Knocking noise

[miki1212]

roll centre adjusters are ball joints, just longer ones. they hold the hub to the lower arm, and can only go back in the same place, is just a simple tapered shaft goes into a tapered hole with a nut on the bottom to stop it coming apart.... you is worrying about nothing matey..

 

[Crazylegs]

Thanks mate!

 

[Crazylegs]

Hello again guys and girls,

I have a few questions if I may, all regarding my car's handling and setup.

Firstly - I need a new CV joint for the passenger side so I'm hoping to get this done next week. My questions are, does a damaged CV joint/leaking boot affect the handling characteristics of the car?

Second and last question(s).

I've had camber arms and bolts done by Grinspeed a few months back but have been banging on about the car's handling for a good while now as you all well know. It's hard to explain but the best words I can describe the car are flabby, heavy, wobbly and snatchy. When accelerating hard the steering wheel grabs and the car feels unpredictable in its handling. The turn in generally is poor and under heavy braking it feels as though the back end is coming to the front and is kind of unstable. The steering is very vague and if I'm being honest has felt like that since day one. The DC5 just feels like a 'Fat' car and I seem to be the only one that moans about its handling lol.

I thought this may have been down to having worn tyres so these have been replaced last month and I guess are still bedding in but I'm really disappointed after having all the main handling mods improved that the car doesn't feel any better than it did before. It's been back to Grinspeed once and he recommends an anti-roll bar for the rear but it's going back again for another check up soon as I'm not happy with it which I'd like to add is not their fault as they've been spot on. I'm also going to see if my mechanic can spot any other damage or worn parts while it's getting the CV joint done.

I'm wondering if perhaps there is worn bushes and/or other worn suspension components which is causing the car to feel unstable, heavy and snatchy.

What do people think? In an ideal world a complete refresh of the suspension and bushes with all new OEM components would be best but that isn't feasible right now for me.

 

[hondamad2204]

What springs are you running Marc? I drove a car with Eibach pros on and although comfy, took the preciseness out of it. Not a bad spring, but not how I wanted it to feel. Never heard a bad thing from them but every one is different. I cant help but think its probably just too soft for you and your style of driving. just sucks with spending all this money its not where you want it, and I can completely relate to you, hence why I refreshed all of my suspension. haha again, not viable for you at this moment in time.

 

[Crazylegs]

Running Eibach Pro mate. Not a fan of them if truth be told, I know they're a progressive spring but they don't feel great. Mind you when we went on the Evo drive last year it handled surprisingly well, guess that's because of the progressiveness.

I think you could be on to something with the spring, as you said the Eibach's are perhaps just too soft for my driving style. I wouldn't want coilovers as they're too hard so maybe I need to look at getting a better spring. One of the Tanabe's seems to be decent, can you or anyone else recommend any other make? I imagine the Spoon are too soft like the Eibach's, is that what you've got on?

I think I need someone to have a good look at it underneath and see if anything else has perished as bushes aren't going to last the entire lifetime of the car but if it's just a change of spring that's required then I might do that instead, could still get decent money back from the Eibachs too.

 

[hondamad2204]

Spoons are not soft, but liveable. Alot firmer than the eibachs. Heard tanabe to be good also.

 

[Crazylegs]

Ahh, I thought they'd be quite soft like the Eibach.

Will do some research and go from there. TBH, if I get this cash through at the end of the year I might do a full suspension and bush refresh but possibly go with new OEM dampers or Bilstein OEM equivalent dampers if they're available.

Thanks James.

 

[emmsyDC5xx]

If you are going to be changing those springs I would 100% say go for SPOON springs!
Had them on my last DC5 before I put coilovers on and have them again on my new DC5and I have to say they are great!

 

[Crazylegs]

Thanks Emmsy for the advice. Will see how it pans out.

Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk

 

[p1tse]

Shame you're further away to other dc5 owners

Shame you still don't have a setup you're happy with but describing it as
"flabby, heavy, wobbly and snatchy. "

Is the the actual steering wheel, how the car feels under you or the car pointing direction

Was the heavy feeling there before the new tyres?
Re07 being stiffer tyres, bigger and so will be heavier I would imagine

I have eibach and can't fault them, although not had many other experiences with others

Wobbly, is that the car in general, on turn in at normal speed and slightly pushing on?

