VS Acclaim

[Hangman]

I just picked up a VS Acclaim and just wanted to ask a couple of questions.

Having never owned a car with ABS, IRS, airbags or cruise control,(yeah I know, but I've always owned cars where I was in control ), are there any issues that show up with these?

With the IRS, on fast curves, say 80k's and up, the rear end gets a bit twitchy side to side. Is this just me not being used to the IRS, or is there possibly an issue here?

Cheers

[ephect]

only major thing is when you really lower the rear after a few years the diff cradle can tear.

oh and the passenger side airbag cover edges lift up due to the heat and crap glue from factory. apart from that, the usual v6 stuff, CAS and o2 sensors

[Hangman]

Yeah the usual v6 stuff is nothing new, I've owned a few commo's but they've all been executives. The pass. airbag cover has already lifted

Not gonna lower it, so that's not an issue. Main thing is how the rear feels on curves at speed. I don't think it's right, just wondering if it's a common thing or I have a major issue.

[Cracka]

Twitchy? like its skipping sort off? thats not exactly normal for live axle or irs.

What is the setup, any mods e.g lowered? Since you havn't been overly specific i'm going to ask just to eliminate it, and I hate using this terminology, does it "chirp" when your parking and such?

You may need to raise the rear end of the car (Chock the front wheels, I know you know, but for anyone else out there) and have a good look at all of the bushes, also if you spin one wheel, does the other wheel spin the same way like an LSD or the opposite direction like a single spinner/pegger.

[ephect]

see because its sitting at normal height it might feel like its twitchy, your shocks might be worn too.

or drop it a couple cm and it will feel like a different car.

[Hangman]

I only picked it up tonight, and it was cheap so I'm not expecting it to be perfect. It'll only be a work car, replacing my VP but I still want it to go round corners properly.

Standard height, stock wheels etc. By twitchy I mean the rear sort of like rocks side to side if you move the steering wheel mid corner, something I've never had happen with a live axle. As said, I've never owned anything with IRS, but I don't think this is right.

I'll be going over it tomorrow in the light so I'll be lookin under it etc.

[Kruza]

if you have any dramas with ur car, send me a pm, and i can help ya out mate..

i have owned a VR Acclaim IRS, and now a VS Acclaim IRS... mine is lowered 2 inches front and rear and no dramas..
to me it may be the rear cradle bushes are flogged out as well as the diff cradle bush... ya can get kits to fix this off Ebay.. wont cost much to fix really..

[Hangman]

By cheap I mean very cheap for what it is ...


I'll look at the bushes etc tomorrow.
It goes good just the rear end thing and the brakes need sorting, which I can do myself.

Actually there's another question. Does the ABS affect the bleeding/replacing of brakes/rotors and pads? I'm assuming it doesn't but have never done it on a car with ABS.

Thanks for the help fellas.

[ephect]

if your not changing the master or booster, bleeding if changing calipers and pad/rotor changes are fine. normal bleeding proceedures apply

i've changed over calipers and performed a standard bleed, with no issue to the operation to ABS

[Hangman]

Cool. The brakes work alright, the only issue is the pedals a bit spongy/has no feel. I'll bleed/replace as needed. Unless the pedal feel is an ABS thing too...

#### technology

[Kruza]

ya can bleed an ABS car, but dont touch the unit..
just normal bleedin if need be.. start at left rear, then right rear, left front and lastly front right.. just make sure when ya bleed brakes on ABS cars, pump the pedal a bit after each corner is done, and after pads are done.... i found out it feels better and the abs unit dont push as much fluid around when pumped after each corner

[Brett_jjj]

Ive ran into a few ABS equipped commodores now where the brake pedal was still slightly long and spongy after the brakes have been bled..So,after you have bled an ABS equipped car, if the pedal still feels a little bit long and spongy,it could be that air is trapped in the ABS modulator.You need to cycle the ABS to let this trapped air through the modulator.The Tech 1 scantool that holden use, has a brake bleed option in the ABS menu that allows you to cycle the ABS system whilst the brakes are being bled.You can also lock up the brakes on grass or gravel a few times,this will also cycle the ABS and hopefully let any trapped air through to the wheels so it can be bled out..You just need to rebleed them really well after you have locked the brakes up a few times..

[Hangman]

Thanks mate, I'll bleed them normally and see what happens.

Bout to go look under it and see what the go is with the rear end.

Meanwhile here's what a $700 VS Acclaim looks like

[Brett_jjj]

The acclaims arent too bad,basically an optioned up executive.Ive been rebuilding my front end in my VS executive,and for the last week or so,Ive been driving around a VR acclaim I got for my oldies for $300.When I first went and picked up this car,(it still had a months rego),I was only gonna use it for parts, as the guy said the car was absolutely buggered and was only good for parts.I drove it home,and it drove pretty good.It certainly suprised me.Ive driven a few other VR/VS commodores that have been a hell of a lot worse to drive,so I decided not to scrap it,and give it to my oldies instead.Theyve been driving an old VP.The VR has got a buggered auto transmission,its slow to engage drive etc,and slips under heavy acceleration,but other than that,the cars not too bad.And Ive got another trans in another VR ,so its not gonna cost anything to fix the buggered trans.It needs new springs,struts and bushes,all the usual parts that any car this age usually needs,but yeah,its not too bad at all.
My VS has live axle,this acclaim has the IRS (I think all acclaims do),and after driving it about ,handling wise,its not too bad when compared to the live axle rear end of my VS.The VR has also got ABS,Ive never owned a car with ABS ,and Ive never really had a chance to try it out,so I was checking it out the other night when it rained,and it works pretty good too.The cars still fairly steerable under heaps heavy braking ,so it does what its supposed to do.

[Hangman]

Cheers mate. I've just been fixin a few minor things. Interior light works now and the bonnet latches properly. No fault codes logged either. It also goes harder than my other VS.

Can't really see much underneath, I'll get it in the driveway for a proper look tomorrow, gotta move a couple of other cars first

[Hangman]

Ok, given it the once over, played around and got a few lights goin that weren't, one warped rotor on the front so changing them after I type this.

Gonna put new IRS cradle bushes and shocks in it, where's the best/cheapest place to get the bushes? Was looking on ebay but didn't find much.

[Hangman]

Brakes all bled, new discs and pads on the front. Much better pedal feel now, stops better too. Chuck some new bushes in the back and it should be right for what it's gotta do, which is only gettin me to work and back each day.

Gonna put new IRS cradle bushes and shocks in it, where's the best/cheapest place to get the bushes? Was looking on ebay but didn't find much.

Anyone?

[ephect]

i go all the bushes for the front end all at repco, decent price too.

i would give a couple auto places a call ask them for prices on the items you want, then go to the cheapest one.

[Hangman]

Yeah, was just wondering if there's cheaper ones available online, like how brake stuff etc is cheaper online than in stores.

[Hangman]

New cradle bushes and shocks coming soon woohoo.

Fark this one spins the wheels easy, my other VS is nowhere near as spin happy as this one. I don't know if that's to do with the fact my other one is live axle and this one is IRS or maybe the tyres(which are good treadwise) or what. Gonna be interesting when it rains next.