Just got home from the track - major issues with bottoming out

[DocAdam]

I am having some issues with bottoming out. I think my springs may be too soft and need some advice.

One of my problems is that I bought the car with 2400 miles on it and it already had a set of alden coilovers, but I have no idea what type of spring I'm running. The crappy part is I really don't know anything about my suspension.

I didn't even run the last time out because it was so bad, it made some things pretty hairy. The track had a carousel replica of nurburgring and I wasn't able to hit it hard at all due to the right front hitting.

Then the back straight had a little bump in the middle which sent the car up and down with 2 or 3 rubs, at this speed it put out a nice puff of blue smoke from my wheel wells. This really ruined the day as I wasn't able to attack the track in the least.

As I said before, I bought the car with the current setup of alden coilovers and have no idea what the setup really is or what the spring rates are. Whatever they are, it's not good for the track and I have noticed occasional bottoming out over the past 4 months but today was the worst. I think they got worse as the day went on but can't be sure, I just may have been hitting the corners a little harder as I learned the track.

Any advice would be much appreciated, I don't want to spend the money on a moton setup and would like to get away with just replacing the springs, but I'm not sure if that is the problem (I would like to hear from people who know more than I do).


On the other hand, there was a Porshe GT out there today, it might actually be worth the 400k, my god it was beautiful.

 

[Chuck 98 RT/10]

Pretty tough to analyze without knowing what you got. Are the Alden's adjustable? I'm not familiar with them. Maybe they were set for the dragstrip. If so, the rear compresson and front rebound would be set to soft.

Spring rates seem to be all over the board on the GenII. Dunno about the SRT. Again, if the car was setup for dragracing then the springs are gonna be soft.

 

[Lee00blacksilverGTS]

Doc, if I were you I would call Ron Hickey and have him hook you up with Bryon Muller. Bryon rents space from Ron, he has a lift, is an excellent Viper mechanic with a lot of references and good race knowledge, and you can compare to Ron's stock 05 srt while you are there as a control. Located in Falls Church, so not too far from you. PM me if you need more info.

 

[DocAdam]

Pretty tough to analyze without knowing what you got. Are the Alden's adjustable? I'm not familiar with them. Maybe they were set for the dragstrip. If so, the rear compresson and front rebound would be set to soft.

Spring rates seem to be all over the board on the GenII. Dunno about the SRT. Again, if the car was setup for dragracing then the springs are gonna be soft.

I think they were either set up for the drag or for street/bling factor, but I'm not sure just how adjustable they are.

Even when driven pretty hard, 5000 miles in 2 years seems to be a little short for the life-span of a coilover setup, but I may be wrong. I didn't have these problems last year when I was at the track, but it was a less technically challenging track, still I think the setup has definately gotten softer in the past 6 months.

I will send Bryon a PM, I was going to contact him but figured I would try to expand my knowledge by posting first.

Thanks

 

[FrankBarba]

you ran shenanadoah circuit??? i wont even take my viper on that track...save your track days for the main track...

 

[Hans Christian]

I had the Aldan and I threw them away for that same reason - what a useless setup. We tried different spring rates but never worked. I am now running Motons and everything is now solved.

 

[DocAdam]

you ran shenanadoah circuit??? i wont even take my viper on that track...save your track days for the main track...

Yep, that track is made for a miata or lotus. I never had a chance to put down the power.

I do like the other track a lot better.

I don't want to spend the money on the Motons right now, so if nothing seems to work I may go back to stock, but I'd like to keep the lowered look without breaking the bank.

 

[Paul Hawker]

One of our SoCal members also had trouble with these shocks. Never could get them right. Understand Aldan may have made some changes recently.

Friend that just bought a used Viper with Aldans complained that it felt very floaty on the Fwy.

Motons seem to be the hot ticket right now.

 

[Brian E]

Hi Adam.

Below is part a PM I sent you 9-14-05 regarding the Aldans:

"DocAdam, I was in a hurry when I responded to your earlier e-mail. So below is a more detailed reply to your questions.
The Aldans sole purpose are to lower the car 1 inch, not gain a performance advantage on the street or at the track. If you are going to track the car, my advice would be to go back to the stock setup or install the KW's or Motons.

I would also suggest having the car 4 wheel aligned since the car went back to the O.E.M. wheels and tires. I had it aligned after the HRE wheels and tires were installed and was told that it did make a difference. (Camber changed, I think)
The Aldans were another story. I bought one of the first sets they ever made for the SRT-10. After working with them and giving them feedback for a couple months they ended up sending me a set that work pretty good for lowering the car and street driving. I heard they are coming out with a new version that has an upper heim joint. That would be a nice upgrade.
Let me know if you have any more questions."


Adam, as we discussed last year, I have yet to hear of anyone having any success tracking their SRT10 with the Aldan setup. Unfortunately if you are going to continue to track the car, you are going to have to return to the O.E.M. setup or go with the Motons. I dont remember off hand what spring rates are on the car now, but if you decide to swap springs it is an easy job. I would stick with Hypercoil or Eibach springs. Did you ever have the car 4 wheel aligned? If not, I would have it done. I had the car aligned when it was lowered and running the 19&20 HRE 545 and Pirellis.

 

[DocAdam]

Thanks for reminding me Brian, and please don't take this post as in any way meaning I am not 100% happy with the car.

I knew about the aldans but they had held up relatively well on less challenging tracks.

I had the car aligned right away, but liked the look of the lower stance. Now I am considering going back to stock as I don't feel like spending the money on the motons, however if I could correct the problem by switching to a heavier set of springs and keep the lowered look, I would prefer that.

Thanks again.

 

[myfirstviper]

hey doc adams, sounds like you have the old aldans. you should call doug levin. he can help you. alden fixed their problem and may take yours back on trade. plus you need a stiffer spring in the back.

doug, installed my ne aldans a few months back. the new series. at first the car was slammed beutifully. not just 1 inch i can assure you , doug can make aldans sit on the floor.

in the rear at first my spring was to soft and the car hit bottom alot. took it back to doug, he overnighted a heavier spring and now it rides great. still sits lower than any other viper between my friends with the motons.

dont get me wrong aldans can not compare to motons but for the money so far they are doing their job for me.

you can also adjust the rebound of the shock if you take the tires off. it has quite a few positions.

call doug levin. he has lots of experience with the aldans.
goodluck.

 

[Vipera Russelli]

you ran shenanadoah circuit??? i wont even take my viper on that track...save your track days for the main track...

Yep, that track is made for a miata or lotus. I never had a chance to put down the power.

That is a wild track, alright. I too ran the Shenandoah for my first time earlier this year with NASA. It is a nasty track to be sure. Lots of concrete barriers everywhere you turn, which is, well, almost everywhere. And that banked carousel thing everyone talks about, while interesting and unique, is poorly put together. BUMP, BUMP, BUMP, BUMP, BUMP, BUMP, BUMP, BUMP!!! Lots and lots of people came up to me before I went on track and suggested that the track, being so twisty, would eat me alive, wasn’t made for Vipers, would humble me and tilt the scales in favor of all the Miatas. After all that, I can’t say that I was real excited to go on track, but I did. To my delight I ran for an hour and a half in NASA’s HPDE3 group and was passed a total of two times, and it wasn’t by a Miata either. And I hit 140 mph…once. Still, even though I considered it a fun and successful venture, it felt like a high speed motor cross and I couldn't help but feeling that I was on borrowed time. One little screw up there, and it’s wrecker time. I'm glad I ran that course, but I'm not in a hurry to get back.

I'm going to sign up for the Main Course at Summit Point in August with NASA. It will be my first time driving that track too.