This is a 1982 Ty-Rail go kart that I picked up a couple of months ago. The original suspension was shot to say the least. The front had shocks…. I decided to stretch it 10” in the front and upgrade to a double A-arm setup. The original uni-link (grader ball) setup was pretty cool but ultimately broke. So I decided to 4-link it! So now we have a 43 year old go kart with the sweetest suspension in the neighborhood! 🤣

I would like to have amazing control on those washboard roads, feel like the bumbp never existed, and remove front sag, and not slide on the dirt road. What should I change without having to weld anything.

Im desining a baja truck this is the frount suspension im running 10deg of caster and 6deg of kpi does this look good

I bought a used set of T-Demand coilovers for my Lexus LS430 but there are no markings or labels for which side is left and right. I know the front from the rears but as to which goes on driver and passenger is unclear.

Does anyone know how to identify which goes where when they’re not labeled?

So on the rear shock of a motorcycle I know that adding preload increases ride height and decreases sag. But does it only extend the shock or is it also compressing the spring? Because it seems like it would only extend the shock until it’s topped out then the spring would compress right? I’m just a little confused. I’ve been trying to study preload for a month and it’s still confusing! Please help!!

I know what a shock does. I know what a spring does. I want to understand Sway Bars (AKA Anti-Roll bars) a bit more.

I have a fleet of hooptie Mazdas.

One of my kids drives a 2007 Mazda 3 hatchback.

My wife drives a 2014 Mazda 5 minivan.

I personally drive a 2009 Mazda RX-8 and have a couple RX-7s in the garage (1st gen and 2nd gen)

The suspension on the Mazda 3 is modified. I have "Racing Beat" springs, "Koni" Shocks, and "CorkSport" sway bars on this car. But the key point is that the sway bars are of a matched set. The car handles very predictably through turns with minor understeer when exceeding the limits of the tires.

The suspension on the Mazda 5 is mostly stock. In working under it, I found the suspension and other components of the car to be remarkably similar to the Mazda 3. The kiddos found that it's got quite a lot of body roll when on a curvy road and for shits and giggles, I found a "TriPoint Engineering" (defunct) sway bar for cheap on Facebook Marketplace designed for a Mazda 3 and put it under the Mazda 5. This bar is SIGNIFICANTLY stiffer than stock, as the diameter is twice as large and the radius portion of it is not bent round stock like the original was, but a gusseted laser cut piece of flat stock steel. The stiffer bar results in a bit of oversteer when driving spiritedly. I really like this.

So looking at the sway bars on my RX-8, imagine my surprise when looking at the bars and finding out the rear bar is significantly smaller than the front. Not only that, but the rear bar appears to be tubular over the solid front. I thought this may be more of a FWD vs RWD thing and I may be comparing apples to oranges...

Comparing my RX-7s, the 1st gen is a solid rear axle vs the 2nd gen which is independent suspension. In their stock setup, I found the 1st gen loves to oversteer when getting on the throttle in a turn while the 2nd gen is not as much. Someone told me to remove the front sway bar and see what happens, which I did and the 2nd gen became more tail happy. This seems to support a stiffer rear being better than a stiffer front, however these are RWD cars as well.

Can someone educate me or direct me towards resources on sway bars and how they affect driving feel?

(rust aside) what sort of suspension is this? I've read about dual spring, but is that bottom spring doing anything while so compressed?

Follow up question - is there anything I can do other than replace. It's likely been like this 10+ years

No matter how well was the maintenance, or you replaced and renewed the entire suspension system with highest quality stuff, the car will never get as soft as once it was new. I asked bodyworkers. They said there are no cure for it unless you change the entire cabin. Is it really something I only have to get along with or there are secret ways?

Also I'm talking about the unibodies. Is that the case for body on frames as well?

what’s a solution to this??

I recently swapped my suspension on my 2016 Nissan Titan. I put on the Bilstein 5100 on all 4 corners. I had a local shop so the coil swap since I wasn't going to try to compress those with some cheap rental tool.

Anyways, I noticed the lower washer on one is opposite the instructions. Will that make any real difference? There's a sleeve and bushing above it.

I made customizable camber suspension that I've never seen before in any car brand.

I’ve been experimenting with custom suspension mechanics and created a system that I haven’t seen in any real car. It uses three shocks and a set of hinge joints to control camber and absorb impacts without bending anything.

Here’s how it works:

1. Front shock absorber (wheel shock)

This one sits at the wheel and works like a normal suspension. It absorbs vertical impacts and keeps the wheel stable.

2) Two camber shocks (upper and lower)

Behind the wheel, the system has two separate shocks that directly control the camber angle:

If the upper shock is compressed → the wheel tilts into negative camber (-)

If the lower shock is compressed → the wheel tilts into positive camber (+)

This means camber isn’t fixed — camber itself is actively adjustable and also has its own suspension.

3) Rear shock absorber (structure shock)

Behind the camber mechanism, there is a third shock that supports the entire suspension structure.

It absorbs:

strong hits,

movement from camber shocks,

and the motion of the whole system.

4) Everything works through hinges

Nothing bends. All parts rotate around hinge joints, so the geometry stays correct and nothing breaks even under extreme angles or low ride height.

Why it’s different

In real vehicles, camber is rigid. If you hit something, the arms bend or alignment is ruined.

In my design:

camber is suspended,

impacts are absorbed on three levels,

the whole structure can flex safely,

and the system can go extremely low without damage.

Basically: the wheel has a suspension, the camber has a suspension, and the entire suspension also has a suspension.

I have a clunky when hitting small bumps, most notable at slow speed. I was thinking lower ball joints, strut mounts, motor mounts, or these links. They look fairly new (I got the car March '25). I have checked everything but the motor mounts. These stuck out to me. The car is not jacked up in the pic, it is on ramps. The links look too long to me but I am stupid, can someone smart let me know? I checked outer tie rods also and they seem ok.

Recently crashed my z I have adjustable suspension parts I wanted to see if the end links that are kind of rotated to where it is misaligned can be fixed or will I need new endlinks. I have also attached more pictures of damaged parts that I could use help to figure out what is salvageable and what isn’t as I am working with a budget.

I found these laying in my garage but couldnt find anything on the internet what car these should fit?

I’ve had my Ford Fiesta 2014- SE for a year now, there is plenty of snow in winter and they put salt on the streets so that’s why it’s rusty. It has misalignment issues and I’ve been told it’s really likely I have suspension issues.

Based on the pictures (forward LH side wheel well) what parts would you replace to get this sorted out, is it recommended to do it on your own? I have mechanical experience in heavy machinery and usually do basic service to the car.

side when I’m either parked or driving slow and turning my wheel slightly (like when parking or turning in a neighborhood)

When I’m on the highway or normal roads it doesn’t make this sound and the car is fine.

I’ve changed the ball joints, outer tie rods, upper control arms for both sides

My guess is it’s the inner tie rod or cv axle or rack and pinion (I hope not lol) but I’m not too sure.

Also when I changed all those parts everything was fine for about a month then the noise randomly came

Also it doesn’t make the sound when the car is jacked up and nothing seems loose when I do ball joint and inner tie rod test.

Has anyone gotten a similar sound? Thanks in advance!