Spring preload and sag: what does it really do?

I was recently looking into the topic of suspension spring preload and sag, and it seems there is very little information on the internet about these topics. There is, in fact, quite a bit of misinformation on the topic.

Tire pressure balancer

A few weeks ago, while wandering around Princess Auto’s always fascinating surplus section, I found something useful among the random array of products that is that section of the store. This “Tire2Tire” is an air hose with a tire chuck on either end. Ostensibly, this product is used to reinflate a flat tire by using the air from another of your tires. The idea seems to be that a tire has some infinite amount of air and you can do fun things like inflate other tires and beach balls and air mattresses by harnessing this mystical force. I suppose, in a crowded parking lot, you could probably use the car parked next to yours to refill that flat tire with this product, as long as that car’s owner doesn’t see you.

It might not have been a realistic business model, which may be why these things are being sold as surplus. The product literature also suggests you can increase your car’s top speed by using this air hose. How could I pass that up?

Brake disc resurfacing... with an angle grinder???

In our last installment, I rebuilt my Subaru brake calipers and replaced the pads with some new Hawk HPS performance pads. I was disappointed that after all that work and money that my braking performance hadn’t changed all that much.

It was while I was posting that article that I noticed, in one of the pictures, THIS:

Rebuilding the Subaru 4-piston brake calipers

Was it really almost a year ago that I first replaced my then-new-to-me Subaru’s brake pads? When I was doing so, I noticed that one of the eight front brake pistons was hopelessly stuck. It went on my long-term to-do list to rebuild the front calipers, and I finally got around to it. With seven other pistons still working, one dud actually didn’t affect overall braking too much.

Making my cheap drill press turn slooooooowwwwwly

A few years ago I finally got tired of making holes with a hand drill and purchased a second-hand $30 Jobmate drill press (actually one of the better tools from the otherwise-crap Jobmate lineup). After a short time of ownership, I don’t think I can ever live again without a drill press in my life. Even a relatively crap drill press like this one makes drilling holes so much easier and more accurate.

New steering for the Samurai

I haven’t been entirely happy with the steering setup on my Suzuki Samurai. It had been modified from the stock setup, but I felt it could be much better and safer.

On a stock Samurai, the top steering rod (tie rod) that connects the steering box to the right wheel is a straight piece that sits on top of the leaf springs, along with the entire front axle. When the axle was relocated to the bottom of the leaf springs (a common off-road modification, called a spring-over-axle lift) the tie rod would rub on the leaf springs. You can see the old solution that I had in place in this picture - the bent rod replaced the straight piece in order to clear the leaf spring:

Offroad trail fix: car thief edition

Not long ago we had our Suzuki Samurai out for its post-rebirth maiden trail ride, joining an open run from the Calgary Jeep Association. Everything did not go well. The Samurai developed some pretty severe overheating issues. That wasn’t the worst of it, however.

Chasing differential ghosts ... or ... "you mean it's supposed to workthat way?"

I recently got some practice removing and setting my rear differential from the Samurai. I call it “practice” because it was a lot of work that didn’t actually need to be done!

Needs more flex!

Samuel L. Jackson, our beloved Suzuki Samurai, is back in action! However, the rear suspension has lost some of the articulation (flex) that it used to have. An axle that flexes (can freely rotate in relation to the body) is an axle that has both wheels on the ground, which is exactly what you need on rough trails.

Here it is, before adding flex.

Dear Continental Tire Co...

…

Why on Earth did you decide to mold these little ribs into the tire’s bead surface, thereby causing sidewall leaks when installing your tires?

Signed,

FixBroke

Welders: more useful than you'd think

I like having a welder in the garage. When stupid stuff like this happens:

I can just zap my caulking gun back together!

Squeak-squeak-squeak... AC belt tensioner bearing is shot!

I’ve been chasing this squeaking noise at the front of the Subaru for a while now. Well, not exactly chasing - more like ignoring in the hope that it would go away. Really, I was afraid that it was the timing belt tensioner (something you really shouldn’t ignore) which is a fairly big and (more importantly) expensive job. It turned out to be an easy fix.