Snatchy I can kind of relate to. If pushing on hard it can be felt like what I imagine is torque steer, but I've got used to the characteristics and control through throttle, but when a friend drove it it caught him out, maybe it's the LSD or what some call as bump steer. However you have buddyclub rca I think which should help, unless those are at fault? Was it like that before fitting?

Do you know if its standard elsewhere, only as I think your car had full braces around so maybe other things done?

So would be interesting to know your thoughts on general steering, steering wheel weight etc.

 

[Crazylegs]

Shame you're further away to other dc5 owners

Shame you still don't have a setup you're happy with but describing it as
"flabby, heavy, wobbly and snatchy. "

Is the the actual steering wheel, how the car feels under you or the car pointing direction

Was the heavy feeling there before the new tyres?
Re07 being stiffer tyres, bigger and so will be heavier I would imagine

I have eibach and can't fault them, although not had many other experiences with others

Wobbly, is that the car in general, on turn in at normal speed and slightly pushing on?

Snatchy I can kind of relate to. If pushing on hard it can be felt like what I imagine is torque steer, but I've got used to the characteristics and control through throttle, but when a friend drove it it caught him out, maybe it's the LSD or what some call as bump steer. However you have buddyclub rca I think which should help, unless those are at fault? Was it like that before fitting?

Do you know if its standard elsewhere, only as I think your car had full braces around so maybe other things done?

So would be interesting to know your thoughts on general steering, steering wheel weight etc.

Hi mate,

The steering and steering wheel is heavy and always has been. I've come from two cars which felt a lot lighter (CRX and fully stripped EK9) so perhaps that's one of the reasons but then again to me, the car still feels weighty. Could the damaged CV joint be causing issues with the steering thus creating a heavy feel?

In terms of the tyres, the Bridgestones certainly feel heavier especially at low speed and far noisier, noisier than I expected and they're starting to make a sound like when a wheel bearing has gone which is odd, that's coming from the rear of the car. I've not as of yet had the opportunity to really test them as the weather has been so poor but I will be giving them a good run out in a few weeks.

I really could do with someone else taking it for a drive but no one is close to me here that knows these cars well. When I say the turn in is poor, I was really expecting the car with the BC RCA's and camber adjustment to feel more planted and more precise and it just doesn't, was expecting to be able to throw it into bends and it would grip and feel solid but it doesn't. I'm thinking perhaps a more aggressive geometry setup might be the better option for me in addition to better, stiffer springs.

I know road surfaces etc will also have a clear impact on how the car feels and handles amongst other things but something isn't right with it.

 

[integraleo]

Where are you based? I've been driving dc5s for Nearly 6 years now and before that dc2s for the previous 6 years so fairly used to them by now. Running on eibach springs with mild frsu and Re070 s and in the dry it's immense! Not on cheaper tyres and not in cold and wet but in the dry when tyres are warm it grips beyond most people's nerve to push it that hard. Steering weight is good with good feedback, tyre pressure usually 34 front 32 rear gives good balance. I've taken these cars to the limit and beyond and have a bit of a reputation in my town lol. Re070 tyres are brilliant but need dry roads to realise how much grip they have.

 

[Crazylegs]

Where are you based? I've been driving dc5s for Nearly 6 years now and before that dc2s for the previous 6 years so fairly used to them by now. Running on eibach springs with mild frsu and Re070 s and in the dry it's immense! Not on cheaper tyres and not in cold and wet but in the dry when tyres are warm it grips beyond most people's nerve to push it that hard. Steering weight is good with good feedback, tyre pressure usually 34 front 32 rear gives good balance. I've taken these cars to the limit and beyond and have a bit of a reputation in my town lol. Re070 tyres are brilliant but need dry roads to realise how much grip they have.

North Wales mate.

This is the thing, I read everywhere that most people are running a similar setup to me and they're happy with it but mine I'm unhappy with. Starting to think it's just me expecting more from the car than what I should be.

I imagine on track the handling would be terrific but I won't likely track the car so maybe I'm expecting too much from it I don't know. Either way I'm unhappy with it as it currently is.

Sorry to be a moaning whingebag, I bet must annoy everyone on here.

 

[spooke]

I think that your problem is you came from a CRX and EK9, both of which have superior suspension designs and arguably handling.

The problem when lowering the DC5/EP3 is that you loose steering feel and if you go too low will end up with a negative effect. One thing I can recommend if you haven't got one already is a steering slider, SoHonda Garage, Tracy Sports Alloy or other? that made a huge difference to my cars steering feel and brought it close to how it was at standard ride height.

