Chasing an Issue on the LR/RF

[missile07]

Looking for advice....knowledge...help

Bought a new car this spring & won several races straight out of the box. Anytime we were loading the car in the hauler or in the pits and he turned the car to the left it would instantly lift up the left rear and smash the RF nose to the ground. The car sat up really high in the RF and squatted in the LR. The car had a 3 spring LR stack with no lock out nut that came out to be roughly 40lbs.

Got in a wreck one night and bent the shaft on the LR shock(Bilstein). Sent the shock back to the builder and got the shaft replaced & sent back. From then on the car will not get up on the bars. Will not pick up at all when moving in the pits and more importantly on the track unless it in hammer down traction. Now the car sits higher in the LR and lower on the RF

We assumed we had something else bent. Changed out complete RF suspension, checked birdcages, checked 4 links bars, etc.....found nothing else bent or binding.

Not exact numbers but our smash numbers are:
RF 700 @ 19" 2050 @ 14.25" 200 lb single spring
LF 600 @ 17 " 350 single spring
RR 350 @ 20" 250 single spring
LR 420 @ 20" & 165 @ 24"(dropped out) * triple stack at roughly 40lbs WITH lockout nut

Will not climb the bars. Bar angles are the same. We have tried the triple stack without the lockout nut, added gas 150psi to LR shock, we have changed RF shocks & lowered compression & load down to 675 @ 18".

I can walk up to the RF nose and barely put pressure and it goes to the ground. I can go to the rear bumper and with one hand lift the LR to near full travel but on its own it will not lift. I can jump on the rear bumper and the car will not go down on the left rear.

One night out of desperation, I grabbed a older spare Integra LR shock with a 125 spring for our other car and stuck it on. Car lifted LR, wrinkled the tire and slammed the RF nose down.

Two different builders have looked at the LR shock(Bilstein) now and both say it looks fine.

What are we missing?

[grt74]

1st thing comes to mind is a bind somewhere, 2nd is did you reverse engineer it??? are you sure those where the correct numbers (not trying to be a smart ass here) and if you put a different shock on her and she worked (car acted fine) i think you have your answer

[Kromulous]

I would take the triple stack and put in on the Integra, if it works you have the answer.

[missile07]

GRT74- We initially thought bind somewhere, so we replaced all a-arms, spindles, and ball joints. Replaced 4 link bars, and checked out birdcages on both sides. Took 5th coil shock setup off and checked it.

The load numbers are correct for us & this car. We have even played with another set of load numbers closer to standard and nothing.

KROM- We dont have enough threads on the Integra to do the same exact triple stack that we have setup with the bilstein. We did try a simple stack last night late with the integra and it was better but we dont have the correct springs currently to get it to what we need.

[keeks]

Just a note about the post. You first say that you had no lockout nut on the LR, but then in your smash numbers you say you have a lockout nut. Typo? Could that change be the issue?

[missile07]

Sorry I should have clarified.

Originally we had the triple stack with no lock nut....shock got bent & we put it back with the lock nut at our smash number (24" @165-200) and it wouldn't hike. Shock builder #1 and shock builder #2 both said the driver would like it better with lock not. So they added the nut with the triple stack (24" @ 165) and again no lift.

[billetbirdcage]

Sorry I should have clarified.

Originally we had the triple stack with no lock nut....shock got bent & we put it back with the lock nut at our smash number (24" @165-200) and it wouldn't hike. Shock builder #1 and shock builder #2 both said the driver would like it better with lock not. So they added the nut with the triple stack (24" @ 165) and again no lift.

Can you clarify where the lock nut is now? under the bottom floater plate or above one of them?

And, not 100% clear if you tried without lock nut after wreck (so it's been tried with and without lock nut after wreck and still no hike?)

[missile07]

Lock not is under the floater plate near the bottom of the threads. Should only affect extended load & was setup and put on by the shock builder #2.

