ericdwong

In my never ending quest to get rid of wheel hop, I used cables to try to simulate radius arms that brace the control arms. This time around I used cables on both front and back. I use turnbuckles to increase the tension on the wire. The front cables are attached to the tow hooks. To insure the cables were at even tension, I used a guitar tuner and hit the cable under tension. When the "note" came out the same, that meant the tension was the same. Because of the angle of the front cables, I am only able to turn the steering wheel 1 revolution. Hopefully this will be corrected in the future.

At first it made a big difference but then the wheel hop returned. I checked and the cables had loosened up. The clamps may be slipping as it is probably better to have them in a loop rather then parallel as seen in the pics. I also put a butt load of thread locker on the turnbuckles and am waiting for them to dry. I hope to take the car to the drag strip tomorow to see if this will indeed loose the wheel hop.

http://mywebpages.comcast.net/ewong61/rig2/

gtr_rider

iTrader: (50)

how about putting some stoppers in the suspension so that it doesnt move at all... like someone else has done

mzmtg

iTrader: (11)

You will lose some more tension over time from the cables stretching.

Canuck

Any idea on how this has effected the handling?

gtr_rider

iTrader: (50)

"Because of the angle of the front cables, I am only able to turn the steering wheel 1 revolution. Hopefully this will be corrected in the future."

Canuck

I realized that but I was wondering if there was any other negative effects.

Dave B

I commend you on your efforts, but the fact that you have limited your steering ability sounds very dangerous to me. If by chance an obstacle got in your way and you needed to use full range of the steering wheel, the cable may snap and/or shred the tire making for an all out loss of control. Also, the grade of cable and equipment you are using is subpar for your application. The instantous "hit" of torque on a hard launch will easily stretch and compromise the cable/equipment. There's a reason radial arms are made out of metal piping. Just some things to consider.

Another thing that perplexes me is that your car has problems with wheel-hop. I've gotten wheel-hop on occasion on and off the track, but it's always very mild and happens when I get greedy with too high a launch RPM. All I can think of is you are trying to launch your car way too hard off the line. You should really try slipping the clutch a bit more and lowering your launch RPM. There are 6 Maxima owners I personally know and have seen race at the track with me and none of them complain about wheel hop.

What are you launching at? Are you dumping the clutch?



Dave

dmbmaxima2k2

iTrader: (1)

i have REALLY bad wheel hop all the time, street stripe everywhere, it's horrible.

deezo

iTrader: (3)

But your still learning how to launch.

Jeff92se

iTrader: (82)

I'm pretty sure Eric is just playing around with the cable just to see if it actually works or not. I don't think he is planning on any type of permanent install(I hope).

He probably planned it like this. If the cables actually did help alot, he would then be personally justified in maybe buying Warpspeed's units or making some himself(but not out of cables)

Older RWD Nissans had a similar feature. They were called tension rods I believe. http://www.bryanf.com/mycars/yf/fsusp.htm This link shows a really good picture(2nd one down) and how he modified his. You get the idea.

I don't know why the FWD Nissans didn't have these. 510s, 610s, 710, 810s, Infinity M30s and a host of other rwd Nissans had them.

ericdwong

Yea this was just an experiment to see what bracing the control arms would do. I only put them on and drive around the neighbhorhood to the deserted section. Actually even if I was at speed, I wouldnt think of any time that you would need to crank the wheel a full rotation in order to steer.

Yeah I cant get the tension to keep, they're stretching and/or the hardware is stretching or the mounting point is stretching. I might not be able to use them at the track cause I'll never get there with them on. But the difference is amazing when it was taut. The control arms being anchored like that it squeeled hard into 2nd gear even with my heavy 17" rims (no I dont use these at the track).

I think one of my reasons for the wheel hop is the Quaife differential. Does anybody who you race with have it? If I hit just right it'll begin hopping. Probably one side detects a bit of slip, but then tries to transfer power to the other but in the process causing the hop over and over and over. Must be bad harmonics- if thats the right term. However the car does burn rubber quite well with 2 black consistent tracks if dumped from high enough just fine, hehe. My car will even hop 2nd gear without the support. Its aweful. Maybe my control arms are ruined. My old camry's control arms were ruined and needed to be replaced. Infact they were so bad that I remember the wheels moving rearwards when the car was put in gear (automatic). However that car did not have the power to hop

I launch anywhere between 3000 or if I'm feelin ballsy 4000 RPM. I have been able to do it hop free at times but its difficult.

DA-MAX

iTrader: (10)

whats the word on those radius arms?? WSP announced them, but never followed up, haven't heard from them in months either??

Dave B

Jeff-
I definately see what you are talking about, but what catches my attention is that these "tension" rods are on the front of the RWD Nissans. What I'm saying is that the drive wheels aren't in the front therefore the tension rods are for handling, not to stop wheelhop. This guys website even says the tension rods are for handling.

Eric-
3000-4000rpms launches are pretty aggressive. Whne I've ever gotten wheelhop, it's been when I'm launching at 3000+. I learned that I get better launches by revving up to 2200-2300rpms and gently release the clutch to get a slight roll and then release the clutch fairly quickly while giving it gas. I "usually" get 2.2 60 foots this way. It doesn't feel as fast, but my timeslips show otherwise. Many of the quicker guys on this Org launch low (2000rpms), slip the clutch, and feed it gas and get mid to low 14s. With the amount of torque we have, launching low while slipping the clutch a bit is very effective.

Wheelhop occurs when you shock the driveline. The rubber engine mounts and suspension bushings in street cars induce most of the wheelhop. When you release the clutch too quickly, the engine torques forward, the tire spins then grabs which ends up making the tire bounce and the engine keeps rocking in the cradle. As the tire comes back down, it grabs again, and hops back up. Wheelhop is a very bad thing. Axles get snapped, bearings get toasted, bushings get torn, etc. Maybe my car can have a lot of wheelhop too, but when I feel the tires hop, I back off instantly. It's not worth it to me to break something.

Let me ask you this. Does your hop only occur from stand still launches or does it do it from a rolling start in 1st too? I don't think your differential is to blame. It sounds to me like you're too aggressive on the launch and/or, like you said, your control arms could be shot. Take a close look over them. You tend to drive cars pretty hard, so things will obviously wear out a little quicker.


Dave

ericdwong

Hop can happen both times. It also happens if I hit 2nd gear pretty hard too. But- with the differential it hops in the rain, it used to never with the open diffy. Also I should point out, my friend with a 68 z28 just put in a 9" 4.10 posi rear from the stock 2.7(?) open diffy rear and he says when he launches now he may get some hop. I do feel the differential has a little if not alot to do with the hop.

Dave B

On slippery surfaces is when I can get really bad hop and I have the open differential. My old Hondas (90 CRX Si and 86 Accord) would both hop in the rain too. My 94 Z28 would wheelhop, but we called that axle tramp Wheelhop isn't just a FWD thing. The new IRS Mustang Cobras are notorious for snapping axles while hopping. I've actually watched wheel hop that was so severe on a 03 Cobra (upgraded pulley, drag tires) that the tires not only moved up and down, they move front to back. After getting out of 1st gear and hitting 2nd really hard, the right axle snapped. He didn't even get one pass in his new 03 Cobra that put down 390rwhp and 400rwtq.


Dave