What are your spring rates, damping, ride height (measure from floor to top of arch or from sills), what's your tyre size also?

Instead of de-railing this thread maybe we can move this discussion to your build thread?

 

[Crazylegs]

I think that your problem is you came from a CRX and EK9, both of which have superior suspension designs and arguably handling.

The problem when lowering the DC5/EP3 is that you loose steering feel and if you go too low will end up with a negative effect. One thing I can recommend if you haven't got one already is a steering slider, SoHonda Garage, Tracy Sports Alloy or other? that made a huge difference to my cars steering feel and brought it close to how it was at standard ride height.

What are your spring rates, damping, ride height (measure from floor to top of arch or from sills), what's your tyre size also?

Instead of de-railing this thread maybe we can move this discussion to your build thread?

You'd have thought the DC5 would have a better suspension setup. Handling wise yes I agree. the CRX certainly was and you could really chuck it around but it's a far smaller car.

Thanks for the info about steering slider, is this the same as the rack slider that's on the group buy? Also how much is it for one? Sounds like it may help.

Spring rates etc, I've no idea about. It's on OEM dampers with Eibach Pro springs and Buddy Club RCA's. Tyre size is 225/45/17.

I don't know about moving it as there's a lot of negativity about my car in here which I'd rather not post in my thread until I know that it's all sorted if you get me but I can understand where you're coming from mate.

 

[emmsyDC5xx]

I think you really need to have someone else drive your teg and you try their Teg maybe? If they have Eibachs on too then would be good.

You don't annoy people on here, it's just really really hard to help and diagnose a car on a forum😊
If I was local to you id let you try my teg.

Hope someone can help you out! Chin up x

 

[spooke]

You'd have thought the DC5 would have a better suspension setup. Handling wise yes I agree. the CRX certainly was and you could really chuck it around but it's a far smaller car.

Thanks for the info about steering slider, is this the same as the rack slider that's on the group buy? Also how much is it for one? Sounds like it may help.

Spring rates etc, I've no idea about. It's on OEM dampers with Eibach Pro springs and Buddy Club RCA's. Tyre size is 225/45/17.

I don't know about moving it as there's a lot of negativity about my car in here which I'd rather not post in my thread until I know that it's all sorted if you get me but I can understand where you're coming from mate.

Yeah the group buy is the slider I am using, it was £55 posted - made a huge difference to me. I saw that the Eibach Pro springs lower by -25mm front, I read that J's Racing recommend their RCA's only for a car lowered more than 30mm and if you are less than 30mm then it gives a negative effect - although I couldn't really advise you too much as I don't fully understand it all (I also don't know how J's Racing RCA's compare to Buddy Club's either).

You should head down to your local Honda specialist and ask them for advice

 

[Crazylegs]

I think you really need to have someone else drive your teg and you try their Teg maybe? If they have Eibachs on too then would be good.

You don't annoy people on here, it's just really really hard to help and diagnose a car on a forum
If I was local to you id let you try my teg.

Hope someone can help you out! Chin up x

I might see if Mr Coyote is free at some point! He's relatively close by and see what he reckons.

It's booked in for next week to get the CV joint done. I'm wondering if perhaps what Luke has said below regarding the RCA's being for a lower spring could be causing an issue.

I might look into some slightly lower springs in the future but will need to check my funds first.

Thanks Emmsy.

Yeah the group buy is the slider I am using, it was £55 posted - made a huge difference to me. I saw that the Eibach Pro springs lower by -25mm front, I read that J's Racing recommend their RCA's only for a car lowered more than 30mm and if you are less than 30mm then it gives a negative effect - although I couldn't really advise you too much as I don't fully understand it all (I also don't know how J's Racing RCA's compare to Buddy Club's either).

You should head down to your local Honda specialist and ask them for advice

Thanks mate again for this info, I always though the Eibach Pro lowered the car by 30mm.

It's going into Grinspeed on the 29th to have a look at it again but I don't think there's much he will be able to do.

 

[coyote_dc5]

I'll put the kettle on

Sent from my Z10 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Fez]

I think that your problem is you came from a CRX and EK9, both of which have superior suspension designs and arguably handling.

I came from ek9/crx/ek4/and my coupe which had pretty much everything done handling wise, and i think the dc5 standard handles just as good, if not better. Lol but i haven't taken it on track yet.