Wheel hopping, Excessive front left wheel hopping Options

[yozef]

I have been experiencing excessive left front wheel hopping on hard launches in first gear during the past months.

On another forum somone had suggested to check the shock as it may be dead, others have suggested a check the engine mountings.

Since then I have replaced the shocks with Koni adjustables and found out the fron engine mounting was dead so I replaced that as well.

However this did not help a lot and I am still heaving excessive wheel hopping on 1st gear hard launching.

Has anyone experienced this before, I do not think this is normal as I had never had such a problem before.

[playr158]

well
#1) wheel hop is when you launch and there is enough tq to accelerate the wheel fast enough to break STATIC traction
once it goes kinetic you don't have enough power to continue the solid loss of traction aka spin

since there isn't enough power to keep a solid spin with full loss of traction it will spin and grab spin and grab creating this "hopping" effect

basically if you don't want it rev higher and drop the clutch faster
or
you need to practice launching better with a tiny bit lower in the RMP range so all you get is a slight chirp of the tires but NO loss of traction

[Defgeph]

you need new shocks

[playr158]

Since then I have replaced the shocks with Koni adjustables


jeff read his post he bought konis and it is still happening

they might be set too stiff as well

[Digndoug]

I get wheel hope/sinning wheels when i launch hard.. its just fwd..

[Defgeph]

whats the setting on the koni's then ?

[darksecret]

Lite front ends tend to experience wheel hop with a lot of torque, trucks are the same way, playr is right about his part, but you must also consider high torque will cause it also, I launch between 3000-4000 rpms and get a nice little burnout and decent launch but any higher and I wheel hop.

[playr158]

its not so much revving high as it is low

high reviing you'll get one big burn out

if you in that lower area where its just enough to barely break traction thats were you'll hit wheel hop

[darksecret]

I only wheel hop in the high range at 3,000 rpm and half throttle I never wheel hop and do a nice burnout, at 5,000 and WOT I almost knock my fillings out. I can make a video of it this weekend if you want, if I can get a camera with sound. The same thing happend in my Sierra when I would go 4,000 or higher I would wheel hop, but when I was finishing a burnout I would just shift into third and that auto gear range slowed my wheels and I would wheel hop.

BTW I know what you're talking about and that is wheel hop but it's the wheel catching traction due to very slow wheel spin not high torque forcing your wheel to jump a lot of cars with stock tires do it, if you can get a manual GT tach it up to 5,000 and dump the clutch you'll see what i'm talking about.

For the question have you changed tires recently? Does the steering wheel pull to the left when you launch and how high of an rpm do you launch? Power makes a difference, my 5S doesn't put the power out a 3SGE does but im about 15-20 lbs. ft. less so it would be similar, try lowering your launch rpm to 4,000 and see if that makes a difference, also a bent wheel could be a factor.

This post has been edited by darksecret: Jun 3, 2005 - 2:20 PM

[yozef]

For the question have you changed tires recently? Does the steering wheel pull to the left when you launch and how high of an rpm do you launch? Power makes a difference, my 5S doesn't put the power out a 3SGE does but im about 15-20 lbs. ft. less so it would be similar, try lowering your launch rpm to 4,000 and see if that makes a difference, also a bent wheel could be a factor.
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I have not chabged tyres and I think it my be time to do so so could this be the problem? I launch at 4000 but do not dump the clutch otherwise I do not get traction.

Yes the steering pulls to the non hopping wheel when I launch. But I think thisw is normal since I have less traction on the hopping wheel.

[MonsterBOX]

with stock wheels its a problem, bigger wheels eliminates lots of the traction issues but this is normal unless u have an lsd

[darksecret]

From what you tell me the tires could be the problem, it doesn't seem like it but a balding tire will actually grab more traction on a dry surface than a new one due to there being more surface area and grip (don't get me wrong that isn't good for curves though) Also try dumping the clutch at 3,000 rpm you'll lose a little traction but you shouldn't wheel hop. Late work on adding more pressure to the steering wheel toward the opposite side the wheel is pulling to.

[yozef]

I will try changing front tyres. Might be tempted to get semi slicks.

[playr158]

" Also try dumping the clutch at 3,000 rpm "

dude when i launched at like 2000-2500 rpm on the strip
that just netted me a ton of wheel spin and a crappy et

lose a lil traction haha but your right you won't wheel hop

[SlowCelica94]

On Gt's you need to launch at at least 3k to not bog. That's just my personal exp. You should also drop your tire psi as low as you can. This will well a bunch!

Oh, it's not your shocks (actually we have struts smart one) so don't listen to some of these guys who have likely never seen a drag strip.

[darksecret]

I guess nobody cared to notice he's got an SS-II a 3,000 rpm launch won't hurt, i'm pushing around 170-180 lbs. ft. to the flywheel so I can't launch high, if I do more than 4,000 rpm my car tries to kill me. The 3SGE is similar except it puts out less torque and more horsepower either way 4,000 and above is not the best (unless you have slicks), not to mention the FWD Celica platform isn't the best for drag racing since it tends to be more balanced than other FWD cars (balance is good for autox and rally) leaving the front end pretty light making wheel hop an issue during hard launches.

[yozef]

Hi guys,

Its been quite some time now and since then I have changed the front engine mount since it was dead. The wheel hopping reduced a bit but I still get wheel hopping whenever the wheels spin and always from the left wheel.

I am getting nervous with this wheel hopping thing. It was not there before and it is so annoying that I cannot launch the car properly. Am I the only one who is facing this a problem.

My Konis are set to the softest setting, my springs are stock adn my tires seem ok.

Help please guys!!!

[playr158]

honestly if its stick its basically your driving.....not the car. you

and why are you launching so much?!

[lagos]

and why are you launching so much?!
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yeah i agree, sounds like you launch the car at every stop light or something.

i bet your rear motor mount is shot too. its common to wear them out quickly if you do a lot of hard driving. you can fill them with polyurethane and that should help the wheel hop. i just filled mine, check out this thread: http://celicatech.com/forums/showthread.php?t=10385

[mikew04]

lagos,
did the polyurethane you ended up using cause any unwanted vibrations?