Coilovers causing havoc....

[Mitchell]

got round to fitting my coilovers on saturday, looks good but had a load of trouble :dead:
rears were fine went on so easy no problems. front ones were a nightmare however,
- I managed to pop the passenger driveshaft out and lost all the gearbox oil on the road,
-camber bolts wouldn't fit although venom motor sport were sure they would.

Put some new oil in the gearbox, and got the original bolts fitted on until I can sort out the right ones.

Driving to work this morning noticed a few problems with the car
-wheels now look badly out of alignment.
- steering seems very twitchy, and doesnt feel stable around corners at all
- towards the end of the journey, a loud knocking just started all the time i was moving its coming from the front of the car, doesnt make a different what gear, if im accelerating or not, but its constant.

My first guess is that the twitchyness is because i now need tracking doing, and the knocking may be because i didnt put enough oil in the gearbox??

Just want a second opinion really

Cheers, Mitch

 

[MicKPM]

TBH you've been unlucky if you lost all the gearbox oil - probebrly too much 'playing' with the hub when it was free but never mind. What exactly wouldn't fit with the camber bolts; do you mean they won't go thru the holes on the damper legs or they won't go thru the holes in the hubs? The correction bolts even when fitted will need setting up correctly so you don't kill your tyres inside edges so take it to a garage and ask them to fit them for you.

Gearboxes are "Fill to overflow" on these so if it didn't overflow from the fill point you've not filled it... don't worry though, they last well with very little in judging by some of the cars i've had in for services over the years.

Knocking isn't good - Does it do it in a straight line or just on turning? The most likely cause is you've not done something up tight enough as gearboxes don't "Knock" they "Whine". Either way i suggest you get it looked at ASAP before something falls off!

 

[Mitchell]

I thought that - I put 2 litres in (they hold 3, dont they?), but it still didnt overflow - i will go and grab another bottle tonight and put it in until it overflows.

the camber bolts wouldn't go through the holes on the damper legs, in which case I doubt they would have gone through the holes in the hubs which are smaller. I was going to get it aligned anyway, but Ive been told to leave it a week to let the coilovers set in.

the thread went through but the cam shaped section was too wide.

does it whenever your moving basically, straight line, turning. only time it stops is when the car stops!

 

[Mitchell]

any more ideas on what the knocking is anyone?

 

[Fred@BTM]

you cocked up, there's the problem

did you assemble the top mounts correctly?

 

[Mitchell]

Yep by the sounds of it!

I put the top mount together exactly how it came off the original shock- Bearing, big rubber thing, top-hat washer thing, retaining nut, then put through the car and attatched the big nut?
Ill see if I can whip the wheels off and check it all when I get home. I cant think what it is at all to be honest?!

 

[Mitchell]

Right just in a pub carpark as I can't drive the car home, girlfriend is bringing some tools over.
The knocking is coming from the front nearside wheel and sounds like is catching on something as it gets faster as I accelerate and just feels like it, any usual areas to look for?
Arrg it's freezing too! :dapprove:

 

[MicKPM]

Mwahahahaha - Welcome to my world!

Jack it up and check the wheel for any movement... I bet you didn't do up the hub to strut bolts properly

 

[Mitchell]

Well got the car jacked up, took the wheels off, checked everything was tight which it was, put it back together and its fine now :approve:

Spoiler

the wheel bolts were loose hahahaha

All sorted, cheers for the help lads

 

[Jonny1*2]

3.1L for the GB oil mate. Just fill it till it starts coming out of the fill hole as said.

 

[Simon@SprayShack]

Steering wheel out of line, will be the camber on the front is all over the place, and general alignment, mine was the same. Its perfect now ive had the tracking / corrected.