[medic455]

I'm new to this forum, so if the questions I am about to ask have been asked before, sorry
My daughter has a off the shelf 96 SJ80 Coily, a really nice little car(and a lot cheaper to run than either my Land Rovers or Patrol) but it has a issue that is a bit of a worry. At just on 60KPH it gets a really bad vibration in the steering, this lasts for only a few KPH and is gone by about 65 KPH, rotating the tyres does not make any difference. It's fitted with 205 70 15 Federal road tyres and standard Suzuki rims. Does any one here have an idea as to what the cause of this vibration could be???????
Also it is not fitted with any type of steering damper, should it be and could the lack of one be part of the problem ????

Thanks
Peter

[whincup]

99.9% of the vibrations at that speed is wheel balance/alignment issues. get it balanced/aligned and see what happens

and welcome

[atari4x4]

the dreaded "death wobble" could be caused by worn wheel bearings, king pins, suspension bushes etc.

[rpower10]

I had this on my 96... had to get off the gas every time the wobble started. My mechanic went straight for a steering damper and haven't had any trouble since... but like atari said the damper just masks issues that have not been addressed.

[ellis]

yes get a rtc steering demper

[Gwagensteve]

ellis wrote:

yes get a rtc steering demper

No, do not get a RTC damper, they are crap. If you want to intall a damper, any one will do - they are a basic and cheap shock absorber.

Whilst a damper might smother the wobble, the conditon that started the wobble in the first place has not been addressed. It's likely bushing, bearing or kingpin wear.

Steve.

[ellis]

the rtc 1's come with all the bracket's etc to fit the coily's the cheaper 1's will not come with these's

[shakes]

Gwagensteve wrote:

ellis wrote:

yes get a rtc steering demper

No, do not get a RTC damper, they are crap. If you want to intall a damper, any one will do - they are a basic and cheap shock absorber.

Whilst a damper might smother the wobble, the conditon that started the wobble in the first place has not been addressed. It's likely bushing, bearing or kingpin wear.

Steve.

A damper can and will help.

But if you have another issue like has mentioned above then your damper will flog out quickly and you'll be back to square one...

[Lockie666]

I'd check your wheel balance mate, I had the same problem.

[Scrawny]

A damper is only a band aid solution. Yes, it will appear to have fixed the problem but it has only masked it till the real problem gets to the point of wear that the wobbles come back. It's not always a tyre issue either, although a balance and check by a professional is a good idea. As Gwagen suggested, start looking at bushes, wheel bearings, kingpin(or swivel) bearings, etc. It may end up being as case of diagnosis by replacement, just keep replacing till it's fixed.
It should run fine without a steering damper but run a quality one anyway after you have found and fixed the wobble cause.

[zukenutter]

Titled Jimny but same

http://www.auszookers.com/index.php?nam ... bble+group

[medic455]

Thanks everybody for the help so far, I can't help but get the feeling thet the coily has more in commom with the Jimny than it does with the earlier Leaf sprung models. Was it the test bed for the technology that went into the Jimny ???? or am i just

[shep]

medic455 wrote:

Thanks everybody for the help so far, I can't help but get the feeling thet the coily has more in commom with the Jimny than it does with the earlier Leaf sprung models. Was it the test bed for the technology that went into the Jimny ???? or am i just

coilys are just a cobbled together soft roader nothing like a awesome leaf sierra.

[steak_knife]

Gwagensteve wrote:

ellis wrote:

yes get a rtc steering demper

No, do not get a RTC damper, they are crap. If you want to intall a damper, any one will do - they are a basic and cheap shock absorber.

Whilst a damper might smother the wobble, the conditon that started the wobble in the first place has not been addressed. It's likely bushing, bearing or kingpin wear.

Steve.

X2 tho

[whincup]

medic455 wrote:

Thanks everybody for the help so far, I can't help but get the feeling thet the coily has more in commom with the Jimny than it does with the earlier Leaf sprung models. Was it the test bed for the technology that went into the Jimny ???? or am i just

coilys are rated somewhere between a vitara and a jeep... nothing like a real sierra

in all seriousness, its worth getting a wheel alignment and balance if it hasnt been done in a while... that way, even if it doesnt fix the problem, youve done something that should be done anyway so no waste of money

[Reubs]

As others have said, check front (AND REAR) radius arm bushes, kingpins and wheel bearings. No steering damper is required.

If it's like every other 'off-the-shelf' coily still on original bushes and bearings then prepare to do some replacing...