How to stop annoying wheel hop ?

[Viper IV]

I'm real tired of the wheel hop when I punch the throttle. I'm just waiting for something to break every time it happens. Any suggestions to eliminate this would be appreaciated. I'll bet there are others out there with the same desire.

Thanks
Bob

 

[Skip White]

That's one of those $64,000.00 questions.

There are many factors to this. IRS is more prone to it than a conventional setup. Tire pressure, driving skills, tire style and temp. Suspension, control arm bushings to soft, track or road conditions, and a dozen or more other factors at least.

Do some research on this, and start in each area that you feel ok with. You can reduce it, that's for sure.

The precursor to wheel hop is wheel chatter. You may get it down to this level.

Runflats, big problem right there.

Skip White

 

[Viper IV]

Skip
I'm looking for some definitive answers here. This is a common problem and I'm sure some have worked it out. What has anyone done to help correct this. I'm on the verge of dumping this car because of this rediculous wheel hop. I installed 3.55 gears and the rear tires break loose pretty easy. When the tires warm up the rear end just bounces all the time and I'm embarased to step on it with a passenger. I know it will eventually break something.
My 427 Cobra had the same problem. I put a sway bar, lowered the read end and ladder bars on it to correct it. Those were specific repairs that worked. I could punch it, smoke the tires and go.
What exactly can we do to cure this Veeper. You guys don't drag race your cars with this problem or your times would be terible. I need some good advice here from someone who has corrected it.

 

[VIPER D]

Did it do it b/f the 355's?


vd..?

 

[Viper IV]

No, the thing was gutless without the right gearing

 

[RonnieSRT10]

If you reduce the tire preasure to 5 psi in each tire, your wheel hop problem will be eliminated. However, you may have new problems to deal with!

 

[Michael Hatch]

How do you like the 355's? besides the hop of course.
any times?

 

[Viper IV]

Ronnie
I'll try the lower tire pressure to start. Love the new acceleration of the 3.55's. Don't take it to the track but look forward to the "On Ramp" throttle blast. Wheel hop in 1st & 2nd is violent, 3rd just spins a little but no hop there.

 

[Y2K10 SRT#39]

My CTS-V has the same problem, but not my 05 SRT-10.
Let me know how you finally fixed the problem!
PBR
10 of 50

 

[quick2tr]

Sounds like the 3.07 was less frustrating.

I live in a northern state where lower temperatures reduce Pilot’s traction by 15-30% for half of the driving season. The “gutless” 3.07 mated with the stock 435rwhp and temperature sensitive Pilot’s balances out nicely.

 

[Viper IV]

The 3.07's had it's own frustration of "no power". The RPM's were slow to respond and the gearing was lathargic through out the power band. I was so disapointed when I finally broke it in enough to step on it I realized I made a mistake in buying this car.
I switched from a 427 Cobra & a 12 cyl Lambo to buy this Viper and there were no test drives available until after I bought it, so all the hype I heard was just BS it seems.
I don't mind spending money to make more power but there's a weak link here getting it to the ground. I'm trying to find a "patch" so I can continue to enjoy this car. If not....it's out of here.

 

[Tom F&L GoR]

The rear tire is a "spring." It's why you hear the NASCAR crew chief change tire pressures a pound or so - they are changing the spring rate. If you have the pressures at or near the sidewall maximum, lower them 4-5 pounds and see if that makes a difference. A little more work is changing the rear shock settings. On Gen 1-Gen 2, you remove the shock, remove the spring, compress the shock, and adjust the setting. Too much hop is too soft a setting, so find out what those Gen 3 shock settings are and go 1/3 to 1/2 more stiff. You might want to do the fronts also.

 

[ARMORGOD]

Viper IV,

I know that this isn't going to help you any, and I apologize for that, but just wanted to let you know that what you are experienceing isn't common to all SRTs. I have 3.55s and some other mods that are getting me some more giddy-up and I have absolutely, positively no hopping at the rear. The only thing that I notice hopping up is the front end, everytime I catch a new gear!

