June 16-18, '23 - Carlisle, PA: LegacyGT.com East Coast Meetup

[m sprank]

Oh, I just looked at your engine pic, and yup... the intake manifold is backward, lol.  Late night?

 

No car but I have a workaround.  It's my b-day present.  Cables should arrive tomorrow and buttkicker Sunday.  Then I can hook up my speakers and amp and make a "permanent" set up that's clean. Like a kid at Christmas, I can't wait. So, the 1st test is tonight.  All this for less than a 1990 Miata.  Plus, I can race every day.

 

Edited June 3, 2023 by m sprank

[boxkita]

so much cheaper than a lgt. happy for you!

[boxkita]

440 miles

End of day 2 and sleeping in a ramshackle farmhouse in Idaho Falls. I should have looked at all the pictures.

The road out of oxbow, oregon was lots of fun. Its a private road owned by Idaho power. no police, no guard rails, no traffic. About a mile before the dam are 3 speed bumps with a 5mph warning sign at the bump and large boulders to prevent avoidance. At the posted speed limit of 45mph, it's possible to slow in time. Otherwise you're doing the posted limit when you hit them.

Idaho highway 71 out of Brownlee dam to Cambridge, Idaho gradually increases the speed limit from 25 to 65 over 20 miles. Campers don't pull over for anyone, everyone else was kind. As limit increased, road went from hairpins to sweepers. 

Taking hwy 20 towards Arco, Carey, and Craters of the Moon park, leads to mostly flat straight roads. Obeying the 70mph limit ensured every one passing very rapidly disappeared. My exhaust note is a bit more noticeable. 

Fun fact: Arco, ID is the first city,er, town to be lit by atomic energy .

Craters of the moon from wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Craters_of_the_Moon_National_Monument_and_Preserve

 

440 miles

8 hours 

fun roads: pretty much all of it.

[m sprank]

Sounds like more fun than my first "drive".  You should have some good driving stories for the campfire in 2 weeks. 

 

Too much time in set up trying to get to the driving part. Then cant get comfy as my field of vision is off.  Back into set up again.  Ended up moving the monitor 4.5" closer.  It is now 30" from my eyeballs.  FOV calc says I have 174.6deg.  Using that to set fov in game seems about right. Fairly immersive and obects appear 1:1 ratio in real life.  

Wow tech is amazing. I remember dad bringing home the Atari 2600 and playing pong, breakout and pacman on the living room console tv.  This is like a trip to the moon in comparison. 

Edited June 3, 2023 by m sprank

[SubOperator]

Car is off the quick jacks. New SS brake hoses up front, new Bilstein shocks all around. Rebooted my original CV axle and put it back in. No play in that axle.

Also started putting some of the JDM bling I had bought years ago on the car.

My son did most of the work. I just helped here and there.

Car drives perfectly on the road, new shocks make all the difference. The 65MPH shake is still there. Very violent at speed, I need to figure the issue out before heading to ECM, otherwise new WL ball joints and tie rods will be kaput before I get back home.

 

[boxkita]

bad rim?

[boxkita]

503 miles 

9.5 hours 

fun roads: if you like the scenery, it's all good.

Idaho Falls to Jackson, Wyoming to Dubois, Wy to Ten Sleep, Wy to Buffalo, Wy to Gillette, Wy. 

Teton pass is worth the drive because the approach from Swan Valley is sweepers and sweeping views. The pass is 9468 feet. In a non-turbo car that means you can't pass anyone unless you try hard or you have a bmw m5 coupe (blew my doors off twice).

Ten Sleep to Buffalo has lots of turns , several hairpins, great views, many miles above the snow line.

Buffalo to Gillette was I90 East, speed limit  80 mph. No police, according to the detector.  The car is rock solid.

Heading north out of Shoshoni you go past Boysen dam and follow the Bighorn river valley. It's very narrow with 3 tunnels at one point. The views as you zig-zag between mountains worn down by the river made the 65 mph speed limit meaningless. Everyone goes slow. Google map shows the tunnel but doesn't provide the context for the height difference between river and mountain top.

Jackson to Dubois helped get my first off-road experience over with. Bridge construction and my impatience forced a poorly researched shortcut. The first 20 miles was stupid fun on the curvy roads. Then the road dead-ended in a ranch driveway.  This was the point at which my cellular coverage failed. Using the cached version of the map, there is a forest road that climbs out of the valley back to the main road. Sitting there looking at the muddy "road" I considered the car was built by subaru, its not raining anymore, the car has full length undertray, and I could walk back to the ranch if I got stuck. I repeated that mantra for the next 45 minutes. Then the highway showed up. And this sign.

[SubOperator]

11 hours ago, boxkita said:

bad rim?

This is a different set of wheels, had same issue with my winter set and 18 inch spec b wheels, may be less pronounced. Wouldn't bad (bent or cracked) rim show itself during all the driving time? This steering wheel shake only happens when braking at speed above 50-60 mph. And even then it is not always there.

Head scratcher for sure but I guess I will go ahead and see about some new LCA bushings.

