Anees

Oh yeah, with the amount of work done to the chasis geometry is definetly going to be away out! So would you say in my case I should just leave the corner weighting? (if I can even find a place reasonably close to me). Thanks. Anees

Hi guys, I have just had some major work carried out on the ARISTO I own, including steering rack bushes, rear upper control arms (with ball joints replacement), Toms 6 links, Tein Coilovers, EDFC, Toms ARS Cancellor TRD AntiRoll bars, Chasis braces etc. Work was done yesterday and basically the car is all over the place when I drive it at motorway speeds, its wondering off and I am getting judder through the steering wheel, feels almost as if the front is fighting to drive straight at motorway++ speeds I am going to check the following this week: 1) Wheel balancing 2)Wheel Nut Torque (103NM apparently) Obviously the car urgently needs a Geometry check/adjustment done asap which I pray when combined with the balancing and wheel torque fixes the probelms. I expect the car to be all over the place. I just want to let the new suspension settle first however and make sure I am happy with the ride height before the geometry. My question is about corner weighting. Is it something that will make a big difference on a road car? I have had coilovers on a few of my cars now in the past and never had them corner weighted before but I was talking to someone recently and they said I have to have the car corner weighted with the new coilovers otherwise the geometry is a waste of time? I wouldn't have a clue where to go in the Northwest for corner weighting. Any advice appreciated Thanks, Anees PS I am going to make a conscious effort to visit the WIM forum more often

Hi Tony, The ones I have ordered are Hub Centric I assume the GS300/Aristo has adjustable camber? Another question has popped up regarding the spigot rings. I have been trying to get a 74.1mm to 60.1mm spigot rings but they don't seem to exist! 74.1mm to 72.6mm are popular as are the 72.6mm to 60.1mm. Is it safe to combine spigot rings? A wheel supplier in Oldham suggested this idea and said that they themselve do this when they can not get the right sizes. Does this sound ok?

Thanks guys! Getting 15mm spacers means that effectively my fronts wheels will have an offset of et20 so I think I will have to get the arches rolled and possibly look into arch modifications.....but then it would be too nice and straight forward to just stick with the J-Spec calipers THE BEST spacers (that even the Supra crowd seem to think are ok) appear to be made by a company called Project Kics in Japan. I have ordered a set of 15mm spacers from them. Details here: http://www.neweraparts.com/Default.aspx?ta...CustomerID=3476

Hi guys, A few weeks back I saw a set of alloys I loved on ebay. They were the correct fitment for a Toyota Supra and hence my car (Toyota Aristo V300) with the correct offset etc. I tried to find out if they would clear front TRD Brake Calipers (Supra) which I had bought previously as part of a brake upgrade (yet to be installed) but found mixed info on the MKIV Supra forum with one person saying they should fit; the other saying not. The details are: FRONT 19" 8.5J et35 REAR 19" 9.5J et42 I just decided to gamble and go for it! I manged to pick the alloys up with both Front rims having brand new Falken FK-452 tyres and the rears with Khumo Ecsta Tyres with 6mm thread for £627! Even if I bought tyres they would cost me almost that price so I thought it was worth the gamble! Today we test fitted the new calipers to try and see what the situation is and its not looking great - they definetly will not clear the brakes, so I will need spacers. I need a 12mm spacer (since it took two 6mm spacers we had lying around to clear the calipers). It looks like 15mm spacers is the best bet. On a BMW forum that I vist many people use spacers without issues and alot claim that their car handles better because of it. On the Jap car forums such as the Supra forums they seem to have a negative reputation with the list of problems being: - more stress on studs - more stress on wheel bearings - more stress on suspension in general (inc track rods) - more wear and tear on the power steering so I am confused by the mixed opinions. I know a few people with Jap cars that have Spacers on and they have had no issues at all. I think that alot of the problems with spacers are because of the use of poor quality spacers. If I bought 15mm hub centric spacers that actually bolt on to the hub then the wheel connects to the new stud on the spacer like the quality ones offered by Eibach, H&R etc should I be okay? How will using spacers affect handling? If a car is setup to take the spacers into account when the geometry is done is it possible to correct any negative geometry issues because of the spacers? I have also discovered that the previous owner must have had a vibration coming from these wheels. They came with the incorrect spigot rings with OD 72.6mm --> ID 60.1mm where as the wheels actually need 74.1mm --> 60.1mm (the bore size is 74.1 according to the box of the alloys) Any advice appreciated. Thanks, Anees

Tony, Can balljoints go bad - even if they look ok? Just been thinking whether its worth replacing them anyway?

Thanks Tony Superb article by Sam@TDI.......very informative!

I'm sorry to sound stupid but WHAT?! Suspension has a frequency?? Think I better do some googling.