 

[Viper IV]

After 351 views of this post it's hard to believe I've only received two suggestions to adjust the tire presure. It's raining here in Calif and I don't take my cars out in the rain. I will try the adjusted tire pressuse. Tire wear is not a factor.
Are the stock rear springs adjustable ? Do I need a replacement set ? If so what is recommended ? It's obvious there's a lot of interst in this problem along with mine so it's a common problem. I'm not opposed to smaller tires (no run flat drag radials) IF IT WILL CURE THIS PROBLEM ! I LIKE THE HRE'S anyway so if 18's with drag radials will help I'm in.
Frustrated Bob in Calif.

 

[Paul Hawker]

It is possible that, whoever installed your new gears, did not reassemble your suspension correctly. It would be worth while to put it up on a hoist, and recheck all nuts and bolts. Best to be done by someone who is familiar with these cars. Your car should not hop with just throttle. My 03 with 3.55's do not hop. (They do spin a little).

 

[GR8_ASP]

I also have violent wheel hop if the tires spin too fast. It is hard but modulating wheel spin speed is the only solution I have found.

 

[502CID]

Out of curiosity, how did you put ladder bars on a 427 Cobra unless it was one of those "kit" cars? Wheel hop is generally the result of a suspension natural frequency that corresponds with the input frequency under acceleration generated by the tire. You can eliminate it by altering shock damping, changing wheel rate (springs and/or tire pressure) or altering suspension bushing durometer. The goal is to move the natural frequency to a point that doesn't resonate with the input from wheel spinning starts. I have seen extream cases where the half shaft torsional stiffness had to be increased to eliminate it. The C5 Z06's also have this problem under some conditons because of their rear suspension design. Tires can have a major effect on the problem and can eliminate it with a change in their side wall stiffness or traction. In summary, there are no simple answers other than experimenting with some of the parameters that can alter the suspension natural frequency to eliminate the stick/slip condition.

 

[Y2K5SRT]

Out of curiosity, how did you put ladder bars on a 427 Cobra unless it was one of those "kit" cars? Wheel hop is generally the result of a suspension natural frequency that corresponds with the input frequency under acceleration generated by the tire. You can eliminate it by altering shock damping, changing wheel rate (springs and/or tire pressure) or altering suspension bushing durometer. The goal is to move the natural frequency to a point that doesn't resonate with the input from wheel spinning starts. I have seen extream cases where the half shaft torsional stiffness had to be increased to eliminate it. The C5 Z06's also have this problem under some conditons because of their rear suspension design. Tires can have a major effect on the problem and can eliminate it with a change in their side wall stiffness or traction. In summary, there are no simple answers other than experimenting with some of the parameters that can alter the suspension natural frequency to eliminate the stick/slip condition.

Excellent first post! Looking forward to more of them...

 

[Viper IV]

Absolutly love these responce's. This is a good topic to give educated replys to all of us. My car is too low to even fit a jack under to try checking the control arm bushings so I'll have to take it to a shop to check.
Note....I ran too little air pressure in a set of street slicks back in 1968 on my Corvette. It was pouring rain and after running to a phone booth for help (no spare for weight) my girl friend told me to loose the soaking wet pants to put a warm blanket on. I then married her ! I don't have to tell you what went on after that but I will tell you now after 37 years now she would just light up a cigarette and say "forget it" just wait for the tow truck and don't even think of anything else.
I will try lowering the air pressure in the rear tires and try try again to prevent the wheel hop. Next I will try replacing the rear shocks with adjustable ones to see if that helps.
The Cobra was a 2003 Superformance with the exact same tire size, independant suspension and I'm not sure if I was correct with the "ladder bars" comment. I took it to a high performance shop that specialized in those kind of cars. Anyway, they fixed it and I was happy with the tire grip.

Bob

 

[Daniel Cragin/DC Performance Inc]

Many things can cause this problem, the interesting thing is that it is worse on some cars than others. First thing we do is correct the tire pressures (old or improperly inflated tires will wheel hop), then torque all the control arm bushings at ride height, then check and correct the alignment of the rear wheels.

The thing that seems to exacerbate this condition is the fact that the production Dynamic shock has almost no rebound dampening and the spring rate was a compromise between ride and stability (the SRT bounce).

Changing to a premium shock (Penske, Moton) with a proper
spring rate can eliminate this problem; However it is an expensive fix.

 

[Tom F&L GoR]

Don't know how SRTs are underneath, but another thing to check is the single ladder bar running from the differential to the transmission mount (prevents the diff from rotating.) On my Gen 1, the two large bolts that go through the diff housing loosened, allowing the center section to rotate (when viewed from the side of the car.) Others have posted about the front of the ladder bar bushing, too.

