[krunchi]

Hi Guys,

Firstly i like to start by thanking Suzi Sport lawnton for their out standing service to me as a
prospective new customer.
I called to book in my jimny to diagnose twitchy sensitive handling at speed.
It was soon apparent that Dereck at suzi sports understanding of Jimny's only went as far as his limited
product line of accessories he sold and he did not want to attemtp to fix my jimny.
He went as far to quickly hang up the phone! we didnt even have a chance to raise voices or argue!
With an attitude like his it is a wonder they are in business at all.


Back to the reason of my post.
I have been concerned with the sensitive twitchy handling of my Suzuki Jimny Hardtop at hwy speeds of 100k
Under 80 the car hanldes great.

Modifications so far.
215/75/15 hancook mud tyres on King rims
60mm tuffdog sprigns
Pro Comp Shocks
Castor correction bushes
Slotted diff/axle mount for even more castor
Extended brake lines
Steering Dampener
All Polybushes in front control arms.
Adjustable Panhard rods

This is definently not the jimny wobble problem, i had that and fixed it.
Simply the steerign is very sensitive at hwy speed.

1- Could this be rectified by the Jimny Bits replacement control arms? I believe they are also lightly longer?

2- Do Jimny's have speed vary power steering? maybe i am getting too much powersteering input at hwy speed?

[krunchi]

I can say for certian what teh castor degree is i will have to check my wheel alignemtn print out. However my wheel alignment guy is familiar with 4wd handling and mods and said my castor was spot on.

I will see if its 3 degrees, in theory if i go past 3 degrees shouldnt the hadnling get a little heavier less twitchy?
I dont get any tram lining

Also its not slotted much maybe 5mm at one end.

[monley]

Stuffed tie end rods....

Edit: just read you slotted the holes....I think thats your issue....and if you new jb arms It will only make things worse....

[krunchi]

thanks for the replys,
This weekend i will try moving back to the stock setting and compare to teh slotted setting. From memory i tested this and the slotted settign gave better less sensitive handling, at this time it also had castor bushes.

But well worth a try!

Whats the best way to inspect a tie rod end? they look fine to me and dont have any play when i grab and try to wobble them?

[BertZook]

have u check ur tyre pressures?

remember when I swap my tyres to 215s and the guy on the shop (also when I rotate them at the service) over inflate them, so it make the car handle very light... though it was the caster, till I check the tyres pressure

[royce]

x2 on tyre pressure and possibly too much castor, which will make a car change direction funny

what do you call twitchy? when you turn the wheel a bit it takes off in that direction or jsut wanders all over the road at speed?

[krunchi]

Hey guys, I am on top of tyre pressure. Tyre place puts in 40psi and i drop it down, vary between the tyre placard 26psu to 36psi testing it and never run mroe than 36psi.

By twitchy i mean, i can turn the wheel only 3cm and it makes a big difference in teh car direction. It doesnt really wander it is jsut so sensitive to steering input at speed.

I never thought too much castor would be a issue but i will give it a try over the weekend and maybe change tie rods?
Also i run the car with no swaybar when i am driving to a 4wd destiantion and that makes no difference to the twitchy sensitive handling.

Do you guys wiht jimny's feel that the car is too sensitive on teh Hwy?

[JrZook]

Excessive toe out?

[BAZZOOK]

Whats the best way to inspect a tie rod end?

Get a tyre lever and lever away any for play.

[krunchi]

Thanks BAZZOOK doign it by hand obviously is not enough pressue!

Wheel alingment guys saying the figures are fine but i will recheck and post some numbers.

So far 2 things to check this weekend.

1 - slotted camber and the wheel alignemtn figures
2 - Tie rod ends

Cheers guys

[krunchi]

JrZook, excessive toe out is definenetly a valid thought

[BertZook]

krunchi wrote:

Hey guys, I am on top of tyre pressure. Tyre place puts in 40psi and i drop it down, vary between the tyre placard 26psu to 36psi testing it and never run mroe than 36psi.

same happened to me and the car was reaaally sensitive.... like if my power steering was x2 lol

I usually run 26ish-28... never more than 30.... try to put some 28psi and ull see the difference if ur running 36 (way too much imo)

[royce]

drop all your tyres down to 22 and try it, doesnt mean they need to stay there but you can try and see

to check tie rod ends lift one wheel off the ground and twist it side to side and see if there is movement in the joint, then swap to teh other side

Toe out is also very much worth looking out, though it will make it twitchy in a straight line too

[monley]

That was from my last wheel alignment...castor(the top figure's) is way out on mine....it make's it wonder all over the place and becomes very twitchy when i hit even a small pit hole on the road... i would imagine having "Too much castor" would have the same effect?