Yes it has been tried with and without the lock nut and no hike either way.

[victorylane]

Is there a LR front shock on it?

[missile07]

No front shock

[Jking24]

Sounds like you had somthing you shouldn't have and they fixed it for you. Seriously though you say your dealing with two shock builders are either one of them the original builder ?

[MasterSbilt_Racer]

Looking for advice....knowledge...help

Bought a new car this spring & won several races straight out of the box. Anytime we were loading the car in the hauler or in the pits and he turned the car to the left it would instantly lift up the left rear and smash the RF nose to the ground. The car sat up really high in the RF and squatted in the LR. The car had a 3 spring LR stack with no lock out nut that came out to be roughly 40lbs.

Got in a wreck one night and bent the shaft on the LR shock(Bilstein). Sent the shock back to the builder and got the shaft replaced & sent back. From then on the car will not get up on the bars. Will not pick up at all when moving in the pits and more importantly on the track unless it in hammer down traction. Now the car sits higher in the LR and lower on the RF

We assumed we had something else bent. Changed out complete RF suspension, checked birdcages, checked 4 links bars, etc.....found nothing else bent or binding.

Not exact numbers but our smash numbers are:
RF 700 @ 19" 2050 @ 14.25" 200 lb single spring
LF 600 @ 17 " 350 single spring
RR 350 @ 20" 250 single spring
LR 420 @ 20" & 165 @ 24"(dropped out) * triple stack at roughly 40lbs WITH lockout nut

Will not climb the bars. Bar angles are the same. We have tried the triple stack without the lockout nut, added gas 150psi to LR shock, we have changed RF shocks & lowered compression & load down to 675 @ 18".

I can walk up to the RF nose and barely put pressure and it goes to the ground. I can go to the rear bumper and with one hand lift the LR to near full travel but on its own it will not lift. I can jump on the rear bumper and the car will not go down on the left rear.

One night out of desperation, I grabbed a older spare Integra LR shock with a 125 spring for our other car and stuck it on. Car lifted LR, wrinkled the tire and slammed the RF nose down.

Two different builders have looked at the LR shock(Bilstein) now and both say it looks fine.

What are we missing?

If your car sits different at static ride, the loads are different. Shock mount change or way more rod pressure in a shock could explain it.

[missile07]

Yes we are dealing with the original builder of the shock. The original builder replaced the bent shaft and said everything else looked fine. Swears he did not change anything other than the shaft. We tried it and it will not hike in the LR. Took it a to a local shock guy to look at and he talked with our original shock guy and says it looks fine to him as well. Still nothing.

When I say the car sits higher in the LR and lower in the RF we thought maybe it was an optical illusion because we just put a new body on it but its not. The car will not settle in the LR. We left it sitting over night Friday night at ride height and come back Saturday morning and it had dropped from a spoiler height of 41" to 38.5". Shock mounts have not moved.

We are going to basically strip the car to the frame and make sure we haven't missed something. Just frustrating

[dirtrace09]

Tell us about the wreck that bent the shaft. Where on the car did it take the hit? Also, how did the car move when it was hit? I am guessing another corner took some of the brunt of the impact (even if it wasn't the direct hit) and is possibly the culprit.

[MasterSbilt_Racer]

Yes we are dealing with the original builder of the shock. The original builder replaced the bent shaft and said everything else looked fine. Swears he did not change anything other than the shaft. We tried it and it will not hike in the LR. Took it a to a local shock guy to look at and he talked with our original shock guy and says it looks fine to him as well. Still nothing.

When I say the car sits higher in the LR and lower in the RF we thought maybe it was an optical illusion because we just put a new body on it but its not. The car will not settle in the LR. We left it sitting over night Friday night at ride height and come back Saturday morning and it had dropped from a spoiler height of 41" to 38.5". Shock mounts have not moved.

We are going to basically strip the car to the frame and make sure we haven't missed something. Just frustrating

Birdcage bearings?