Lude Generation

Hi guys
Few of you may remember I posted about this recently, problem still not sorted

So I have a 98 prelude vti h22 with 4ws (disabled I think)

When I had standard wheels on and no strut brace, drove normally with a little dodgy Ness

Now I have 17 inch alloys on, lowered 30 mm and a strut brace, any sort of uneven road surface it feels like the bloody thing is trying to kill me.

Had 3d wheel alignment done and all good, mot all good, checked back wheels for any movement and none.

Any ideas?
Last thing I've got is to re enable 4ws but could be expensive and not fix the problem

Wheels out balance

Fix the 4ws or do 2ws conversion.
Absolutely pointless looking at anything more while the 4ws is still in fail safe mode.
They drive like absolute jobby with the 4ws in that mode.

ive got full 4ws set up

I've the motor and a spare ecu lol just cba with the rewiring

RattyMcClelland wrote:Wheels out balance

All 4 wheels rebalanced and aligned

I drove my 5th with the 4ws in safe mode and unplugged all connectors and it drove fine...

Driving with 4WS in safe mode is I'm afraid to say, sorry lads, just plain daft. Your rear wheels can do anything based on speed, road camber, potholes etc. I hated driving my ludes when they were in 4WS limp mode, felt like slippery roads all the time. Simply can't condone it as a valid course of action on this forum.

Either swap in the 2WS subframe, or fix the 4WS, then go back to fault finding.

Ok lads cheers
Just thought it locked the wheels straight but I guess not quite lol

The only thing that holds the wheels straight is a large spring - which can, and is, overcome easily by variations in road surface as you are driving.

Additionally, unless it was locked (using the correct locking pin) during your alignment (which type of machine did they use, did you get a printout?), then it's also possible that it's been aligned with the wheels off-centre, which can also affect the alignment when actually driving.

(And, before you think about it, no, you can't drive with this locking pin in permanently, it is designed to purely lock it for the purposes of alignment, it will break if you leave it in and attempt to drive)

Most 4ws faults are actually very simple to fix - so begin the troubleshooting again (we will help you, just post up what you've done and the result) - or, remove the 4ws completely and fit a 2ws subframe.

I, personally, would fix the 4ws, then have a proper alignment done, using a reputable garage who have a Hunter alignment machine, and then see what it's like.


Also, another thing to note, is that wider wheels with lower profile tyres *will* follow the ruts and tramlines in the road more than the standard wheels and tyres. The original tyres will absorb some of this movement by the flex in the sidewalls, with the lower profile tyres, there's less give in the sidewalls, so this is translated to the rest of the car moving into the ruts.

With your 4ws not working too, this can be exaggerated by the movement of the wheels/body being unchecked due to a broken 4ws system, which hasn't got the huge electric motor engaged, holding the wheels in the correct position, relying only on the previously mentioned spring.