[jaylew]

6 hours ago, SubOperator said:

This steering wheel shake only happens when braking at speed above 50-60 mph. And even then it is not always there.

Head scratcher for sure but I guess I will go ahead and see about some new LCA bushings.

If it is only under braking, that makes me believe its rotor related. Maybe wheel bearing

 

Just got new windshield installed by safelite...anddddd i need to call them to warranty it. Right in the line of sight of driver there is a deformation in the glass. Everywhere else is crystal clear. The tech though was laughing when he showed up since i had the a-pillers removed, heating element unplugged, wipers+trim removed and removed the rear view mirror

[boxkita]

10 hours ago, SubOperator said:

This is a different set of wheels, had same issue with my winter set and 18 inch spec b wheels, may be less pronounced. Wouldn't bad (bent or cracked) rim show itself during all the driving time? This steering wheel shake only happens when braking at speed above 50-60 mph. And even then it is not always there.

Head scratcher for sure but I guess I will go ahead and see about some new LCA bushings.

bad rim can show at certain speeds. I had  one that only reproduced at 90mph. the tech said we can't test that. the tire machine showed it off by a fraction. 

[jaylew]

The fact that he said it persisted with different wheel/tires makes me think that bad rim or tires is ruled out

[SubOperator]

40 minutes ago, boxkita said:

bad rim can show at certain speeds. I had  one that only reproduced at 90mph. the tech said we can't test that. the tire machine showed it off by a fraction. 

Shake only happens when braking. I can cruise for hours and there is no steering wheel shake until brakes are applied.

There is a whole thread about this issue somewhere on the forum. Other people having same/similar issue. I don't know obviously if it is truly the same for all but tires/rims/shocks/ball joints/tie rods, even steering racks were pretty much ruled out. Steering rack on mine feels to be tight, I can feel no play in it. I had a theory that is may be due to swelling brake hoses (I rocked originals from 2005 still) but with new SS brake hoses up front I personally can attest that they made no difference.

Brake calipers are new(ish)  OEM, not remans. I changed all 4 just before COVID hoping that was the cause of the issue, made no difference.

I will try to have new LCA bushings done before ECM, if that does not cure the issue, will probably replace wheel bearings. They make no noise, and I had them checked in April when getting the car inspected. But I want to get all possible replacements done while I have new WL ball joints, tie rods, shocks and top hats in front suspension. If after that the shake is still there then I am in the territory of either digging in braking system (booster? ABS module?) or steering rack.

TBH AFAIK brake booster and ABS controller were not touched by anyone this far who were trying to have this fixed.

 

 

[jaylew]

Well likely the rotors are warped. Other possibility is the mounting surface(s) between rotor/hub or wheel bearing/knuckle are not machine flat.

I made the mistake of painting the mating surface between the wheel bearing and knuckle and i get shaking in the steering wheel upon braking and the rears like to catch/let go kinda feeling. The fix for me is to clean the machined mating surfaces.

Could be similar or not. But I guess start with the rotors

[KZJonny]

I tend to agree, and unless you’ve got something aftermarket and nice for rotors, it’s an affordable/easy swap.

New bushings are good anyway, since you’ve gone to all the trouble of installing all the whiteline goodies, or if they are ageing out anyway.

[SubOperator]

1 minute ago, jaylew said:

Well likely the rotors are warped. Other possibility is the mounting surface(s) between rotor/hub or wheel bearing/knuckle are not machine flat.

I made the mistake of painting the mating surface between the wheel bearing and knuckle and i get shaking in the steering wheel upon braking and the rears like to catch/let go kinda feeling. The fix for me is to clean the machined mating surfaces.

Could be similar or not. But I guess start with the rotors

It's the inconsistency of the issue that makes it a head scratcher. Rotors were checked several times and passed. These are Centrics and they do develop some rust between the hub and inner mating surface. I did in fact take the caliper brackets off and cleaned the mating surfaces with metal brush on the drill. They did not look that bad to begin with. But that may be the issue, who knows. Had that problem with son's old 05 OB. However, in that case the shake was present when simply driving at speed, not just during braking.

At any rate, if new LCA bushings won't resolve the problem, I will replace wheel bearings, and rotors/pads as well. Already have OEM rotors and pads.

[SubOperator]

1 minute ago, KZJonny said:

I tend to agree, and unless you’ve got something aftermarket and nice for rotors, it’s an affordable/easy swap.

New bushings are good anyway, since you’ve gone to all the trouble of installing all the whiteline goodies, or if they are ageing out anyway.

Aye sir, I agree on replacing everything with new, it's just my wallet that has some spending limits. Life is not fair.

[boxkita]

sbt or max capacity did a study on the shaking wheel. provided a solution too.

of course i can't find the link. so i'm my usual helpful self

[KZJonny]

Fwiw, I put a very thin coat of anti-seize between the inner rotor hat and the hub mating surface. Has never caused vibration issues I’m aware of, but does a good job preventing corrosion there, and I’ve never had to pound the wheel off a car.