What I do know is that it should reduce the play and hopefully vibrations. Not sure on the wonder - but hoping so. My theory is that since the suspension has been stiffened up, along with the powerflex bushes more vibrations have been sent through the steering column which has caused the already weaked coupling to wear signifanctly causing the vibrations and judder. ?? The wonder I am still worried about. Could the geometry be causing any issues? The geometry is almost all BMW spec settiing apart from the caster being slightly out (but its none adjustable anyway)

You know what Tony? I am almost willing my mechanic mate to say ball joints/wishbones/bushes are shot just so I can be on the right line; but he insists they seem fine! Right been doing lots of digging into this. Apparently their is a rubber coupling on the lower steering column that can wear (which is I have discovered the same part my mate said had play in it). When it wears all the imperfections and vibrations in the road are no longer cushioned, so you get the vibration/judder and play. A few people on e46fanatics have replaced it and in most cases it has made a substantial improvement to play. Info Here: http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.ph...t=steering+play I have ordered that part from my stealer today: http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do?mo...hg=32&fg=30 No - 4 for the newer cars. No - 2 for the older cars. Fingers crossed...... You are right Tony - you would think Drury would mention it if something like Tie Rods were that knackered as well as my mate; doubt its right. I also think you are correct about the wheel balancing - I probably do need it doing again on the machine you recommended. Do any national franchises have these machines? I also read yesterday somewhere about a forum member on e46fanatics that had a front wheel vibration issue and he ended up solving it by rebalancing the REAR wheels!! Does that sound feasible? Thanks, Anees

Tony... (as always) appreciate your input The Front Rear Wishbone bushes and the rear trailing arm bushes have all been replaced with Powerflex items. What about Tie rod ends?

Thanks Mark: http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do?mo...hg=32&fg=30 Its the part at the top with 3 - 5 written on it I think.

UPDATE Went to my mates garage today and he did spent some serious time on that car that I am thankful for. We went on a proper run taking in all kinds of roads. The steering definetly does jump about/wobble; but it is not always at the same speed. The car seems to pull to the left sightly too and on the motorway it seemed to wonder slightly. He also noticed far too much play in the steering wheel. He could make quite sizable turns on the steering wheel before the wheel actually moved. When the car is not running the amount of play increases. Obviously after having spent all this money on suspension I wasn't expecting it to be that bad! We got the car on the ramp and he had a good look around. I was expecting him to say that the front wishbones/ball joints were knackered - but no, he said they seemed fine. He said the only thing he could think of was a "steering wheel knuckle joint" (he couldn't remember the proper name) or maybe even the steering rack. Had had a look and the bits were hot because of the drive we had just been on; but he DID find play, but couldn't tell if it was coming from the steering rack or the knuckle joint that connects to it. He said that play in this knuckle joint would definetly explain the unresponsive steering, the wondering and the "shimmying" "jittering" He is a great believer in OEM and he always was against coilovers; but even he didn't think it was the coilovers at fault - but they do contribute towards the issue because they are stiffer. Not sure what to do now? I bet a e46 steering rack is EXPENSIVE! Is a steering rack something worth buying from a scrap yard? One going on ebay for a £100 which is from a 54reg car with 30K miles. EDIT: Tony seen your post - really appreciate the picture. The reason I got the balancing done in the first place from Wheelbase in Oldham is that when I had my Lexus they were the only place that could balance the wheels properly and they have all the latest equipment (yes I know operator is just as important) and are an Alloy Wheel specialist selling all kinds of wheels.

Hi Tony The wheels (Beyern Mesh) are Hubcentric and do not need spiggot rings.

Hi Guys, I had a new rear tyre fitted on Tuesday (to replaced punctured one), I asked the place I was using (WheelBase in Oldham) to balance by front tyres. I was getting a slight vibration at from 40 to 80ish (where it got quite bad). Drove the car home and noticed the vibration still there once I got on the motorway from 60 - 80mph. At 70mph the vibration is not too bad, but at 80mph its really bad, with the wheel really jumping about. I assumed the balancing was not quite right, so I went to my mates garage where I know he keeps his machine calibrated all the time and we balanced the wheels again; they were out by 9Lbs one side and 14Lbs other side. He did explain to me that different places use different methods to balance their wheels - he balances his wheels on the outside only and has never had a comeback. Both wheels came up 0.0 on the machine so he refitted them and I thought that would be the end of the problem; driving home I still have the same problem. I am confident its not the wheel balancing anymore so what could it be? Car is on Eibach Coilovers, Eibach Anti Roll Bars, Powerflex Front Wishbone Rear Bush and Powerflex Rear Trailing Arm Bush. The following info maybe unrelated but it might be useful: This week I have noticed that the ride on the coilovers has stiffened up too - done about 1000miles on them now. An issue I have recently noticed too is that the steering wheel in the centre position appears to be very slightly dead in that I can make tiny adjustments and it doesn't really affect the wheels that much. I suppose its not "sharp". When I had the geometry done about three weeks ago; I thought that the steering was not quite straight; so went back and they straightened it up for me, although thinking about it it might be related to the issue above. The geometry is all in spec apart from the caster which is very slightly out (but is not adjustable anyway). What other things are their to check? I am thinking that since all the above suspension mods have been done (and uprated) I am now seeing the next week link in the suspension raise its head. Any advice appreciated. Thanks, Anees

The settings in the Hunter machine seem to indicate -2 degrees is correct.... I don't want to be meeting any barriers anytime soon so thanks for the advice. Seems strange for him to suggest 0. At Drury they did actually pull down on the front and rear anti-roll bars as a test and the car settings on screen still stayed in spec. As you know Tony, your opnion is (for me) by far the most important one, so if you say its fine; then I am reassured! Thank you for the help.

