hollywub

Hi All,

I just replaced every suspension component on my front and rear suspension, bmr k-member and tubualar a-arms with 1" taller ball joints, 1 piece axel-exchange driveshaft, adjustable front end links, gt500 front sway bar, tokico adjustables, h&r race springs, upr bump steer kit, upr rear upper control arm, steeda rear lca, steeda panhard rod/brace, steeda rear sway bar-billet end links, bmr a-arm brace, steeda radiator cross member, steeda sway bar braces...

I have a bump steer guage and I understand the concept of it.

What I do not understand is this. The instructions state to set Camber, Caster, toe first, then REMOVE the shocks and springs and set bump steer.

How can you set caster and camber then remove the springs?

If you have no springs in the car the cc plate will not be able to be bolted in... The front suspension will not be able to stay where it was setup for caster and camber if you remove the strut/spring...

What am I missing here?

Do you keep the spring in on the S197 type of setup?

Any help would be great!

ryan1112

The way I had to do it was set my alignment and while still on the alignment rack wench the car down by the k member and measure the toe change.

So_Cali

A little off topic, what exactly is the bumpsteer kit for?

BlackBetty

I think what you want to do to set bumpsteer is to remove the spring and reinstall the strut and camber plate without the spring. This just allows you to move the suspension up and down without dealing with the resistance of the spring.

As far as the camber and caster changing when you take the strut assembly out, I think it would be best to mark everything once you get caster/camber set and try to install everything as close as possible to where it was.

hollywub

I was thinking about this today. Is the reason for removing the spring so when you load the suspension it doesnt lift the car? I am sure the geometry is the same with the spring in.

I am just going to see how much droop and bump I can read with the spring in. If it is less than 1 3/4", then I will remove the spring and try to get it close to the caster/camber settings...

BlackBetty

Yes, I believe that's the reason. Much easier to manipulate the suspension when you're not lifting the car.

JAJ

The purpose of the bump steer kit is to align the two front lower links for the suspension and steering so that as the knuckle moves up and down the wheel stays pointed in the same direction. If the links are not precisely parallel (as they aren't from the factory) the wheel changes direction, "steering" the car. "Bump Steer" is this change of direction of the tire as you go over a bump, even if you hold the steering wheel steady.

You can remove and install the strut to take the spring off without moving the mounting points. The lower bolts only go one place, and the stock upper mount only allows one place as well. If you have a camber plate, then you have to measure the location of the top of the strut bolt, but it's not brain surgery to get it in the same place every time it's apart.

Norm Peterson

Camber and toe can still shift slightly just disassembling and reassembling, due to hole clearances. But that shouldn't have a huge effect on bumpsteer since what you're trying to do with bumpsteer correction is align the tierod inclinations to intersect the front view instant centers (this is close to, but not precisely the same as the LCA inclinations). Very small differences in tierod length will not change their inclinations much, and the tierod lengths are going to change a little when you set the toe anyway.


Norm

JAJ

You can minimize the shifts due to hole clearances by tensioning the strut before you torque it down. I lift up about 1/2" on the hub with a floor jack and then I tighten it up. I also check the camber at full droop with a digital level to make sure it's the same after I do it up as it was before I took it apart.

eolson

I had my Steeda bumpsteer kit installed at the same time as my Steeda X-5 ball joint kit and the Front LCA re-location kit at a qualified Steeda shop. I always hoped that bumpsteer was installed correctly, it seems like it's a big deal. Erik