I have axle hop on the right side of my axle when I am moving from a stop if I don't baby the throttle. What should I look for to fix this? I just got it back on the road last month from a year of it sitting. It did not do this before I had it sit from what I remember.

 

The suspension geometry of these cars is inherently wrong, in a way that causes that. The faulty geometry (LCA angle) forces the springs to store energy at launch aka "squat", that SHOULD have been used to push the car forward instead. Wheel hop is the repeated storage and release of this energy.

Lowering (intentional or not) makes it MUCH worse.

Good shock absorbers cover it up to a large extent by damping the energy transfer. They're really just a Band-Aid for this specific problem though; all they do, is relieve the symptom without solving the underlying problem. Keeping the energy in the right place and pointed in the right direction, is the CURE.

If your car's ride height hasn't changed, or something hasn't broken (sway bar parts, control arm bushings, etc., even tires), then the most likely reason it started suddenly, is the shock has failed on that side.

If your shocks are still OEM, it's basically a miracle that they've lasted this long and have still done ANYTHING detectable, all the way until your car is almost an antique. Most of those POSs are failed to complete and utter deadweight by the time the car is a year old or has 10,000 miles on it, whichever comes first. That applies to VIRTUALLY ALL cars, not just these.

Correct approach is 4-pronged:

1. Fix anything broken or wore out
2. Restore the correct ride height (SPRINGS)
3. Correct the faulty geometry with LCARBs
4. Get better shocks (ones that work at all would be a great start)

Not necessarily in that order; except that, it is BEYOND POINTLESS to "mod" a system of the car, that's fundamentally broken.

The best shocks you can afford, and then some, will make a HUGE difference to your car's overall behavior; as will GOOD tires. Neither of those things should be bought from the low bidder.

 

Have you checked air pressure?
Check LCA bolts-
Check Tq arm bolts-
Check panhard bolts-

 

Shocks that are worn out is also something to look at.

 

Thanks. It's not the tire pressure because I have just set all the tires to 30psi last week. I will re-check it to make sure the pressure is correct. This is my autocross car so I will eventually get qa1 double adjustable shocks. The shocks currently on it are some crappy KYB shocks. I will also check the sway bar and the lower control arm.

I would not be against buying some used Koni yellows or Blistein sports.

 

sofakingdom- i commend you for your well written almost comical but extremely informative posts not only in this section but all over the boards. you my friend have more patience that i to answer some of the questions asked on this board

 

Check your torque arm, LCA, PHB bushings to see if they're worn out.

 

I checked the rear suspension and the sway bar endlinks were loose so I tightened them. The right shock is also broken so unfortunately I will need to get new shocks and struts this year.

The rear end feels a little more balanced going around corners easy, but strangely, it feels the same when I really try to fly around them.

 

I just installed new rear shocks and the ride is predictably more comfortable. There is still axle hop when I launch the car hard. What could it be? I believe that it could be a broken spring on the right side but I'm probably going to have to take them off since I looked at them and I didn't visually see anything wrong.

 

How did you install rear shocks and not even look at the spring? (while it was laying on the ground after it fell out)

Shocks are #4 on the list up there. What effect did #1 - #3 have?

 

I didn't let the springs fall to the ground so I will need to do that. Everything else was good. I won't get LCARB until maybe summer.

 

When you lowered the axle to remove the old, broken shock, or at least install to install the new, non-broken shock, the spring would be close to falling out. If the spring was broken, it would be shorter than stock, and would have fallen out.

Is your car lowered? LCARBs are not typically needed for a stock (height) car. That is: LCARBs are a solution, but you may not have the problem they solve... With the car on flat ground, at ride height, which end of the rear control arms are higher? Front or rear?

 

My car is stock height. The rear end of the control arm is higher.

 

Then you could benefit from a set of LCARBS. The LCA should be level or slightly higher at the body.

 

I finally checked the rear springs. Both of them looked good, with no damage to either of them. I did an experiment and switched the sides of the springs to be sure that the springs are okay. To my surprise, the car now doesn't have wheel hop when I'm pulling off from a stop. It feels more comfortable going over the rough pavement and I can actually launch the car hard for my auto-x events. It does prove that the spring is not good so I do need to buy some new coil springs since I have the time to install them. I still have heavy wheel hop when launching the car hard so I do need LCARB when I get some money.

 

When I drove the car more, it started the wheel hop when pulling off from a stop. I have some new rear springs so I can install those later today.

 

I installed new rear springs and it raised the ride height of the rear of the car. So, springs do get fatigued. The ride is a little better in the rear now. It also made the lower control arms level. It still hops when I launch the car hard. Could it be because the limited slip diff is worn out? I still have to drive it more to see if it will hop when pulling away from a stop.