car is lowered on JICs (maybe 10k miles on them?) set to the softest setting right now. 19" wheels w/ PS2s. Stock sway bars.

here are a few conditions where i feel the back end 'swerving' on me; i'll try to give as much info as possible in hopes that someone might figure something out:

1. pitch steering wheel back & forth quickly
after doing this, you can feel the back wobbling/swerving for a half-second. it kinda feels like a flat tire (yes, i checked the air.)

2. hit a big highway undulation
you can feel the back end wobble slightly after hitting a highway undulation doing 75mph+

3. high speed (130mph+)
car is not nearly as solid as it once was - you can feel the wobble a bit - probably just a sympton of #2 above.


i had a broken drop link that we fixed. while i understand the 19s may not give the best grip (18s are in my future), i can't believe they are causing the car to act like this (and it wasn't like this when i first got it 2 months ago.)

- bad coiliver? even w/ such low miles on them?
- bad sway bar? (what does that even mean? broken? it isn't...)
- anything else?


while i love this car, the problems are getting very annoying.

thanks,
chuck

 

Check your sway bars and links again, the links can break very easily, also check that the helper spring has enough tension that it sits firmly against the spring, also check that the lower brackets are in place correctly and ensure that all the associtaed nuts and bolts are tight.

 

It also sounds like one shock at least is not damping.

 

Check the rear toe-in.

 

I just reread that you have your shock on the softest
setting. When you say 'setting' that implies there is only
one setting, which is usually rebound damping. It may simply
be that you need much more damping. Try setting
it to midway between full soft and full hard.

 

My JICs are set for 8 rear/6 front and are perfectly stable.

 

i don't think it's the settings as it definitely didn't do this when i bought the car 2 months ago.

i will play w/ putting each of the rears on the highest setting to see if there's any difference.


no time to check everything mysef so will take it to sharky... i'm beginning to think i should just rent a space in his garage since i've had no such luck w/ 'porsche reliability...

- chuck

 

I ditto alignment (or something loose) as the culprist.

 

Also check the tires, wouldn't hurt to double check everything.

 

Alignment and wheel weights ??

 

Jack the car up in the back so that the rear wheels are off the ground. Grab the tire at 12 o'clock and 6 o'clock and try to move it back and forth as if you were testing for a lose wheel bearing. Then repeat the same at 9 o'clock and 3 o'clock. If there is any movement (clicking or clunking) it could be a bad bushing in one of the suspension links. Also, you may have hit a good bump recently and that can cause some toe out on one side and that will give that feeling. Also, as Joe pointed out, take a look at your shocks to see if there is any fluid leaking and if there is you might want to test them as well. good luck

 

LOL poor chap... Cary makes some good points however there's no real noise or even clues from the braking about a bearing Also, last time we had the spare on there so it was hard to drive it at all. Now with the right tires we'll give it another shot... We'll look for the usual stuff including leaks. However before you did get a spare your tire wear was pretty crazy on that one tire in the rear so I guess it could have been "knocked" off of a good alignment.

 

Your springs probably settled a bit too, that will cause some toe out. Make sure you're not set too low, as you will be getting bumpsteer as the shock bottoms out.

 

Check the Spindle Bearing or Spindle itself.. Sounds like you are talking about an alignment issue Too much toe in would result in exactly that behaviour

 

Oh yeah.. alignment is an issue- that much we know. Easy to fix that. But man this JIC-equipped car on 19s feels just like another one we had. It bounces everywhere in the front.. We'll look at it tomorrow and get her sorted