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1994-2002 [Subscribe to Daily Digest] |
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aka genuinesaab.com
Many folks want to improve there front suspension, but are DIY inclined. But fitting poly bushings is really difficult and not in scope for many.
Nick is fitting Saab EOM new control arms with poly bushings. One kit includes a stiffer front sway bar as well. He states that he will install the bushings for free into the arms with one kit, or another has the arms preloaded with the bushings.
This looks to be a really good option for the DIY inclined, and if you are having any ball joint problems, this is really a great situation. DIY front suspension projects with front bushings is now something that many more can consider. And if you choose to have these preloaded arms installed by someone else, the labor costs for struggling with the removal and installation of the new bushings is eliminated.
If doing this, it would make sense to do the steering rack brace, shocks and upper mounts as well if the latter two were known to be getting tired. However, replacing the control arms does not require removal of the strut and it can be left hanging from the strut tower as the arms are replaced.
When changing control arms and/or bushings, the toe-in needs to be checked. Replacement of strut inserts and/or top mounts does not necessitate checking/setting the toe-in. With the stock trim, the toe-in angle is absorbed by deflections in all of the stock rubber/blubber bits. So the running toe-in is not the same as the static setting. With stiffer bushings, little of the toe-in angle will be absorbed by bushing deflection from toe-in rolling forces. The net result is a greater effective toe-in angle and the tires will see increased toe-in induced loads from this. I am inclined to run with lower static toe-in settings than stock to prevent the tires from fighting each other in marginal traction situations such as rain or snow etc. Setting toe-in to close to zero may have an adverse effect on steering input response when transistioning from a straight line situation.
I found that with my 95SET+VRK, that the setup was very sensitive to toe-in. I used to setup the toe-in myself and found that there was a sweet spot and outside of that the steering sort of lost all of its character. With lower profile tires, the toe-in setting is probably all the more sensitive.
Pehaps others with more experience can add to the issue of toe-in effect on steering dynamics. I am not very knowledgeable about specifics.
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