Possible Suspension Problem ...
 

Guys, I have a problem that I am trying to diagnose and fix. I have a 2006 Shinka that is bone stock. I have 93k mi on the car, which I have owned since new. the problem I am having is as follows: it's most noticable at high speed. If I am accelerating, even in 6th gear, and i lift off the throttle, the weight transfers forward in a strange way. it seems like there is a slight pitch in a straight line to the front of the car, but right at the end of this motion, the car pulls to the right. it ranges from subtle at light throttle acceleration to more noticable with more throttle right before you lift off.

the car tracks straight when i take my hands off the wheel at 70+ mph. it feels to me as though the car travels straight under braking, even heavy breaking. the alignment is recent and steering still feels accurate.

there seems to be a slight pull to the left when applying the throttle but this is hard to diagnose because of the low torque.

My dealer says it might be a problem with the power steering but it seems to me there is no issue - i dont have a warning light or code, and it feels normal.

i was thinking it is time to swap out the shocks (and springs while I'm at it) but before i invest i would like to understand what the problem is. I pushed down on all four corners of the car by hand and each feels like the rebound is the same - it is immediate and there is no bounce.

Any thoughts?

thanks for your help.

Sounds like some rear links are loose which changes rear alignment when torque goes to rear wheels.

Possible scenario: You accelerate, and driver rear wheel pulls forward and right, steering car left.

Under deceleration, same wheel is pulled back and steers car to right.

Jack up left rear wheel and see if it has any play in it.

Thanks for suggesting that, 40w8.

i checked, and i dont feel any play in either of the rears. I've done some more investigating, though.

my rear brake sensors have started making noise, so i am getting ready to replace pads and rotors. i had a look at the fronts, though, and i am surprised to find two things:
- first, the drivers' side front wheel does not spin as freely as the passenger side
- second, the front pads are not very worn - no where near as much as the rears. both sets were replaced at the same time about 50k mi ago.

so i get to thinking, maybe i have a binding caliper. so i disassembled the front brakes on both sides. the sliders are in good condition, and i regreased them. i can easily push both caliper pistons back before removing the lower caliper pin by placing a wood clamp on the back of the caliper and on the outside brake pad. a little pressure from the clamp pushes the pistons back. i coudnt tell if there was a difference between the two sides.

so, i then reassembled both calipers and repressurized the brakes using the pedal. both sides bind strongly. however, after lifting, the passenger side hub rotates fairly easily. the drivers side hub does not - so at this point it looks as though the drivers caliper is a little sluggish. my pads and caliper were rusty where they meet, so the next thing i did was replace the pads and repeat this test - and there was no change. so i removed and returned the new pads and am back where i began.

here's my plan: I'm going to bleed the brakes and replace the brake lines with stainless lines front and rear. then I'm going to see if this fixes the problem, and if it does, then do all four sets of pads and rotors. What do you think of that?

the question is, what if this doesnt fix my problem? Any ideas as to what is causing the caliper to bind? Should my next thing be to replace both front calipers (might as well keep it balanced ...)

thanks for any advice you guys have.

HELP NEEDED: One corner(RR) is lower than the others
 

04 lowered springs installed

Hi im sorry if im in the wrong thread i cant seem to start a new one...anyway i need some help,,may have suspension issues..

Im from NZ so we drive on the right side of the car
Couple of weeks ago i noticed that my back right corner has a different wheel arc gap compared to the others ....so last i thought maybe some new springs will fix it ..so i got them and while at it i got lowered ones..but it didnt fix it , and now that i am lowered i hear a lot of scratching noise,,like the tire is hitting the plastic inside the fender well..

Im no expert at all so if anybody can tell me why my right rear is lower than the others,,i will be very thankful
Sorry if im using wrong terminology on things..

My 07 RX8 Sport was too low new or 13.5 inches from center wheel to fender in rear.

I just put a Bilstein B12 kit on which RAISED the rears to 14.5 inches along with the front the same 14.5 inches.

Car rolls like the dream it should be, and I haven't rechecked the alignment , yet.

It already had the rear negative camber changed to -1.65 instead of -2 which allowed a more neutral turn. Many cars are made with excess neg camber to minimize spinning out from uninformed drivers.

Almost any lowering spring will make handling worse. RX8 needs stiffer air shocks and tougher spring in rear.

I know this is an old post. I had similar problems with my car and the culprit was worn suspension bushings. I also had a weird vibration above 100MPH, the rear differential bushing was completely shot. the rear bushings were also worn which causes the toe to move around depending on acceleration and deceleration. I installed some whiteline poly bushings every where and that fixed the issues.