DeLorean handling

[jerzybondov]

This weekend was my first real chance to drive the D properly. 600 miles and I'm just about getting used to it!

I've got a few questions though for those of you who've had their cars longer and done certain things to them. Basically I'm trying to ascertain how much of the D's bad handling is intrinsic, and how much of it might be due to certain things I can improve.

At the moment my car has Spax shocks on the front (out of box settings, havent had a chance to check the clicks), euro height front springs and front strut brace, but the rear shocks are still stock (Spax yet to be fitted).

Two main areas of the handling trouble me. There's a fair amount of play about the straight ahead on the steering. Perhaps 45 minutes worth on a 12 hour clock, if that makes sense. How normal is this? Is this the same for those of you who've had their steering racks refurbished?

The car wanders around on the motorway - particularly at 70+ mph. This may be partially due to the play on the steering making small adjustments difficult, but have other people noticed this too? It's pretty demanding keeping the car straight down the middle of the lane without drifting off one way or the other.

The second area is the handling when driven enthusiastically. In North Wales where my Mum lives there are some excellent A roads where you can get a chance to drive the car the way it was meant to be driven. However, the car is really quite edgy at times. Under hard power out of corners it doesn't like holding a line, and through sweeping bends it yaws and pitches all over the place. Again the play on the steering won't help here as it makes it more difficult to get the car 'set', but I would expect it to be better than it was.

So it strikes me there are a few possible things that are going on here:
a) Trailing arm bushes are fudged
b) Stock shocks on rear really not helping
c) Other bushes (ARB, LCA) are fudged (although Chris didnt think they were too bad)
d) The DeLorean really does handle this badly

Any thoughts? If this is as good as it gets, then that's fine - but no point leaving it like this if it can be helped!

[NickT]

Have a look at:

viewtopic.php?f=10&t=921

wrt suspension bushes at the front.

Once done and settled, get the car to alignment place for a "geometry". This is more involved than a quick 'tracking' of the front wheels. The rear wheels on a delorean are adjustable via shims at the trailing arm bolts (TABS). These need to be adjusted so the rear wheels are equal in toe and cambel wrt the imaginary centre-line of the car. Once this is done should the front be adjusted. NOTE The cambers are non adjustable.
Also, if you take the car to a "krap-fit" type of place then they won't touch the rears but will do a "thrust angle front to rear" alignment (incorrect method anyway) and will probably set the toe to 0deg ie parallel. This is wrong, all tyres shuold be 3mm toe in per wheel. If you live down south (Chesham?) then try:

www.wheels-inmotion.co.uk

I was there at thier open day and had a go with the infra-red realtime setup "Hunter" machine. Ask for Tony. He did my alignment after I played with shim size versus toe change on the rear. The DeLorean settings are in the machine too.

Don't forget that the car is 26 years old and unless you polybush everything won't feel as tight as a modern car you are probably used to driving.

Also change the rear suspension asap and then ensure the re-bound rate is equal front and rear then make subtle changes to your driving style. I think DarrenC mentioned 7 clicks all around.

The steering response will be stiffened with new bushes at the front but you will still get a small amount of "play" in the rack. This was normal at the time (if you are old enough like me to remember what it was like to drive older cars!!!!!!!!)

Have a drive of other cars at Eurotech and see how they compare.

Good luck

Nick.

[Dan6457]

Somethings wrong mate. Mine was never like that. I've done a few long journeys in mine, Ireland and Holland for example and found it most relaxing on the motorway. No play in the steering. I also had standard shocks all round.

Handling round corners was always good too, well as good as a rear engined car with crap front suspension can be :wink: Not anything like your mini, but it feels safe and tight enough.

I think you might have a knackered universal joint in your steering column. It could also do with a good alignment check probably. I also suspect your trailing arm bolts are bent if they havn't been changed, this will affect wheel alignment too, and the bushes could be worn as well.

[Dan6457]

Replied the same time as Nick there. That alignment place has the same machine as the place I took mine too. If its easier for you Gez they are in Maldon, not a million miles from gradys.