As exciting as watching paint dry

I didn’t realize how many damn things I had that needed paint until I started prepping them for a coat of primer. What you’re looking at is mostly my disassembled tire changer and a bunch of other random junk.

I’m trying a couple of new things this time. One is the primer - normally I just go straight to Tremclad, but a few projects of late  have been losing their paint prematurely. The other new thing is spraying - I recently bought a paint sprayer in order to paint my fence (it was a huge time-saver for that job) and decided to give it a whirl on some metal bits. There’s a pretty big time investment for stringing up the bits (and for cleaning the gun afterwards), and there’s some skill involved in avoiding drips, but it works fast and evenly. I think I like it more than my usual brushing method of painting.

Do you know how fast you were going back there, young man?

Thankfully I was never asked that question while riding my motorcycle. If I had been, I could legitimately respond with: “not a freaking clue.” You see, my motorcycle hasn’t had a functioning speedometer for as long as I have owned it. I was finally spurred to fix it when my tachometer needle decided to fall off inside the gauge. One broken gauge I could ignore - but not two!

This tire is tired - now what?

Speaking of things giving up on thing-ing, my recent valve stem breakage apparently wrought more damage than I first thought.

Vise upgrade!

Recently, my vise of many years finally gave up vise-ing.

Bypassing the Subaru catalytic converter EGT sensor

Wow… that title sure sounds boring, doesn’t it? Truthfully, it is! Read on if you dare!

DIY alignment: setting toe

Aligning your toe! No, it’s not exclusively the realm of chiropodists, it’s also car-related. Yeah, sometimes I talk about cars on this blog. Get over it.

Here’s an example of toe going suddenly rather un-aligned. It’s also a good example of how Hummer H2s aren’t really meant to go on trails.

Camber slotting front Subaru struts

Moar camber! Tire camber is the leaning of the tire, and some people take this way, way too far.

Metro drum brake replacement

One of the persistent problems of the Metro, since we picked it up, is a pulsation in the brake pedal and braking force. I suspected the front rotors but a quick check for warping came up clear. I didn’t bother checking the drums in the back - I simply ended up with a set of new drums after noticing how cheap they were and needing to add a few dollars to an online parts order to get free shipping. On they go!

The rear of the car goes up on the jack, and the rear wheels come off. To free the drums we need to remove the little dust caps covering the axle nut. A sharp wood chisel works well to push the cap free.

From too cold to too hot: Metro radiator fan replacement

Remember how our Geo Metro was cooling the engine too much when we first picked it up? Recently, it decided that it wanted to go the other way and overheated in traffic. I immediately suspected the radiator fan, and sure enough I was right - but not in the way I thought I was right.

Replacing tire valve stems

In one of my recent posts, I explained how I change my own tires. You might notice, if you have your tires changed at a professional tire shop, that they tend to replace valve stems when they change the tires. I’ve been skipping over this step and it finally came around to bite me. After a particularly violent autocross lap I found this on my rear tire:

Repairing my laptop's power cord

Recently my computer’s power cord has started acting up. It has been exhibiting all the signs of a short circuit at the point that it flexes most, just at the end of the cord.

New inner tie rod for the Subaru

Soon after I purchased my Subaru, I noticed that the right side inner tie rod boot (aka bellows) was broken. I put a temporary repair on it, and promptly forgot about it. Well, 8 months later I started to hear a noise when while turning the steering wheel, and I was reminded of my “temporary” solution.

The front of the car is jacked up and put on jack stands, and the right side wheel is removed. You can see my super classy garbage-bag-and-duct-tape temporary fix.

Tire mounting at home - part 3: balancing

In the last two installments, I showed you how I dismount and mount tires on my homemade equipment. While that’s all fine and dandy, it’s of no use without balancing that newly installed tire, unless: a) you’re not planning on exceeding 80kph or b) you are trying to avoid the dentist by rattling all your teeth free from your head.

