escapepilot
Goblin Guru
Question to the forum brain trust. Just discovered my front coilovers were set to max soft and rears to middle. Would that explain some of the handling quirks?
Escapepilot’s 06 SS/SC Ext Track Build - COMPLETED
- Thread starter escapepilot
- Start date
Desert Sasqwatch
Bigfoot Goblin
Front: stiffer gives more understeer, softer gives more oversteer.
Rear: stiffer gives more oversteer, softer gives more understeer.
Shock settings, swaybar, and springs achieve the same thing to different degrees. Finding the balance for your car will take some experimentation.
Rear: stiffer gives more oversteer, softer gives more understeer.
Shock settings, swaybar, and springs achieve the same thing to different degrees. Finding the balance for your car will take some experimentation.
Dale E
Well-Known Member
Worn bushing could cause some suspension movement in a negative way.
Shocks -- you know they are a misunderstood item, but here it is in my view.
Springs (rate) hold your car up. They let the tires and car chassis bounce. It takes some experimenting to get the right rate for your - intended use. Street, autocross, track or combinations of those for your car to perform optimally in all.
*** Justin Reed has the stock Goblin springs and he does great on his driving adventures. Others have changed to different spring rates and appear to be comfortable with their choices, styles of driving and feel of handling.
The shock (damper) is just that. It dampens the loads that the car is getting while doing it's road bouncing act. the shock stops the bounce in the spring.
Probably the most miss-understood is the adjustment (click knob thing).
No adjustment knob/screw is a preset valving in the body of the shock up/down travel probably the same values. These are changeable for specific uses.
Single adjust shock. Adjusting the knob lets you personally set the SPEED at which the up/down movement of the shock shaft occurs. If set at 3 clicks from soft - it will give you the same valve values up/down for bump and rebound. The shock shaft speed will react the same. You want a soft setting for street driving -- and you have to play around with the setting for autocross and track to get the right balanced reactions.
Double adjust shock (two knobs). They allow for the bump and rebound to have different SPEED settings and are mostly useful in the autocross/track use. The shock shaft speed will be different up/down. You don't need them on a Goblin unless you want to be top-dog-competitive on track/autocross.
So, that little knob is like a fine adjustment tool. Set the clicks where you get a good ride comfort, and handling reactions for your driving application - street, autocross, track or combinations. The knob adjusters are like changing camber /toe settings. You have the way to drive to the track, change those things, race, then change back to street for going home.
The adjustment knob is simply a tweaking tool after you have gotten all your other settings -- mostly -- spot on!
Again, just my view..
Shocks -- you know they are a misunderstood item, but here it is in my view.
Springs (rate) hold your car up. They let the tires and car chassis bounce. It takes some experimenting to get the right rate for your - intended use. Street, autocross, track or combinations of those for your car to perform optimally in all.
*** Justin Reed has the stock Goblin springs and he does great on his driving adventures. Others have changed to different spring rates and appear to be comfortable with their choices, styles of driving and feel of handling.
The shock (damper) is just that. It dampens the loads that the car is getting while doing it's road bouncing act. the shock stops the bounce in the spring.
Probably the most miss-understood is the adjustment (click knob thing).
No adjustment knob/screw is a preset valving in the body of the shock up/down travel probably the same values. These are changeable for specific uses.
Single adjust shock. Adjusting the knob lets you personally set the SPEED at which the up/down movement of the shock shaft occurs. If set at 3 clicks from soft - it will give you the same valve values up/down for bump and rebound. The shock shaft speed will react the same. You want a soft setting for street driving -- and you have to play around with the setting for autocross and track to get the right balanced reactions.
Double adjust shock (two knobs). They allow for the bump and rebound to have different SPEED settings and are mostly useful in the autocross/track use. The shock shaft speed will be different up/down. You don't need them on a Goblin unless you want to be top-dog-competitive on track/autocross.
So, that little knob is like a fine adjustment tool. Set the clicks where you get a good ride comfort, and handling reactions for your driving application - street, autocross, track or combinations. The knob adjusters are like changing camber /toe settings. You have the way to drive to the track, change those things, race, then change back to street for going home.
The adjustment knob is simply a tweaking tool after you have gotten all your other settings -- mostly -- spot on!
