where to start,,
have 1680 crossflow locost (not the best)
Am getting fed up with it and not been able to sort steering,i know they are not the best for self centre and can to a point live with that.but after rebuild of rear suspensoin last year and front this year am so fed up with it as just does not want to go round corners or drive in a straight line. Have got to the point were am thinking of breaking it up for parts..
am looking for someone on the south coast that maybe able to have a look and point me in the right direction as to were to start and help improve the handling/steering .(happy to cover your costs).

Anything bent ? Worn bushes ? The cock up in the book gave half the needed castor. A good 7 deg really helps.

if its bent or misplaced would have to be in chassis/rack mount points that i can not see,new wishbones.shocks.springs,mnr uprights,hubs and rack .

where abouts are you...

maybe someone local who can give you a hand...

Have a search on here for bump steer

To really solve things you need to shorten the rack to move the ball joints in line with the wishbone bushes, then pay a lot of attention to positioning of the rack.

Once sorted the car will be a different beast to drive.

If it fails to self centre then you need to add some caster as a rule, if you look at the upright is the top laid back towards the rear, easy enough to fix you just need to make a new top wishbone that is slightly stepped back rather than moving the brackets.

Regards Mark

dont dispair mate, it's fixable

wandering sounds like caster angle is way out. This will not help cornering handling either. You need to get the geometry of the front suspension checked. Unfortunately I'm no where near the south.

Have a look on line for explanation of caster angle, theres plenty of info. , but basically sounds like your top wishbone is too far forward relative to the bottom one. If this proves to be the case, welding on new top mounts which are adjustable will allow the problem to be rectified.

hope you get it sorted.

http://www.locostbuilders.co.uk/viewthread.php?tid=35624

Explains caster

http://www.rebcoperformance.com/articles/art.asp?ARTID=6

Explains bumo steer

Regards Mark

quote:

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Originally posted by mark chandler
http://www.locostbuilders.co.uk/viewthread.php?tid=35624

Explains caster

http://www.rebcoperformance.com/articles/art.asp?ARTID=6

Explains bumo steer

Regards Mark

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im on the south coast just slightly north of portsmouth, i think the rack does need to move down a bit as was before using moded escort uprights,i have moved it down about 1/2 inch but still looks as to be needind more. will have to check and see what i can make of caster angle/top wishbone mounts.

The rack probably needs moving up if its not been shortened.

Take the nose cone off, take out the shocks, jack it up and then raise and lower the wheel from full droop to fully compressed and see if the wheel turns in/out with the steering central, to be precise get a laser and attach to the wheel or disc and point at a wall.

Now raise or lower the rack and temp fix in place with mole grips etc until you have the ideal position, then fix in place.

If you cannot remove all bump steer (I could not manage it) then you need to shorten the rack and start again.

Remember, you are trying to line up the little ball joint in the rack under the gator with a virtual line drawn between the two wishbone mounts, top and bottom.

Regards Mark

[Edited on 24/3/12 by mark chandler]

thanks for the advise and tips, will get out later and start looking..
Richard