Tire mounting on a homemade tire changer - part 2: mounting

Now that the old tire has been removed from the wheel, we can start looking at putting on a new tire.

The tool for this job is the mounting side of the mount/demount bar:

Tire mounting on a homemade tire changer - part 1: dismounting

You might recall that I have a tire to change. Tire changing is something that can be done at home if you have the right tools. You can buy really expensive tire changers, or fairly cheap ones (wheel scratchers), but I elected to make my own out of (mostly) scrap steel.

Tire changing can be broken down into three steps: dismounting the old tire, mounting the new tire, and balancing the assembly. Today we cover dismounting and introduce some of the homemade tools.

The first thing we need to do is remove the valve core from the valve stem. There is a special tool to do this, but it’s ridiculously cheap:

Spare tires: all-wheel-drive and proper sizing

An incident I had a while back reminded me that my spare tire at the time didn’t match the four tires mounted on the car. Because I tend to buy all my tires used, I thought it might be a good idea to be prepared in case of another flat tire.

Broken wheel centre cap

I found a broken wheel centre cap on the Subaru a little while ago. I’m not sure how it got broken (I blame the last tire shop I visited) but I don’t think it would have stayed on much longer had I not noticed it when I did.

Make your own BEER!

I’ve never been able to afford to buy beer in the quantities and qualities I deserve, so a while back I started making it myself! I used to bottle it, but putting it into kegs is actually much easier (not to mention that it’s just way more awesome having beer on tap). This is all done in three easy steps over the course of three weeks.

Aluminum skidplate construction

After rallycross season ended I noticed a few scrapes on the Subaru’s oil pan. Nothing terrible, but enough to cause me a little worry. With The Trail of the Gnu rally coming up soon I thought it might be prudent to get some protection under there.

How to fix a destroyed tire

Metro thermostat replacement

While test driving the new-to-us Geo Metro, one of the first things I noticed was that the engine wasn’t getting up to operating temperature. It was a chilly -10C evening, and the temperature gauge would barely reach the top of the “C”.

Introducing the Metro!

Apparently, right hand drive, turbocharged, manual-transmission cars aren’t for everyone. With that in mind, we picked up this little beauty for the girl.

Exhaust strap repair on the Subaru

I had been hearing some odd vibrations in the exhaust recently, and upon examination I found this:

Hmm… that’s not right.

The basics: how do to an oil change

One of the most basic items on the maintenance checklist is changing your car’s oil. Once you’ve done it once or twice, it’s easy and quick and not necessarily messy. I remember the first time I did it myself, and I wondered why anyone would endure that terrible ordeal rather than shelling out $50 to have someone else do it. Happily, poverty forced me to try it again, and I’ve learned a few tricks along the way that make oil changes a snap.

You don’t need your own garage to do your own oil changes. Sure, it’s nice, but plenty of people use their driveways, condo parking spaces, or even on their street parking. Pick a nice, warm day and get outside. Just be considerate and don’t leave a mess!

I change my oil every 5000km which is on the conservative side of oil change intervals. Most cars will specify an interval in the owners manual (usually 5000-10000km), but modern cars have fancy oil analyzers built into the computer that monitor the oil life and will tell you when it needs changing.

Here are the tools and supplies I use for oil changes.

Re-mounting the electronic boost controller

Once upon a time, the location of the three switches operating my auxiliary lights used to be home to my HKS electronic boost controller. When I needed a place for the switches, it was the obvious choice, which meant the boost controller needed a new home.

Here it is, back in the day:

It was mounted simply, with double-sided tape, stuck directly to the switch blanks. I looked all around the cockpit for another place to stick it, but no flat surfaces were available. I’d have to build a bracket.

Making an on/off switch for ABS brakes

From my increasing experience with competition driving, I have learned that ABS braking is often not your friend, especially on loose surfaces. A sensitive touch has the capacity to outbrake the computer-controlled ABS system, particularly when we’re talking about the crude Subaru ABS computer.

Wiring the Subaru aux lights, part 9: we aim to please

Lights installed? check. Wires connected? check. Let there be light.