Again, just my view..
escapepilot
Goblin Guru
Up to 133 miles now!
escapepilot
Goblin Guru
Made some suspension adjustments and it helped a ton. Verified the rear coilovers were set correctly and made some small adjustments. They were close, but I got them closer to each other. The biggest change in the rear was the rear tie rods. The angle between the chassis hoop bar and the tie rods were different side to side. I put a small shim under the mount which got the close to each other and close to neutral with the driver seat loaded. After making that change, the toe in was a little more than 1/8 inch total.
At the front, with the driver in the seat, it was less than 1/8” and was close to being toe out. I think it was from a bad measurement previously. Using my toe plates, the tape measure was barely hitting the bottom of the chassis which gave a bad reading. Made some adjustments in my plate to get good measurements and set total toe in to 1/8”.
No more darting left when lifting off the throttle. It was rock solid there. It still is a little twitchy on a rough road but at least the big problem is solved!
At the front, with the driver in the seat, it was less than 1/8” and was close to being toe out. I think it was from a bad measurement previously. Using my toe plates, the tape measure was barely hitting the bottom of the chassis which gave a bad reading. Made some adjustments in my plate to get good measurements and set total toe in to 1/8”.
No more darting left when lifting off the throttle. It was rock solid there. It still is a little twitchy on a rough road but at least the big problem is solved!
ATMironov
Well-Known Member
The dartyness, the light steering, and non self centering is screaming too little caster or negative caster.
+8.6 degrees should be plenty, so I would double check your measurement.
How are you measuring caster?
escapepilot
Goblin Guru
Set the caster using the DF method but haven’t had a chance to double check it. I think I need to go back to initial assembly settings for the front then verify alignment. It’s possible that I made an adjustment that created a problem elsewhere.
escapepilot
Goblin Guru
Update time! While resetting all suspension setting to DF base recommendations, I discovered a rear knuckle problem. My original passenger knuckle was cracked so I had to replace it. No new ones available at that time so went used. Everything seemed ok, but the hole where the lower ball joint fits into the knuckle had issues. I had checked play before but I guess I missed it. While I had the rear in the air, I noticed play in that joint. Was able to order a new one this time and also added the Moog bushings and it felt solid! 100 mile shakedown today and it felt pretty solid. Even got to use cruise control.
These DF recommended suspension settings…where did you find those at? Are they strictly for the stock suspension? Or the aftermarket suspension that they offer as well?
escapepilot
Goblin Guru
I was referring to the 4 turns out on the rod ends when setting up the front suspension. That is in the archived build videos.
Archived Video - Front Suspension
escapepilot
Goblin Guru
Another Best in Class.
It’s amusing when they either through words or actions say “we love it. We just don’t know what class to put it in.”
It’s amusing when they either through words or actions say “we love it. We just don’t know what class to put it in.”
Attachments
escapepilot
Goblin Guru
Top 50 overall and Top 10 Car at Battle at the Capital in Raleigh today.
How did you mount the grille?
escapepilot
Goblin Guru
I epoxied in some pieces of aluminum angle between the lip and body and used self tapping screws from the back of the grille. Stays hidden that way.
escapepilot
Goblin Guru
Got tired having a carbon fiber spoiler just sitting on the shelf so decided to finally make my own mounts. I wanted the spoiler to sit a little lower and back. I really wanted to use some airfoil shaped strut material I had but couldn't get the right look so I used so.e scrap steel plate I had. Made a wooden template first so changes were easier.
Raised it a little then discovered the end plates were not vertical or square to the centerline of the Goblin. A little investigating and have come to the conclusion it is a counterfeit NRG. A little sanding squared it up, but the screw mounting holes were noticeably angled. So trying to correct that resulted in a big oops. To correct the damage, I cut off an inch off each end.
Lots more work than anticipated but the results are what I wanted.
Raised it a little then discovered the end plates were not vertical or square to the centerline of the Goblin. A little investigating and have come to the conclusion it is a counterfeit NRG. A little sanding squared it up, but the screw mounting holes were noticeably angled. So trying to correct that resulted in a big oops. To correct the damage, I cut off an inch off each end.
Lots more work than anticipated but the results are what I wanted.
escapepilot
Goblin Guru
When I first considered building, one goal was to compete in car shows. Six shows (work and weather prevented more) and awards at 5 of those 6 and I feel I can check that goal complete.
escapepilot
Goblin Guru
Finally got updated pics