[zooky08]

I have the exact same problem. A slight movement in the steering wheel and it chucks you over into the other lane.
I've just put up with it cos I have no clue why it's so touchy.
Mind me I've got 75mm lift and no castor correction neither do I have a steering dampener or Powersteer.

[monley]

zooky08 wrote:

I have the exact same problem. A slight movement in the steering wheel and it chucks you over into the other lane.
I've just put up with it cos I have no clue why it's so touchy.
Mind me I've got 75mm lift and no castor correction neither do I have a steering dampener or Powersteer.

[zooky08]

monkey wrote:

zooky08 wrote:

I have the exact same problem. A slight movement in the steering wheel and it chucks you over into the other lane.
I've just put up with it cos I have no clue why it's so touchy.
Mind me I've got 75mm lift and no castor correction neither do I have a steering dampener or Powersteer.

My arms should be here this week

[zukenutter]

zooky08 wrote:

monkey wrote:

zooky08 wrote:

I have the exact same problem. A slight movement in the steering wheel and it chucks you over into the other lane.
I've just put up with it cos I have no clue why it's so touchy.
Mind me I've got 75mm lift and no castor correction neither do I have a steering dampener or Powersteer.

My arms should be here this week

You'll be impressed with the difference they/caster correction will make.

I love the way my Jimny drives now, feels firmer on the road and corners really well. The steering self-centers well and the steering has a nice weight. A little positive camber is ok in my experience.

[steak_knife]

O.P..... no2, no........

Get your toe set to 0, take it for a drive, see how it goes, if you don't like it get 1deg toe in.

[krunchi]

Thanks for the input guys,
I got a wheel alignment done today.

Castor is LH +2'16 and RH +2'17

Toes was originally near zero so they bumped it up to +2.2
The change is toe setting makes it drive easier in a straight line with out as much sensitive handling.

MY steering dampner goes form teh steering arm to chassis which might be why it didnt make much difference to the slight wibble i some times get in the front end and the sensitive handling.

The wheel alignemtn guy also picked up what i thought.
The rear end is too harsh over bumps which makes the car hader to handle, I have tuff dog 60mm springs so going to find out the spring rate from tuff dog and look for one slightly softer, another alternative is shocks but i knowwhen i add 60kg in the rear the back is not so bouncy so i am thinking spring rate in first instace.

Cheers

[alien]

before you go spending money on the rear suspension, chuck some heavy shit in the back and drive it for a while and see how it handles...

my sierra is way nicer to drive with 30kg or so in the back cos it smooths out the bumps in the road etc. Certainly doesnt make it handle any better though, if anything i get more body roll.

[krunchi]

Alien, weight in the back makes it handle better for sure. Maybe i save soem cash and just leave permanent recovery items in there to weight it down, ie, high lift jack, compressor, straps.

[monley]

Change the shocks first....oil filled ftw

[krunchi]

Ive got near new es1000 Procomp oil filled shocks, Im not sure if they are worth swapping out? what do you guys think?

[monley]

krunchi wrote:

Ive got near new es1000 Procomp oil filled shocks, Im not sure if they are worth swapping out? what do you guys think?

Yes!!!!

[royce]

monkey wrote:

krunchi wrote:

Ive got near new es1000 Procomp oil filled shocks, Im not sure if they are worth swapping out? what do you guys think?

Yes!!!!

why?

all shocks have oil in them btw

[monley]

royce wrote:

monkey wrote:

krunchi wrote:

Ive got near new es1000 Procomp oil filled shocks, Im not sure if they are worth swapping out? what do you guys think?

Yes!!!!

why?

all shocks have oil in them btw

The es1000 shocks are a softly valved shock...

[zukenutter]

Krunchi, you have a PM