Just a quick update to say that the car now handles far far better then it did previously. The steering is less jumpy and more settled and through corners it really is very good. Not quite as good as my lexus was with the Apexi coilovers, but the Eibach coilovers are more designed for road use and are much softer. The Apexi coilovers were pretty hard. The ride with the Eibach is almost the same as standard, expect that it is slightly bouncier; but its not crashy so not annoying. Also no knocking to report I put my geometry report on a BMW website that I visit and one of the forum members posted the following; I would like your opinions on this please Tony. I thought that the standard BMW geometry settings were "good" unlike the Lexus, so I shouldn't need to make changes as suggested by this BMW forum member. Should I be worried? Also, another BMW forum member posted that they had a geometry check done by a place in Bolton and the place weighed his car down (he also has uprated suspension) and when they removed the weights the on-screen values remained the same....interesting

Thanks Tony Paul wasn't there - he is away on holiday for two weeks. They were very shy and retiring over the pictures as can be seen here:

Hi guys, Made the trip to Drury Lane Service and Geometry Centre in Oldham today for a geometry check and adjustment. My car has: Eibach Pro Street-S Coilovers (lowered) Eibach AntiRollbars with Uprated Bushes Powerflex Rear Trailing Arm Bushes Powerflex Front Rear Wishbone Bushes I used Drury Lane quite alot with my Lexus so decided to give them another go with the BMW. It has been quite a long time since I last visited them for a geometry check and they now have the latest Hunter DSP600 Digital Imaging machine! One of the BEST apparently. With all the suspension mods I have had done; I expected the car to be out quite a lot. Some pics: The Machine: Car Goes On: Fitment of Camber Plates: Up she goes for a ride. As expected the Toe, and Camber was off; so adjustment was needed. Adjustment Underway: Tim working at getting the Toe in spec. Geometry Setup - BEFORE: Geometry Setup - AFTER: Unfortunetly the Caster is not adjustable on these cars, but the car doesn't pull to one side so I am not worried. One interesting observation was that weighing the car down as per Tony's instructions made virtually nil difference to the geometry readings! The Technician at Drury Lane (Tim) said that in his experience with the stiffenned coilover suspension, the weighting of the suspension makes no differenced to the readings. I was slightly worried, since I had read about thr 68Kg needed in th front seats, 68Kg rear, 21Kg boot, full fluid levels, full tank of fuel etc etc. I made sure the fluid levels were all full and the fuel tank was full. I requested they weigh the car down anyway. To prove a point Tim got Steve and two others to sit in the car - the geometry readings on screen didn't change! Obviously the stiff suspension handles the weight better then stock. Once the car was adjusted; weight was added to the car (just to make me happy) and no changes in the settings - everything was still in spec. The weighting is more important on a car with softer standard suspension which will have much more suspension travel! I was stuck in traffic most of the way home, so couldn't really give the car a good test, but the steering felt more settled and I took a corner at 40mph and the car was flat! Certainly a big improvement! A good job again from Drury Lane and they are willing to offer discounts to forum members. Info Here: http://www.drurylaneservices.com/

Thank you kind sir

Hi guys, One of my rear wheel bearings might be on their way out; if I have this changed, does it affect the cars geomety at the rear? Thanks, Anees

Tony, The car is an E46 BMW 330D Sport Saloon 2003 - 2005 Facelift car (Car pic in my aviator) Suspension mods are: Eibach Pro-Street Coilovers, Eibach AntiRoll bars and (when they get here!) Powerflex Rear Trailing arm bushes and front wishbone bushes. I also have uprated top mounts which apparently are a weak point on the e46. Rims/Tyres: 18" with 8.5J et40 at the front and 9.5J et45 at the back. Although the car is on coilovers the car has not been dropped that much over standard. A Sport BMW is 15mm lower then standard anyway, so its probably about 15mm lower at the front and 10mm lower at the back then a standard sport. When I got the coilovers I was advised to go for adjustable camber plates for the front of the car, but at £255 I thought they were too expensive considering the moderate drop I have gone for!

If Drury lane are calibrating the car they will know all about the pre-loading Great I was considering trying TDI North after you mentioned that their machine doesn't need all the weight preloading, but my hols have now finished so no time to go to Warrington during the week, where as Drury Lane are close and I can leave the car with them while I walk to work so I will go to them again Obviously the report will be put online for the master to give it the once over.......... Just need my new bushes to turn up now...

That is superb information Tony! Getting a geometry check very soon so will be handy to know