Critique my setup!

[myth]

2000 regular cab s10
ls3/t56

front suspension
spohn upper control arms/tall ball joints
boxed lower control arms/tallball joints
belltech lowering spindles
viking hybrid coil overs 550# springs

rear suspension
triangulated 4 link
viking coil overs 175# springs

steering
dse 600 gear box
new moog inner/outer tie rods
rag joint replaced with a universal joint

wheels/tires
19x9.5 285-35-19
19x12 325-30-19



alignment specs
caster L 5.5/R 6.0
camber L 0/R -.3
toe 1/8

Ok here is where Im having a problem. To me the truck does not drive good. I think that it handles fairly well. For a lack of better words it wants a wander. You have to stay on top of it when driving. The roads here are not anywhere near decent. I do know that the alignment is not exactly where I wanted it. And the front springs need to be around 650#.

I have been reading through some of the post that Ron Sutton has posted. I know that I could ask him but I need to learn a ton more before diving into that.

Any help or thoughts would be great. Thanks

[Adam_T]

I don't know much compared to a lot of people on this site but I'd say check the small stuff first before you start making big changes. I had a camaro SS with 275's all around and that thing wandered a lot and was a handful to drive. I had an alignment done twice that didn't help. I ended up having the tires balanced and it was crazy how much less it wandered.

[bovey]

At them moment you have a list of parts and some alignment specs. You need to understand the geometry. Ron is you fastest answer. Just contact him and he'll give you some ideas on how to proceed.

A) He'll talk to you about what your expectations are. Be realistic. Bench racing does not help at this point.

B) You'll decide on what RSRT package to buy. It's worth every penny.

C) Then you have to measure your truck. Ron will give you instructions. Do not cut corners, or you'll just have to do it over.

D) Ron will make some recommendations. You'll change out a few of the parts you bought, because in all likely hood you bought the wrong stuff. Parts that don't work, don't work. Sell them and move on.

E) You'll make Ron's changes and you hit the track and be faster.

Ron is super nice. I've been dealing with him for 4 years now and my truck does things people said it would NEVER do.

Good luck.

[woodboatwayne]

I think the alignment not being exactly what you want might be your problem. a little toe in is usually good for directional stability

[kingcrunch]

Sounds like something is wrong with your scrub radius to me...

[rentedmule]

The wander/tram-lining is going to be very tire dependent as well. I have a very similar setup on my truck and find some tires tram-line a lot worse than others. I've had 275/40-17 street tires with 360 tread wear ratings that caused terrible wandering and road race tires in the same size that tracked straight as an arrow.

The other thing that contributes is bump steer. The tall lower BJs get rid of most of it but there's still about 1/8" of misalignment there that causes bump steer. I think the effect is amplified by wide tires and minimal toe-in.

[myth]

Thanks for the replies fellas.

I know that Ron would work wonders for my setup. And I will eventually contact him. But I want to make sure that I have all of my ducks in a row first.

Tyson, I have talked to you a few times about setups on s10forum. And of course against your advice I went with the 550's in front. And as you guessed, you are correct that they are to soft. I was leaning towards it being tires. As i have noticed it with my 4th gen camaro also(275-40-17).

Again thanks for the suggestions. I think I need to put it on the track first and actually see what it does.