Suspension/Wheels/Tires/Brakes

Can big spacers cause bumpsteer?

Old Jul 25, 2009 | 12:09 AM
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Can big spacers cause bumpsteer?

i have 25mm spacers up front and i have noticed some bump steer and i was wondering if this can be the problem?

thanks
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Old Jul 25, 2009 | 11:14 AM
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What is you effective offset with the spacers? They aren't causing bump steer in the technical sense, but a big scrub radius increase (like putting a 25mm spacer on a stock wheel) can lead to some odd steering characteristics.
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Old Jul 25, 2009 | 11:46 AM
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They could cause the pre-existing bumpsteer to be worse though, since it'll be acting on a larger radius, making the wheel move more, but I'd tend to agree that it's probably the scrub radius doing whatever you're feeling.
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Old Jul 25, 2009 | 02:52 PM
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hmm.. the car is lowered and the front wheels are 19x9.5 with a +45 offset + 25mm spacer and i def got some bump steer and is very annoying. i had to lowered my sway bar about an inch but i dont think this will cause the minor bumpsteer.. i think my spacers have something to do with it..
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Old Jul 25, 2009 | 03:41 PM
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its not bump steer, its 'tracking.' and yes, thats due to the low offset. the further away the contact patch is from OEM, the more the car will pull over uneven surfaces
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Old Jul 25, 2009 | 03:48 PM
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i see.. i'm going to remove the spacers tomorrow and go from there. should i remove the front and back or just the front ones?
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Old Jul 25, 2009 | 09:40 PM
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Originally Posted by josh18_2k
its not bump steer, its 'tracking.' and yes, thats due to the low offset. The further away the contact patch is from oem, the more the car will pull over uneven surfaces
+1
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Old Jul 26, 2009 | 12:22 AM
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just deal with it lol
i run 17x10 +10 in the front and it feels just fine. just be more cautious around rutted roads
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Old Jul 26, 2009 | 09:41 AM
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it's kinda dangerous i was going kinda fast the other night and my car shifted about half a lane and it was kinda scary
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Old Jul 26, 2009 | 11:25 AM
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Originally Posted by bewtew
it's kinda dangerous i was going kinda fast the other night and my car shifted about half a lane and it was kinda scary
How is your alignment? Increasing the scrub radius from stock will make the vehicle more prone to tracking etc, but with a good alignment it should not be an issue.

I run 25mm spacers (effective wheel offset of +27) and had to fight the wheel alot until I had the car properly aligned.
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Old Jul 26, 2009 | 12:38 PM
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its good. i have the car aligned to stock settings.. im not sure if this is good or bad for my front wheel set up.
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Old Jul 26, 2009 | 03:56 PM
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If I'm getting my math right, your effective offset is 20mm. The 45mm with the wheels only is close to stock. It would be easy to take the spacers out to check and see if this is the root cause of your problems.

With 19" wheels you don't have much tire. Thus, your tires can't 'spring' and comply to the road much either. This may be part of the problem. What tire sizes are you running?

Several threads show different alignments for different wheel diameters, you may want to check these out and consider alignment changes. Also, may sure you aren't bottoming out the suspension since it's lowered; this makes the car misbehave badly.
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Old Jul 27, 2009 | 04:03 PM
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so i removed the spacers and the car feels a lot better.
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Old Jul 28, 2009 | 12:41 AM
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Originally Posted by bewtew
so i removed the spacers and the car feels a lot better.
I think you should take this as the spacers amplifying an existing problem, rather than them being the cause.
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Old Jul 28, 2009 | 01:12 AM
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It's nice to get a good improvement, with an easy change.

Tires can also have an effect: my 'other' car was having notable tracking issues that completely disappeared when I put on new tires; same size, different brand, not worn out.

Is the rest of the suspension tight?
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Old Jul 28, 2009 | 09:02 AM
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yea.. car feels like a stock rx7..
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Old Jul 31, 2009 | 10:49 AM
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Originally Posted by bewtew
so i removed the spacers and the car feels a lot better.
bumpsteer is cause when the wheel travels up you get toe in or out, the spacer just magnifies the problem because of the scrub radius change, you might have some worn out joints that don't help things either with adjustable control arms you might be able to control the bumpsteer a little bit, but you need to get your scrub radius back to a normal amount. there are some lowtech ways of checking bumpsteer.
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Old Jul 31, 2009 | 01:24 PM
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how do i do that?
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