[NickT]

I also forgot the lower steering column bush sometimes gets worn and a bit sloppy too.
Grab it and see there is some play down there.

NickT

[Dan6457]

If you need a steering column bush then I have a brand new one spare :wink:

[jerzybondov]

Nick/Dan - thanks for the detailed replies! I'll check out that alignment place. Funnily enough I was thinking when I looked at some pics I took over the weekend that the rears might be on a slightly negative camber (out at the top).

As for the steering column - it clonks about when I go over bumps (and I can clonk it myself by lifting up and down) - is that indicative of bushing wear? If it is that then I'll no doubt be after your spare Dan!

I'm going to try and do a write up with pics at some point on the thread on the owners section too

NB - Nick, as for the older cars thing - yes absolutely. I learnt my trade on various 70s and 80s 300 series rear driven Volvos so I know all about crap handling (and from memory they never felt as edgy as my D)

[Dan6457]

You can't adjust the rear camber so if its out then the links are bent, but its probably fine. Its the tow in thats the problem probably.

Yes it sound like the steering column bush is gone. It shouldn't clonk at all. Is the car at Gradys again now?

[jerzybondov]

Dan1986 Wrote:You can't adjust the rear camber so if its out then the links are bent, but its probably fine. Its the tow in thats the problem probably.

Yes it sound like the steering column bush is gone. It shouldn't clonk at all. Is the car at Gradys again now?

I'm taking it back to Gradys in about 3 hours! I'll talk to Chris about bushings - I'm sure he'll know the tests to see which ones are cobblers...

[Darren C]

Hi Jez,

Glad to hear the cars on the road

Most of your "handling" issues lead straight to your steering rack. I'd get it refurbished, and the tracking set up correctly BEFORE you start changing bushes etc. While the racks out I'd put some new Track rod ends on. saves doing it later then having to pay to reset the tracking again. :wink:

Good luck

Regards
D

[jerzybondov]

Hi Darren,

Well the car is kind of on the road - just gone back to Gradys again for another few weeks! Chris had a look at the play on the steering and said it was almost certainly the universal control joint that has gone (I think that's what it's called?!). He also said to change the steering column bushing, so Dan - if you've got one of Ed's clever split ones then I'd love to take it off your hands.

Anti-roll bar bushings will need changing too - hopefully with all this switched over and the shocks on the rear, it should sort a lot of the iffy handling out. Chris reckons while the TABs are rusty, the bushes are OK so there shouldnt be too much play coming from back there. (But I probably ought to change the TABs at some point).

Should the handling issues remain after that lot, it's probably time to look at the rack... Hopefully it won't come to that! I know the refurb on them isn't a massive job, but is it a pain to get them out?

[A Van]

I think SOC in Kent did my rack for around £70.00, possibly a bit cheaper actually and did a great job.

01622 891 777

[jerzybondov]

A Van Wrote:I think SOC in Kent did my rack for around £70.00, possibly a bit cheaper actually and did a great job.

01622 891 777

Cheers Al! Is that the whole job? From dropping the car off to picking it up? And do you know how long it takes?

As for the handling issues I discussed in the first post - It's also quite possible I was simply exploring the same territory that Car and Driver did in 1981. Just found a link to it posted on dmctalk and noticed this paragraph:

One of the first things De Lorean's technical leprechauns should address themselves to is his car's tendency to get very antsy indeed at hyperspeed over bad pavement. Hopping, darting, and corkscrewing motions are not the stuff of confidence (we suspect that a distinct lack of torsional stiffness between the backbone and the body is the problem), especially when the car cuts into one's outward vision as severely as the De Lorean does.

Still, I'll get the front end sorted and we'll see how much difference it makes!

[Dan6457]

Sorry my spare steering bush is a proper one, so you will have to take the column out to fit it :wink:

[A Van]

You have to take the rack out and send it to them, comes back like new.

I think Chris S posted years ago about a company in London that did them too.

Al