This car is really frustrating me. I have installed LCARBs and replaced every bushing involving the rear end. Aftermarket LCAs and Panhard. I have the LCA in the upper hole for the LCARB and have tried every setting on my Koni shocks. It still hops into second gear when I'm in it enough to shift at around 2200 (pretty much normal driving). I haven't tried the lower hole but the LCA already has a significant downward angle toward the rear end. Its got the be something else. Springs are new. Seems to be only the right tire hopping.

What the heck more can I try? The LCARB did absolutely nothing for me. Could it be something involving the sway bar? Wrong end links, or to tight, or something?

 

is the car lowered? does it have adjustable LCA's and panhard bar? are the lca's brackets welded on strait and even on the rear? the rear could be out of alignment. i did all that stuff in my iroc and the rear was shifted to the passenger side about half inch since i didnt set it all yet....i just took it down the street and jumped on it once and i thought the rear was going to fall out...lol i set the rear and its smooth as glass!

 

What do you mean straight and even for the LCA brackets? I installed them just as the instructions said to by bolting up the LCA to them as well as the upper bolt and I made sure they were even with each other, however they certainly are not hanging straight down. The back side of the LCARB is about a 10* angle from straight up. (measured)

 

its not gonna hang straight down. sounds like you did everything right.

it should NOT be wheel hopping under part throttle

sounds like you have another issue with either the rear end differential or the rear end out of alignment. take some measurements to see if the rear end is squared up with the car.

could it be the springs not sitting right in the pockets? are the spring perches on the rear centered/even with each other? Does the car sit even?

 

Check the top mount of the right shock absorber (floor pan), from the inside of the vehicle.

 

hows the torque arm mount? if its still stock, rubber, its probably shot and it will make you wheelhop

 

There is no stock rubber left on this car, anywhere. In fact, it didn't hop back when I had all the original stuff. Doesn't leave me feeling very good about my multi-thousand dollar suspension investment. I'll check the shock mount tomorrow, but it was fine when I put the shocks in a couple months ago, what exactly am I looking for? Car sits even both sides and both springs are properly installed with upper isolators in place, I checked this.

 

Dont know if this helps at all, but what about an adjustable torque arm?

 

yeah whats the pinion angle?

 

Describe your "wheel hop" in more detail please.

Wheel hop is usually associated with the application of enough power to compress or twist suspension or driveline components. This leads to an abrupt return to shape, like they snap back into shape. This unloads tires, then as they regain traction they twist again and snap again. This happens quickly and can be violent.

Wheel hop can also happen under heavy braking for similar reasons.

From what you have described, the conditions under which you are experiencing this issue are not consistent with "wheel hop"

What another poster was asking you about the rear was whether or not it was centered relative to the longitudinal axis of the car. If you change your ride height you will need to adjust panhard length to correct this. I don't see how that could be causing your problem though.

 

Before my wheel hop I often noticed that my transmission would chirp second gear when I only partly have my foot in it and the WOT shift was somewhat less firm and would not chirp at all. This is why my part throttle wheel hop makes sense in my head.

Describing the wheel hop: When the car hits second gear the entire car shakes loudly and violently and every interior piece feels like it's about to come flying right off. It scares the crap out of anybody riding with me. Sometimes it lasts until I take my foot off the gas, but other times if I'm not in it as hard it only seems to "hop" once or twice. I don't know how else to describe it. In the split second to full second that its actually hopping it feels like I'm trying to drive 65mph down the highway with a square wheel or something, or maybe like I positioned one side of the car to drive over those road bumps or reflectors you often see in some places.

I'll try to check pinion angle today.

 

well something is definatly wrong, IMO its torque arm related

 

shaking does sound somewhat torque arm related...but could there be something wrong with the trans in 2nd gear? very firm part throttle shift could be due to some problems internally with the trans, or a bad TV cable maybe? for some reason its really firm and has alot of pressure when it shouldnt be

 

Sounds like you have something going on with the trans. If everything was working like it should I would expect the transmission would chirp second gear at WOT and would be somewhat less firm at part throttle.

 

I too would think transmission, it sounds like you have a VERY firm 1-2 part throttle shift. Do you remember what component you changed when it started doing this?

 

It started when I changed the springs and struts for the whole car. This change resulted in a LIFT in ride height, as I ditched the sagging stock springs for IROC replacements. I did tires a month before that and I don't remember if I had the problem the period between doing tires and struts/springs.

I always kinda thought the part throttle chirps had something to do with my peak torque being very low in the power band and the engine being in a "higher torque zone" (~2200 RPM) for part throttle shifts as opposed to WOT shifts coming down to up around 4000RPM at the start of second gear where my L05 makes less torque.

The transmission is NOT stock although I have no clue what has been done to it, it was rebuilt "with some upgrades" about 20,000 miles before I bought the car.