Issues after install - Sways and Bump Steer Kit

[TouringBubble]

I recently installed a few suspension mods on my Evo IX ... Springs, camber plates, Whiteline front sway, Whiteline rear sway and Whiteline bump steer kit. I now have an issue that causes the car to "buck" or "see-saw" when cornering near the limit.

I've double checked all bolts and played with the rear swaybar settings to no avail. I believe the issue is being caused by the bump steer kit.

When I was reinstalling the suspension arms after pressing in the new bushings, I had issues with the center metal bushing spinning. It took several tries on each side to get the offset hole at the bottom of the bushing as instructed in the install guide.

I think this issue is being caused by either the poly part of the bushings not being aligned perfectly or the center metal part of the bushing being rotated more on one side than the other.

Has anyone experienced this before? Does it sound like the bushings could be the issue I have? If so, what steps can I take to address it?

Thanks.

[Whiteline]

Hi,

Firstly,

For your EVO to "buck" or "see-saw" we are inclined to believe you are experiencing pitch isolations which are generally a result of inadquate shock/spring combination. Suspension geometry will not cause this.

Do you have Whiteline Springs fitted to the vehicle and what is your CWTG measurment?

As for the Bumpsteer kit, once you have aligned the crush tube, greased and tightened to spec, the knurling should hold position.

Hope this helps


Regards
John Leighton
John.leighton@redranger.com.au

[TouringBubble]

Yes, that sounds like the issue I am having.

No, I do not have Whiteline springs. I have GTWorx springs mounted on the OE Bilstein struts from the MR edition. I'm honestly not sure of the CWTG measurement, but the springs only provided a 12-15 mm drop on both front and rear. The front springs actually dropped the car slightly lower but the camber plates added some extra height to the assembly and the front and rear ended up with about the same drop.

The issue with the bump steer kit spinning happened on install. I aligned the ball joint and then attempted the put the other side of the arm in to place. The knurling would catch the mounting point causing it to spin. After several tries I got both sides aligned correctly.

My concern is that I don't know if the knurled tube spun when I set the toe since it would have experienced similar forces. It almost felt like the one tube was too long as it took some force to get it in to position.

I'll see if someone from GTWorx could provide any useful info on the spring rates etc. that might help narrow down the issue.

[TouringBubble]

The GTWorx springs are (I believe) 290 lb/in F and 325 lb/in R. They are slightly progressive.

I don't have any specs on the struts. I believe they are specific to the Evo MR, but are likely very similar to the Bilstein HD series.

Again, I'll see if someone from GTWorx could verify or provide any extra information.

[TouringBubble]

After speaking with GTWorx in depth about the issue I'm not completely convinced that it's the shocks/springs causing the issue.

I did inspect the struts during the install and even have photos. They showed no signs of damage/leaking and have 21k miles on them. I might be wrong, but I'm assuming that they are still in good working order.

There is no sign of excessive bounce or inadequate dampening in any other circumstance than what I've described. I daily drive the car and it rides great. This again tells me that the struts are in good shape. This might not have much to do with the spring rates in comparison though ... I'm still a little cloudy on that technical side of things.

The GTWorx springs maintain a similar F/R bias as the stock springs (softer front spring) thought I'm sure the ratio has changed slightly. There are several cars in the US running these springs with the MR Bilstein struts and no one seems to have encountered this issue.

Anyway, I must ask ... is there any chance the sway bars could cause this effect I'm experiencing? After all, sway bars are technically springs right? Is there any chance that one sway could be improperly biased (from the install) toward one side or the other? I assume they would center themselves after a few corners, but I'm not certain of that.

I have noticed that the rear sway (24mm adjustable Whiteline) doesn't want to properly align to the soft setting on the L side of the vehicle. Could it be drilled unevenly and could that cause this issue?

Thank you again for the insight.

Some extra info ...

Stock endlinks both F and R
-2.4º camber F
-1.3º camber R
0 toe all around
Stock F camber adjustment maxed to 1.5ºL/1.7ºR and the rest dialed in via camber plates.
Aligned at race weight w/ driver.