Nova big block suspension setup camber caster etc?

[Rick Draper]

My nova turbo has now graced the road and i have to say its a ****ing terrible drive! The front feels very vacant so i am going to reset it all.

What i want to know is what sort of caster and camber people are running on there big block nova's? I have rose jointed caster brackets and eccentric top mounts. I also have leda struts so i can adjust the camber on there however i believe this can alter my KPI so i might leave this as stock on the strut casing.

[Dar]

When setting mine up I set the toe to be neutral. Then tried it. I only have eccentric top mounts and set them on full negative camber and the straight line stability was rubbish. So adjusted them back and tried again, and again, and again. Thats basicaly how I have set mine up i.e. trial and error.

Because of this I can't tell you what Camber/Caster i'm running. However maybe trying the settings from the rally Novas as a start and then modifying it from there would be good. Also reading up on setting up suspension would be a good idea.

When I was trying to set mine up I couldn't find any info on the net as regards settings, all that was written was what to look for and what to do to correct it. I'm not going to try and repeat it here but I will have a gander on the net to try and find you some good info.

Good luck!

[Stuart]

ohh KPI how retro lol.

agreed start on nova rally tarmac settings and go from there due to your much wider wheels etc.

[craig green]

The tarmac settings are in the Grp-A build manual. Correct?

[Dar]

Yup.
Tracking 2mm toe out
4 degrees +ve Caster
2 degrees -ve Camber

However with the power of the thing I would suggest maybe a slight toe or neutral.

[Stuart]

iircs driven wheels should be toe out as they will naturally go neutral when accelerating or some bull like that.

[spanishfly]

Thats right Stu. I did mine to the comp build manual, feels alright. Gonna fiddle with mine a bit see how goes.

[Stuart]

Gonna fiddle with mine a bit see how goes.
what about the car?

[Dar]

Description of what things are in terms of suspension. Its way too basic though (http://www.torquecars.co.uk/tuning/suspension-settings.php)
More in depth and quite good. (http://www.se-r.net/car_info/suspension_tuning.html)

The reason for suggesting neutral or some toe in is to improve the straight line stability. I would also decrease the camber(say just one degree negative) and increase the caster for the very same reason. I think Rick really needs to sort out his straight line stability first and then see what he can do from there.

Mind you if he sets the suspension to the rally settings and likes it then jobs a goodun:thumb:

As metioned above suspension setup is all about trial and error. The rally boys came to their settings using this method (as well as oodles of knowlage) so its a good place to start, but a 1.6 8v rally car running with power steering and 18/56-14 tyres is quite far removed from Ricks turbo nutter barsteward with 17" wheels on road tyres.lol

[Rick Draper]

Thanks for all the help. I am just going to go to my local garage and borrow there camber gauge. I think i am possibly over 2 degrees of camber looking at it so that will be the first change along with the tracking.

On mig lee h has said he runs as much caster as he can however when i once tried this on my car it made it terrible to drive. Has anyone else had experience of this?

[Dar]

Make sure your putting on positive caster. As with everything you can go too far. Im not sure you can go too far with your car because I don't think you have the room in the arches.

I would just keep it sensible to start and you can go wild once you have the basic setup sorted out.

[Lee H]

It doesn't look like you can achieve those settings just on the eccentric top mounts though as when you change the camber you change the castor as well. You may need to use the camber bolts as well I would have thought. Also think you would struggle to get 4 degree castor without lee's adjustable tie bars.

Think you already new all this though!!