So Friday I was installing the new Koni race inserts in the Datsun and when I pulled of the driver side wheel the reason for the sloppy handling became apparent. The end link was no longer attached to the sway bar!!
Note I use nylock nuts, safety wire and or loctite everything, the right side link is still tight and is the nut were the endlink attached to the control arm.
My last race was at Buttonwillow (first time there); not only were lap times not what I thought they should be but the handling in the race seemed to go south. I wrote this off to the Hoosiers being a year old and the cheap KYB inserts being 4-5 years old.
Around lap 3 of the Sunday final the car had oversteer on turn-in, especially in the faster corners like Riverside (It behaves this way when the tires go off) Additionally going though the Cotton Corners (right left right over a brow) the front end felt like it was rather floppy, as if it was tripping over itself. I wrote this off to me possibly overdriving the car while in a three way dice.
If you've ver seen any of my videos you know I tend to be the king of oversteer so a car that oversteers into a 90 mph doesn't bother me but the front end should have been a red flag as to there being more to it than worn out front dampers.
Of course even if I did know the front bar was no longer functioning I still would have driven the car as hard as possible.....cuz I'm oblivious.
What make this especially amusing is I'm a guy who makes 1-2 lb tire pressure adjustments and 1/32 toe adjustments to get the last couple of tenths out of the car...............some days you just have to laugh at yourself.
What would have been really funny is if you happened to pull off the best laps of your life.
I have a similar story when I was racing a number of years ago.
I raced a 1993 Mustang Cobra R and ran 17X9 inch wheels but the front and rear wheels could not be swapped due to differences in offset.
I ran the same size tires but the car started to over steer. Yeah, a Mustang that over steered! Part of the reason were mods that I made to reduce under steer and some that I couldn't seem to figure out as the car went from neutral to over steer. I added an adjustable rear sway bar to help cure the problem but the car still would oversteer mid corner.
One season I found that I needed more tires and the brand and size was using was not available at the time. I swapped to another brand of tires buying 6 tires to match the number of wheels I had for the car. In the past as I wore out the fronts I would buy 1-2 new tires and mount them on the front wheels. The rear tires didn't wear as fast so I just kept using them.
Well when I put on a whole new set of rubber on the car the over steer just disappeared! It's a miracle! No you idiot you just just kept using rear tires that were well past their "sell by" date and they where not as sticky as the fronts. The result was over steer!
@knurled my fastest lap was indeed post self adjusting sway bar but I'd had some minor issues in every session except that one (sticky thermostat, slipping couch due to maladjustment etc.) Unfortunately I wasn't anywhere near what I should have been but at least I know why.
@jmbbski I have a similar self infliction but I do it knowingly; because the F500 has no diff it tends toward oversteer as an autocross car. I put fresh tires on the front and then move the less fresh tires to the rear. The rear tires tend to go off first so I buy new fronts and repeat the process of putting the less fresh tires on the rear. Inevitably I'll have an event were I struggle because I've gone one to many events on the tires..............cause I'm smart like that.