Let’s start with the comparison with low beams:

Wiring the Subaru aux lights, part 8: final connections

Are you excited? I’m excited. All this work and still no light. Perhaps we can fix that.

I needed to first add the connection points for the spot lights and magnetic spot light to the fuse and relay box. The spot lights, with their combined 22 amps of current, would use one of these big Anderson connectors, while the magnetic spotlight and its measly 7 amps would use a miniature version of it.

Wiring the Subaru aux lights, part 7: preparing the lights

Building the light bar was only part of getting the lights mounted. In this chapter I’ll actually get to adding wire and protecting them from rocks.

In the wiring diagram post, I mentioned that I would be making the lights a switched negative system (with a constant positive) as long as the lights weren’t grounded through their attachment points. A quick check with the multimeter showed continuity between the mounting bolt and the negative wire on the middle spot light, but not the two outside lights. This could be easily fixed by disassembling the light.

Wiring the Subaru aux lights, part 6: making and installing thefuse/relay box

With this auxiliary lighting project I’m adding a bunch of fuses and relays, and these are things best left protected from the elements. There’s a reason fuse boxes have covers. In this installment, I’ll be building a box to house all of these items and fitting it to the car.

The basis for the box is this, a hard drive enclosure that has been sitting in my basement for far too long. It has been cut down by about 1" from its original length to fit in the space available.

Wiring the Subaru aux lights, part 5: under the dashboard

Time to string some wire! This part of the wiring project will be all about finding the wires under the dash that we need to cut and tap into, and connecting those to the switches and relays.

When I removed the lower dash panel (three screws and two plastic fasteners) I realized I needed to get rid of some excess wire. This car’s previous owner, though he kept spectacular care of the car, didn’t believe in cutting the extra wire off of his many electronic gadgets and instead just tucked it away in neat coils. This makes for a cramped under-dash area, and isn’t much fun to sort through. With a few cuts and a few new soldered connections, I was rid of all this wire:

Into my bucket of spare wires with you!

Wiring the Subaru aux lights, part 4: parts and pieces

I guess you’ve realized by now that these installments aren’t really in any logical order. This time around, I’ll introduce you to the various parts that will come together in wiring the auxiliary lighting on the Subaru.

There’s a lot of stuff going on up there. Let’s have a look, shall we?

Wiring the Subaru aux lights, part 3: more diagrams! (switches)

So, you thought I was done with wiring diagrams? So did I. As it turns out, the wiring for the switches themselves is a little more complex than I can handle without putting something down on paper. The previous wiring diagram included a simplified version of the switches, but there is much more to take into account.

Wiring the Subaru aux lights, part 2: wiring diagrams

Wiring diagrams can be an interesting mental exercise. They are just so logical - like looking at a road map - but keeping track of what is flowing where and which polarity is which can make your brain hurt.

Wiring the Subaru aux lights, part 1: new bulbs in OEM foglight switches

You may remember, long long ago, I put some fog lights on the Subaru and built a light bar. Well, now it’s time to actually get some light out of these by adding electricity. The wiring job will be more complicated than the light installation, I think, and will be broken up in several parts.

I have managed to scrounge some Subaru OEM foglight switches from the junkyard, and those will be the means of adding and removing blinding light from the road ahead.

Adding a ceiling fan to the garage

Especially in the winter, with wet and snowy cars moving in and out of the garage, I tend to have problems with moisture on the floor and in the air. One of the solutions for this problem is a ceiling fan.

Boost leak testing part 2 - sealing the IACV leak

In part 1 of boost leak testing, I erroneously thought it normal for the idle air valve (IACV) to leak boost when the car was off. As it turns out, I was wrong, and the IACV is a common and rather large leak that needs to be addressed. The part in question is pictured below.

Testing for boost leaks

Having a leak in your turbocharged car’s intake is like having a small hole in a balloon that you’re trying to inflate. Every turbocharged car seems to have a leak or two, and the only way to find it is to pump it full of air and see where it’s escaping.

For that we need some pipe caps to fit the various intake pipes.