good people.
thanks for all your help man.

[John_Heard]

It would probably be money well spent, you could make a bunch of trips to the track screwing with it trying to figure it out vs one trip to the shop to make sure everything is where it's supposed to be.

[supernova]

IMO sounds like a problem we had with a buddy of mine fuel altered last year. It darted all over the place until another friend drove it. All it took was one pass to figure out that it had a toe" in " problem that was fixed in just a few minutes never did it again after that.

Just a though. And you should have seen how bad the darting around was.

[71 chevy]

IMO sounds like a problem we had with a buddy of mine fuel altered last year. It darted all over the place until another friend drove it. All it took was one pass to figure out that it had a toe" in " problem that was fixed in just a few minutes never did it again after that.

Just a though. And you should have seen how bad the darting around was.

ill have the shop double check all that. who do you use around here for your chassis work?

[John_Heard]

Where are you located at?

[supernova]

I do all my own stuff albeit a shop would do a better job for a price. I learned to do it my self.
Did you get my message about going to the track Wed? I would be glad to help you with it.

[supernova]

Where are you located at?

Hey John, he's here in the DFW area. I'm going to offer to help and see what the isssue is with it.

[71 chevy]

I do all my own stuff albeit a shop would do a better job for a price. I learned to do it my self.
Did you get my message about going to the track Wed? I would be glad to help you with it.

no, i did not get any messages. hmm, thats weird.

thank you for the offer to help. i appreciate that. i'll pm you.

[71 chevy]

Where are you located at?

DFW