 

[Skip White]

Dan has it right. This is one of the good benifits we can get from changing the ride on the car. I just had one of the best alignments I've ever had on the car last week. This took them three hours to do. This is very important.

What Dan said about the suspension seems correct. Picture what is happening in your head, and you can see how suspension plays a roll.

Heres my take on the subject. If the suspension is to stiff or to soft, and the dampening features of the shocks are not right, this will contribute to wheel hop, or at least much wheel chatter.

The oem setup has a very high rate of compression dampening in the rear, and the coils they are using are very high rate, by way of preloading. I don't like this. This is what causes the bounce, or bucking in the rear seems to better describe it.

Now do you know what I'm meant by, this being the $64,000.00 question. All that's been said in this thread, is just the tip of the iceberg on this subject, but good info has been said. I could tell you a dozen great ways to reduce it, but the trade-off in drivability may be to much.

Please take those runflats off the car for starters.

 

[Viper IV]

Skip
I found a 4lb diffrence in the rear tire pressures. Will take it for a ride tomorrow and see. I'll keep increasing the pressure 2lbs equally at a time and continue testing it. I am still playing with the HRE wheel idea and of course they will see new rubber. I'm thinking all 18's if there's no clearance problem with the E-brake caliper.

 

[Skip White]

You will have to use an E-Brake relocator kit maybe. I didn't but some wheels are more a little different in the barrel. No big deal, and it'n not expensive. You would love the SSR comps on the car. They are much better looking than the pics show them to be, and they are only 19.5 lbs each. HRE's are much heavier. One more thing that surely contributes to the wheel hop, are those 72lb each rear wheels and tires. That's each one, not to mention the huge very heavy rotors on the car. All this weight is probably responsible for much of the breakage people have had with rear ends.

Skip White

 

[Viper IV]

Alright,
1st, so what do you recommend for drilled / slotted disk rotors (lightwight of course)
2nd, Any lighter wheels than the HRE's that will fit in an 18". I like the five spoke with rivits or allen head design around the outside edges.
3rd, I've heard the green brake pads will stop all the brake dust....True ?

 

[Skip White]

Only wheels I know that are five spoak, and light, are the SSR comps.

As for rotors, waite a few weeks if you can, and I'll be offering the new all aluminum, steel surface rotors. These will be half the weight of the oem's, plus they will be perforated. This is so much better than the aluminum hatted rotors on the market, as they don't really offer that much of a weight savings when you figure in moment of inertia factors.

Skip White

ps, that tire pressure diff. is not good. It can sneak up on ya.

 

[Viper IV]

Well I took the car out yesterday (4 test trips) with even tire pressures, 35lbs, 30lbs, 25lbs and @ 20lbs the low tire light went on. All had the same wheel hop in 1st and 2nd gear so I don't think it's these tires. Some say it's normal and others say they have none at all. I'm exhausted with this problem.

 

[Viper IV]

Well it's going to the Dodge dealer on Tuesday. They suspect tires or shocks. Wheel hop is not so bad with a FULL tank of gas but who rins with a full tank anyway. Hop is still bad in 1st and 2nd. I have not bothered to rty powering third because I'm afraid I'll loose it. The hop makes the car jump side to side just with moderate aggressive throttle.
Has anyone had this fixed yet ? I've heard several people have the same complaint and Dodge knows about it.

Thanks for everyones input on this
Regards
Bob Asmega

 

[GR8_ASP]

Yes mine has wheel hop. I stop it by moderating the level of wheel spin. When they are spinning that fast you are wasting time and money. Now with the cold temps I can make it hop in 1st, 2nd and 3rd.

 

[VIPER D]

Well it's going to the Dodge dealer on Tuesday. They suspect tires or shocks. Wheel hop is not so bad with a FULL tank of gas but who rins with a full tank anyway. Hop is still bad in 1st and 2nd. I have not bothered to rty powering third because I'm afraid I'll loose it. The hop makes the car jump side to side just with moderate aggressive throttle.
Has anyone had this fixed yet ? I've heard several people have the same complaint and Dodge knows about it.

Thanks for everyones input on this
Regards
Bob Asmega

yea easy fix get some drag radials

vd..