Bad bump steer after lowering.
#1
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Join Date: May 2007
Location: Olds, AB, Canada
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Bad bump steer after lowering.
I recently put the H&R/Bilstein suspension combination in my car, it is really low now, I'm booked in to get the alignment done Tuesday, but I'm still driving the car. The bump steer is horrible, I'm all over the road. Is the alignment going to make it better? What else can I do if the alignment isn't going to fix it?
On another note I was driving in very heavy rain today and I think my Continental Sports are the worst wet driving tires I've ever used.
On another note I was driving in very heavy rain today and I think my Continental Sports are the worst wet driving tires I've ever used.
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Wait and see how it handles after you get it aligned. Tell your shop you are concerned about bump steer and ask them to take it as low as they can without having a lot of bump steer. I have the HR greens with the Bilsteins and have been quite happy with the set up. But I am not at the very bottom of the perches either.
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#8
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I have the same combination as you have i.e. Bilstein HD/ H&R Green, I had my suspension set at Carrera RS caster and camber and ride height was set at front 125mm + 15mm rear 218mm+15 mm. At first I had it set at the lower settings i.e. 125/218mm and the front end felt really nervous and darty, with the slightly higher setting it feels just perfect.
Steen
Steen
#9
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Some advices to reduce the bump steer on my C4 without having to raise the car ?
Paolo
Paolo
#10
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Another thought, rather than spending lots of $$$$ on EVO uprights. Can you not just turn the tie rod end unside down and attach to the underside of the hub? would that not compensate for 10-20mm for lowered suspension? with the tie rod sitting lower? just thinking out of the box.
#11
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Mjims, this is very interesting!
Paolo
Paolo
#12
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Wait and see how it handles after you get it aligned. Tell your shop you are concerned about bump steer and ask them to take it as low as they can without having a lot of bump steer. I have the HR greens with the Bilsteins and have been quite happy with the set up. But I am not at the very bottom of the perches either.
It needs to be aligned/CB before you start worrying.
Mine was darty on the way to get the alignment done too... very nice afterwards.
#14
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After installing H&R/Bilstein on my '90 C4, the ride heights were:
115mm (front left)
105mm (front right)
210mm (rear left)
200mm (rear right)
Suffice to say I had terrible bump steer.
At the alignment they were raised to RS spec:
125mm (front left)
124mm (front right)
228mm (rear left)
228mm (rear right)
Along with all the other geometry changes at the alignment the bump steer was greatly reduced, if not eliminated.
Adam
115mm (front left)
105mm (front right)
210mm (rear left)
200mm (rear right)
Suffice to say I had terrible bump steer.
At the alignment they were raised to RS spec:
125mm (front left)
124mm (front right)
228mm (rear left)
228mm (rear right)
Along with all the other geometry changes at the alignment the bump steer was greatly reduced, if not eliminated.
Adam
#15
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This morning I had the alignment and ride height set to where it should be, the car is much better, it no longer jumps to the side whenever I hit a bump. The last couple drives before I had this done have actually been scary, we've been getting a lot of rain and the car was all over the place, I thought it was my tires at first, but after I got the car back I now have no problem driving in the rain.
So I guess this is a lesson learned, after changing your own suspension make sure the first thing you do is get it properly aligned.
One more thing is the ride height, before they corrected it something looked off to me, it wasn't level and the back looked too low. Now it looks perfect, I'm much happier. It's hard to tell from these pictures the difference before the ride height adjustment so you'll just have to trust me that it looks better.
This is how it looks now:
This is how it looked right after the suspension install:
This is how it looked with the stock suspension:
So I guess this is a lesson learned, after changing your own suspension make sure the first thing you do is get it properly aligned.
One more thing is the ride height, before they corrected it something looked off to me, it wasn't level and the back looked too low. Now it looks perfect, I'm much happier. It's hard to tell from these pictures the difference before the ride height adjustment so you'll just have to trust me that it looks better.
This is how it looks now:
This is how it looked right after the suspension install:
This is how it looked with the stock suspension: