Raceland coilovers on 1999 Protege, steering super loose and wheel has toe in

[ashekaZx]

I put Raceland coilovers on my 1999 Mazda Protege DX the other day and ran into some issues. I only did the fronts, the rears are still stock. Didn’t mess with anything else besides swapping out the struts and springs.

Both of my front sway bar endlinks are disconnected right now. One side wouldn’t come off the old strut, and the other just spins freely, so I left them off for now.

I dropped the front about 3 inches lower than stock (around 2.5–3 cm from fender to tire). After installing, the steering felt super loose/wobbly, one front wheel had toe-in, it made a ticking/clunking noise when turning, and the steering wheel wouldn’t return to center. It also felt heavier when turning.

I didn’t wanna break anything so I put my stock suspension back on and it drives straight again. (without front end links)

I heard dropping it that low can mess up the tie rod and CV joint angles, so next time I’ll probably raise it an inch higher. (prolly 1.5 drop)

Also im not sure if its the sway bar or end links mount, but its moving up and down freely now when the cars on the floor. And it could reach the hub on coilovers with the stock end links now (stock end links is approx 7.5in, and the hub on the coilovers is around 2in higher than whats on stock strut)

Before I reinstall, I wanna know

Could dropping it that low cause all those steering/toe issues?

Can I still use my stock endlinks, or should I buy longer/adjustable ones?

Is it safe to drive without the endlinks connected for a bit?

Also, if I were running at 3in all around lower than stock, would an alignment fix my the issue it was giving? (I know that they prolly cant fix the camber tho) But like would the loose steering and not centered, bump steer be fixed?

And what’s the best way to remove the stuck endlink stud from the sway bar, can I just cut it off with a hand hacksaw?

Still new to this stuff so I’m trying to learn before I mess something up again lol. Appreciate any help.

 

[misnblu]

End links are specific to the sway bar so yes you can drive the car but handling will be affected when making a corner with lots of roll in the front end.

Having the front lower than the rear by as much as you had the caster was way off and roll center making it feel like you said.

Having both front and rear identical with all the links attached is easily adjustable for proper toe etc.

Get adjustable end links if possible so it's easier to set your sway bar preload to zero. AWR has them and can even make custom endlinks if you get the center to center measurements of both front and back.

Good luck.