Background:
I have been running GSR Swift Sport springs on my stock KYBs for the past few years. Recently I got my hands on a set of MR Bilsteins. I was trying to decide which springs to get to put on the Bilsteins (between MR Swift Sports, GTWorx, and MR Swift Spec Rs). I figured that in the meantime I would just throw the swifts I had on the Bilsteins and ride around on that...so I did.

Situation:
I took the car out for a test drive after the install and the ride is definitely smoother. It feels like I have more body roll. The main issue is that the car when I saw the wheel left and right feels all loose and noodley in the rear...kind of a wag the tail type feeling.

Question:

I realize that I have not gotten an alignment yet since the install. Do you think that what I am experiencing is due to a mis-alignment, or is this just due to the "softness" of the Bilsteins?
With my swifts on KYBs, sawing the wheel back and forth produced almost no body roll and the car just nicely went were it was pointed. Swerved around an obstacle (huge piece of wood) at 70 on the freeway and it was extremely drama free before.

Thoughts?

thanks guys and gals.

 

I have the original MR bilsteins ( 2005 MR ) 75K on them. I recently installed Swift Spec R springs on them. Spring rate 340 F 380 R

I find the car to be quite stiffly sprung. Car is quite flat doing side to side maneuvers. Nothing like you describe at all.

I would double check the alignment and the sway bar bushing at the rear. Make sure the endlinks are installed and tight.. For checking the alignment, you can use a piece of string running across the tires at axle height on one side of the car. Make sure the wheel is straight ahead. String should touch at all points from front to rear on each side. That would be zero toe.

See sig for suspension mods.

 

You need to get an alignment broseph.

 

Yeah especially because you probably changed your ride height (even just slightly) when swapping those shocks, the alignment will go out for sure with that slight ride height change. Not to mention when torquing the bolts it could've easily affected the alignment as well.

 

i have bilstens with swifts and the body roll is fairly minimal, sounds like something isnt right on your set-up or install

 

It's going to feel a lot different with the Bilsteins, but in a steady state corner you will not have any extra body roll compared to what you had before.

Are you sure the Bilsteins were in good working condition before?

- Andrew

 

They looked awesome. They had the stock springs and top-hats. The owner stated that they had 20k on them...based on the condition I would believe him.

 

An alignment will help the way the car handles, but will not lesson body roll.

You may not have any more body roll, however. There may be something weird happening with the alignment that's causing it to handle worse than before, tricking you into thinking it's body roll.

 

+1 on the alignment, and only because there's no reason for good-condition 20k Bilsteins to act like that, even with the mis-matched springs, because the valving is not THAT different.

The one thing I'm wondering is if once you got the old springs off the shocks you checked to see if you could compress them by hand... just because there's only 20k on them doesn't mean they can't be blown if the previous owner aimed for potholes.

 

ummm... Bilsteins are valved softer than the KYBs. I've driven stock MRs and GSRs back to back and the MRs have more roll.

MR's roll a little more, but ride better
GSR's roll a little less, but ride harsher

This was common Evo knowledge back in '05

 

Thought I would update this real quick for posterity...

Got the car aligned today. Definitely better. It does roll a little bit more. The rear end feels a little "looser" than it did with the KYBs. That said, after the alignment it doesn't feel like the back end is trying to whip around and kill you anymore.

Here are the specs:
___________Front Left____________Front Right
________Before____After_________Before__After
Camber___-1.00_____-2.10________-1.00___-2.10
Caster___+3.30____+3.20________+3.20___+3.20
Toe______-0.25_____-0.0_________-0.79___-0.01

___________Rear Left____________Rear Right
________Before____After________Before__After
Camber___-0.40_____-1.10_______-1.10___-1.10
Toe______-0.06_____-0.01_______-0.15___-0.01


So it looks like before there was a somewhat large toe difference between the two sides. There was a large camber difference in the rear. That must have accounted for the almost out of control looseness that I felt when sawing the wheel back and forth.

I am thinking that eventually I will get the GTworx or Swift Spec R Springs to stiffen things up a bit more.

 

Those numbers look better after the alignment. I use a little toe out in front now and zero toe in rear. Rotates better that way without getting unsettled.


My car has had the rear LSD disc re-pack to fix the way Mitsu shipped them. Also I use the middle setting on the 25 mm Progress bar. Doesnt need more as I can hang the tail under WOT.

Let us know how the car feels as you get more time on it.

Oh and yes the Spec R's will make a def difference. :=)

l8r

 

Thanks WRC-LVR. I want to do the rear diff LSD repack but I don't have a dial indicator to measure the backlash.