overlord

I am currently experiencing problems with my current setup, I have Koni yellows paired with GC Coilovers with 350 Front and 375 Rear spring rates. Over time I am experiencing excessive "bump steer" when i go over little bumps/manholes on the road. The rear kinda twitches when I go over these little bumps. Lately, it also feels unpredictable and loose on the corners, feels like rear is gonna break loose and kinda jumpy. I have the Koni's set to medium stiffness and GC lowered moderately, just to clear the wheel gap on 04 OEM 17s. Before the car did not behave this way...

I have done a search and have not found anyone with the same situation or advice on it. If someone has any idea on what I should do please post! Both the spring and shock combo has less than 10K on it and I do not drive over pot holes and bumps on a fast speed. I have checked the shocks and there are no signs of oil leak, so I do not think is blown. This problem is for the REAR suspension, the front is fine. I tried different stiffness settings to no success.

I am not sure if it is the shocks, springs or the settings. I am also leaning towards getting an alignment done on the car as soon as I find out if I need to replace something.

I would really appreciate it if someone knowledgable will step up and give me some advice. Should I try getting a higher spring rate spring? Please HELP!

TIA

overlord

I am currently experiencing problems with my current setup, I have Koni yellows paired with GC Coilovers with 350 Front and 375 Rear spring rates. Over time I am experiencing excessive "bump steer" when i go over little bumps/manholes on the road. The rear kinda twitches when I go over these little bumps. Lately, it also feels unpredictable and loose on the corners, feels like rear is gonna break loose and kinda jumpy. I have the Koni's set to medium stiffness and GC lowered moderately, just to clear the wheel gap on 04 OEM 17s. Before the car did not behave this way...

I have done a search and have not found anyone with the same situation or advice on it. If someone has any idea on what I should do please post! Both the spring and shock combo has less than 10K on it and I do not drive over pot holes and bumps on a fast speed. I have checked the shocks and there are no signs of oil leak, so I do not think is blown. This problem is for the REAR suspension, the front is fine. I tried different stiffness settings to no success.

I am not sure if it is the shocks, springs or the settings. I am also leaning towards getting an alignment done on the car as soon as I find out if I need to replace something.

I would really appreciate it if someone knowledgable will step up and give me some advice. Should I try getting a higher spring rate spring? Please HELP!

TIA

twohoos

Damper settings are tricky -- any adjustment you make will cause oversteer in some situations AND understeer in others. Plus it sounds like this is new behavior? I.e., it wasn't always this way with these dampers, so something's definitely changed?

Start with the basics: check tire pressures first. Assuming that's ok, check alignment - I suspect the rear toe is wacky, possibly from hitting one of those bumps. You should have a full 1/4" toe-in at the rear. When you're certain there's nothing wrong with the suspension, you can start tweaking settings. Higher-rate springs in the front (or bigger swaybar) will reduce twitchiness, as well as lower rates in the rear. Good luck.

overlord

Yes, this is a new behavior. As I said, I am also leaning towards the alignment being screw up. I know this is a very stupid move but I have not performed an alignment after putting in the Koni's, because when I first installed it all was ok plus alignment done by a reputable shop is very expensive...but now alignment, might have gone worse.

I am also thinking about switching from GC coilovers to Espelir springs which has higher spring rates. I have read reviews that this combo along with 17" wheels works really well.

Should I just get an alignment done and stick with my current setup or switch to Espelir's and get an alignment done? I am so tired of tweaking the height and damper settings to get the optimal setting. I do not autox or anything, it is my daily driver.

TubeDriver

Could easily be a result of bad alignment. Did you you align the car after the GC/Koni install?

overlord

I did not do it, which is so stupid of me. I was under the impression that the car was ok, since it runs straight and does not pull or anything. So I just went ahead and used the car, plus alignment done by a reputable shop is really expensive.

But I will try to get one this weekend...Also on the side note, I am thinking of switching to plain springs and get rid of my GC's and pair it up with the Koni's...would you guys recommend this? I am leaning towards Espelir ASD springs....

gfacter

Your alignment will be totally off after changing shocks. Even minor ride height changes can throw it out.

TubeDriver

You have to get it aligned. I think the GC are way better than most if not all other springs sets. GC uses Eibach race springs, how could you improve on that (plus the adj height, lifetime warrantty etc)?

Your toe is probably way off which will make the rear twitchy and will eat up your tires.

overlord

I will try to get one this weekend and I know it will make a difference.

As for my question...should I stick with the GCs or replace them with Espelir's? I know that the espelirs have higher spring rates, and if I get springs, I wont need to play with the ride height and get the optimal setting.

What The

I'd agree with the others, it's def the alignment. Mine is like that everytime I swap suspensions.

Also, i'd stick with the GC's. That combo is probably the best. If you're going to replace the springs, the next one in line would probably be the KG/MM's.