One time while helping a co-worker do a brake job in his Impala, I ended up handing him a 6ft chunk of 2x4, and having him stick it between the spokes of his alloys and push until we could get some play (he is a big lad…..) all after soaking it all in FreeAll. Those bastards were totally corrosion welded to the hubs….. The car was never exactly well taken care of, clearly, but man!! Made me glad of all the little extra things car guys do that maybe take a minute along the way, but pay you back down the road.

Anti-seize for the win.

[JJBerk]

@boxkita So awesome to hear of your trek out here. Really starting to look forward to this camping trip and meeting you all. In many ways, I’ve never felt like I quite fit in here, but here we are, and it’ll be fun! @boxkita in the middle of this crazy trip, if there is anything we could do that would be helpful, please shout out. This is only 2 hours-ish from home and we can do about anything you need. 

Can’t wait to meet you all in person!

[boxkita]

Day 4. 665 miles. 10.5 hours driving time.

South Dakota's speed limit for I90 is 80. The max speed on cruise is 90. Some engineer is laughing his butt off. 

Devil's Tower in Wyoming. The Close Encounters movie prop. It's awesome in person. The roads there are all kinds of interesting both visually and driving.

Spearfish canyon scenic drive to Cheyenne Springs. Which provides a scenic route to Lead & Deadwood. Seeing Deadwood today, it's must have been NYC on drugs in the 1880's. Whoever is doing their marketing is working hard. Every parking lot in town was full at noon.

Sturgis was on the way to the Badlands. Population 7000. Enough said.

The Badlands. Say what you like about the US Government spending money. The money spent to preserve this area was a great deal. Absolutely unreal. So many Darwin Award opportunities from standing on the edge of crumbling rock cliffs. 

I90 goes 403 miles across South Dakota. Almost completely flat and straight. I'm finding another way home. 

Tonight's bnb is on a lake. They have a kayak. The water is dead calm. Except for me trying to paddle the kayak. At least I didn't fall in.

You see the strangest things driving cross country. This was parked outside the badlands entrance. Yesterday it was getting gas in Shoshoni, Wyoming. The writing on the side says "BubbaSellsLipstick.com"

[m sprank]

Too many posts for this late. Lol.

First, so.many good driving stories being told by @boxkita.  I have driven cross country 4 times and not experienced the great roads he is taking.

Second, who has not experienced  the wheel shake from braking on a 4th gen lgt???  Generally it is uneven brake pad deposits on the rotor.  Also generally more obvious on 5eat models.  I can get into specific circumstances if needed.  Was a pet peeve of mine.  

Please excuse any misspellings or unintelligible comments. Its been a long past week and I am sleep deprived.  My night cap is having an extreme effect. 

[SubOperator]

9 hours ago, m sprank said:

Too many posts for this late. Lol.

First, so.many good driving stories being told by @boxkita.  I have driven cross country 4 times and not experienced the great roads he is taking.

Second, who has not experienced  the wheel shake from braking on a 4th gen lgt???  Generally it is uneven brake pad deposits on the rotor.  Also generally more obvious on 5eat models.  I can get into specific circumstances if needed.  Was a pet peeve of mine.  

Please excuse any misspellings or unintelligible comments. Its been a long past week and I am sleep deprived.  My night cap is having an extreme effect. 

The deposits could be part of it. At least in some cases, braking hard from 70-80MPH would temporarily make the issue go away. This is my second set of Centric rotors, and most likely last one as well. May be OEM pads are just too soft for Centrics, who knows.

I do have OEM in the back installed and have OEM front ones in the box. I did not want to install new OEM rotors on old wheel bearings but for the time of installation and potential benefits I may try it.

Now I go out and do some hard braking - a-la pad baking in style.

[jaylew]

Is that the braking equivalent of the italian tune up?

 

Back to topic of getting to the ECM, I ask the question again for those in NE, who wants to convoy that Friday?

[m sprank]

Yup, burn off the residue and it goes away until it builds back up (which is fast).  Centric Premium rotors and Stoptech street performance pads seemed to be a good combo for making the wheel shake violently upon freeway exit stops.  On track never had an issue, on road where you brake lightly more often, big issue for me. 

Stickers are shipping to me today.  Just received the proofs for the tees.  Going with black logos on grey tees, that was the previous consensus.  Tees should be ready in 5 days.

Edited June 5, 2023 by m sprank

[Enlight]

Hey folks, just wanna say sorry in case I've been remiss on planning things out for the actual weekend of the meet. I've been busy getting the car prepped (engine going in this week, getting break-in tune next Tuesday). Thank you to everyone who has stepped up in different ways: @m sprank with t-shirts and stickers, @JJBerk with offering to help with food,  @boxkita with making it all the way from the west coast, his trip updates really drive home that this is happening. Also, thanks to everyone who is just plain showing up and making this possible.

I figure that with a group of our size and maturity, we will be able to make decisions as they come up. In the meantime, if anyone has any ideas please post them up! You won't be stepping on any toes and I'll be happy to update the first post. I like the idea of the car show and funny prizes. Are we also doing a parts exchange?

Excited that this is finally happening.