Project Stormbringer

I got another set of stands today so tomorrow looks more better (yes I said that) for changing axles. Work today kicked my ass all around the block so I just wanted to go home and drink beer with my dog. Luckily he's not a drinker, so more beer for me!
He's my designated driver too... can't work the clutch that well though.


Dan

So does that make you his designated drinker?

yes, it's a great relationship we have.

D-hiccup-Dan

Aggravated with my boost controller, I decided to venture into new unknown waters and attempt to solve that annoying problem of the front wheels rubbing against the fender arches on hard cornering (and hard bumps).

Going in are a set of OEM springs off a certain ST185 from here.

Not a huge improvement in spring rate, but anything will help at the moment, and really couldn't beat the price. So with a set of spring compressors I spend my afternoon battling the front suspension. After finishing with the fronts I did a quick run around to see how things have changed.

Luckily I didn't seem to noticeably alter the alignment any; I really don't feel like paying for another one. Unfortunately, despite the springs being decently stiffer and offering a lift of a few mm, sharp rights can still make that wonderfully horrible scraping noise I've come to despise so much. Lefts however seem to be almost completely cured. At the moment I'll probably forego doing the rears; might get some SW20 springs at some point, and try something for the fronts.

...that or just buckle down and shell out the cash for a coilover set, assuming I can find one that can do something other than make her ride even lower than she is now. I want to be able to play on mountain trails for Pete's sake, not see if I can bottom out on a stray quarter sitting in the street.

Been quite a while since I've done anything to my dangerous combination of daily driver and project. But that's not to say I haven't been busy planning...scheming...depleting my bank account...and teasing wakkjobb whenever I can

My main concerns as the year has been coming to a close was to get her prepped for winter playtime, so my efforts have been put toward that end.

The main thing, of course, is the tires. While I like the all-seasons I picked up, I don't like having to rely on them to keep me from gliding straight into the fat ass of some SUV going 10MPH with their hazards on simply because there's some mountain dandruff on the ground. So I picked up a set of steelies and went with some General Altimax Arctic studded tires. Their tread pattern is nearly identical to what I originally wanted; Pirelli Winter Carving, but they ended up costing me alot less.


At the same time, I've been growing to dislike the mixture of lowered-ness and extreme softness of OEM springs. The fender rubbing was bad enough on the all seasons, but with the winter tires on the studs were just slowly remachining the fender liner unless I drove depressingly slow over bumps and corners. While the Megan coilovers would have been nice, they were too expensive for me to afford, and there wasn't any good data on what their -maximum- ride height was. So, I took the route of going with the Ground Control set with the adjustable height collars.


The spring rates aren't quite what I asked for, but I decided they were close enough, and had about the right ratio; 430lb/in in the front and 300 lb/in rear. The other problem was the fact of an unheated garage. That was dutifully resolved with a nice kerosene heater that I managed to get at a discount since it was Home Depot's floor model.

Over the course of three days - not counting a very big Yule Feast held at my house the other weekend - I tore into the suspension. I did the fronts first since I was familiar with that routine, and that was where the troubles all laid with respect to handling.

The weird and almost-no-information-available-about-them front struts that she came with:


Now with new spring


Rear strut with its new spring


And how she currently sits:


I did also intend on getting to the differential for some work there, but the rear end was very thoroughly seized with rust to where I couldn't get at much of anything, except to wrap the tailpipe with some insulation where it goes over the right rear halfshaft, since the heat has baked the boot there to where it's half missing.

But a couple people have offered to help one of these weekend so even that'll be soon taken care of, then I can put in a little acquisition I've had sitting around for the last few months

^C'mon, what's in the box?!

...stuff

stuff, or things?
Did ya score an ST 205 IC???
Another turbo?
Toothless 4-yr old Korean boy in a sailor suit?

Wait, that was my box...
Dan

st205 lsd rear diff is my bet.

wakkjobb":2nxq6ebh said:

.......Toothless 4-yr old Korean boy in a sailor suit?

Wait, that was my box...
Dan

Click to expand...

LOL :lol:

Sure enough, it is indeed an ST205 torsen. Snagged it off Rinkya for $150. And I of course tore it open to make sure it was the real thing;



And with some invaluable help we were able to get all the nasty rusted bolts broken in short order. Swapped the Redline 75-90NS over into the torsen and bolted her back up with new fasteners in just a couple of hours. Also tossed in a new cushion since mine was trashed and allowing for bothersome clunking noises.

And then it snowed! ...but only a half inch or so. Need to figure out how to summon blizzards on command now

...so this Torsen diff is like a locker or posi? Or is it just stronger/better than stock 165 units?

Dunno :shrug:
Dan

Torsen, short for "torque sensing" is a type of limited slip differential that uses only gears to prevent wheel slippage regardless of how much or little traction is available to both wheels. It truly doesn't lock the wheels together like a clutch pack, viscous coupling or a 4x4 locker does, but it will automatically distribute torque between the two wheels to maintain full traction on both. It's sort of a bizarre hybrid of LSD and open. Here's an article from the 80's going over its creation and showing how it works:

http://members.rennlist.com/951_racerx/PS84Gleason.html

It only has two weaknesses; it doesn't like shock loading very much (clutch dumps at 6k, etc), and if one wheel is off the ground, it will behave exactly like an open until that wheel makes contact with the ground again. The HMMWV and Audi S1 Group B car both used them to much success.

Dracov":1su4p3td said:

and if one wheel is off the ground, it will behave exactly like an open until that wheel makes contact with the ground again.

Click to expand...

...or until you pull the park brake a little.

Good read, but I'll have to read it a few times to fully understand it :doh:

Dracov":g5nksnmu said:

Sure enough, it is indeed an ST205 torsen. Snagged it off Rinkya for $150. And I of course tore it open to make sure it was the real thing;

Click to expand...

So, uh, do I win a cookie or anything?

Neat-o, I like learning stuff about things in boxes. This is going to seem like a nitwit question, but can we re-gear our diffs? I realize the front diff is part of the transmission, but is there something that is changeable?
Other than getting later model parts, I mean... like a gearset from Randy's Ring and Pinion kind of deal.

Mr. "Low Gear"
Dan

As I understand it the final drive ratio is actually in the tranny itself. There's another thread somewhere on here discussing different final drive options.

I thought it was something like that, remember I'm used to working on real axles and old stuff... this is new territory for me.
you want those speaker boxes? I'm 99% sure I got a second set with the car and I'm not going to use them.

Dan

Yeah, the front boxes. I finally blew out one of the ancient stock units so it's time for some audio equipment shopping.