WildBlue goes RideTech

[rchaskin]

Looking good!

Keep it low. All you need is about 1" off the bumpstops.

Now you have about a month to tweak......

[Quickboat]

Geoff, how are you routing the exhaust?

[GeoffP]

Thanks Randy! Yah I rolled the fender lips but I found out tonight that my car has a LOT more clearance on the drivers side well over the passenger which stinks because the car wants to ride lower on the passenger side! It'll set down on the driver's side without rubbing at all but the passenger keeps wanting to catch the quarter lip. I'm going to unload the passenger side spring tomorrow night and jack it up on the drivers front to set it down on the wheel nice and low to see if I've solved the rubbing problem. I moved the mount point up one hole on the rear to lift the car up more and then pulled the pre-load back out of the rear springs. It's now sitting right about where it was with the lower mount point and the springs loaded. I hope this makes sense because bad weather kept me from taking any pictures.

Jim - I haven't planned anything on the exhaust yet. Right now it dumps right out of the mufflers. Short term I think I'm just going to put a couple turn downs on it. Long term I'd really like to save the tail pipes I had on it previously and put them back on but I haven't be able to test fit them yet to see if they get anywhere near close to being usable with the 4 link.

[makoshark]

My 67 sits 3/4" lower on the passenger side compared to the drivers side with the ridetech setup on it. I haven't diagnosed why its doing that yet though, so maybe you can figure it out for me

[GeoffP]

Yah it's probably 3/4 to an inch lower on the passenger side. It's aggravating! In ridetech's defense, the car has always been lower on the passenger side. It just seems to be more pronounced now. My fat tail sure doesn't offset it enough to make much if any difference!

[GeoffP]

Good news - I took my first ride without tire rub tonight! I messed with the axle center a little bit and the pinion angle. I think this along with rolling the quarters really helped. It was a No Cringe ride! The only time I got any rub at all was the right front which has always rubbed over certain bumps around town. They're pretty harsh dips in the road so I think I finally have it where I want. AND the big news is that I haven't had to raise it up any more. It's still really low and rides nice. Unloading the springs in the rear made a HUGE difference in the ride quality. If I could afford the higher clearance wheel tubs for the front, a new drive shaft and new gear set the car would be an absolute pleasure to ride in. It's already a marked improvement over the old setup once I started getting it tuned better. I'm finally seeing the "huge improvement" I'd been reading about with the ridetech setup!!!

Also, I wanted to mention that my daughter was a huge help again tonight. She helped me plug some holes with bolts and washers (yes, it's a redneck fix, but it works) and she helped me install the muffler hangers.

SO all that's left is to have the car lined up (and checked for tracking square) and I want to double check the pinion angle on a drive on lift. After that it'll be done. The only bad news is that I don't have any more time to work on it until Saturday - no shops open to do the alignment so it'll have to wait until next week.

That's it for now!

[KnightMare]

Congrats. I know it is a huge relief

[makoshark]

What did you set your pinion angle and drive line angle at? Did you manage to get the rear level? I purchased a custom aluminum driveshaft from Shaftmaster for $320 shipped. Might wanna check them out.

[Rod]

I don't know if this will help, but the ridetech single adjust shocks on my Camaro are set 12 in front and 8 on the rear, that's a pretty good setup for all around

[GeoffP]

The angle is just under three degrees but I'm still getting vibration. I think my shaft is crap or the pinion yoke is crap or both. I didn't get it level but its closer than it was.

Rodney I've got mine set to 8 clicks out on all 4 but that's with minimal driving. I haven't had any time to play with it.

Hopefully I'll have some time to work on it Saturday afternoon.

[Quickboat]

The differential being out of center can cause vibration too. How did you check that?

[GeoffP]

I measured and equalized the distances between the wheels and the inner and outer portions of the wheel tubs. I concentrated on the distances from the inner portions of the tubs because the car has cheapo Chinese 80% quarters on it from the late 80's. I figure they're no where near equal side to side.

[Quickboat]

I measured and equalized the distances between the wheels and the inner and outer portions of the wheel tubs. I concentrated on the distances from the inner portions of the tubs because the car has cheapo Chinese 80% quarters on it from the late 80's. I figure they're no where near equal side to side.

Are they centered to the frame rails? you have got alignment issues somewhere, If it was not vibrating before the mods, it has to be some thing you did after. What about one of the wheels needing balance? Maybe a wheel out of round?

[GeoffP]

No sorry I didn't fully explain. I've always had vibration problems. I know it's driveshaft or pinion related. The car is smooth as glass otherwise. It doesn't really start vibrating until about 50 MPH. I know part of it is due to the 4:11 gear and high rotational speed of the shaft. I honestly wouldn't be surprised if the shaft is out of balance because as far as I know it's the original shaft from the car.

[Quickboat]

No sorry I didn't fully explain. I've always had vibration problems. I know it's driveshaft or pinion related. The car is smooth as glass otherwise. It doesn't really start vibrating until about 50 MPH. I know part of it is due to the 4:11 gear and high rotational speed of the shaft. I honestly wouldn't be surprised if the shaft is out of balance because as far as I know it's the original shaft from the car.

Oh, ok. Then you can assume it was the shaft in the first place. 4.11 gears?!!? Damn Gina!

[Cam67ZF]

American Racing and Centerline offer custom offsets within reason in your price range.

[Cam67ZF]

American Racing and Centerline

[Cam67ZF]

American Racing and Centerline

[GeoffP]

Yah I've thought I needed a new shaft for a while. I hoped getting the pinion angle right and the axle centered would relieve some of the vibration but it hasn't. I doubt I'll have the time or money to replace the shaft before the DSE event at Kershaw.

Cam67F - I already bought wheels so I won't be buying anymore for awhile.

[Quickboat]

How about replacing the u-joints? A bad u-joint will give you vibration fits....