[royce]

Fitted (well watched while a mate did the work) an ARB panhard relocation bracket today with the same Tough Dog 40mm lift I have had for a year, so I will have a week to see what difference it makes, at least on road.

ARB (I know Andrew Brown checks here) having to stick washers between the bracket and panhard to fill the gap is crap, weld spacers in or something, the thing costs enough.

The bumpstop spacers are fiddly to fit (do them before the bracket for more room) or better yet, supply a spacer that goes between the chassis and bumpstop, heaps easier piece to make a heaps easier to fit (looks to be the same setup as Vitaras, can probably already buy a spacer from china)

Having a list of fasteners in the kit with 300 digit part numbers in one part of the book, then using the part numbers to say which parts to use in each step is dumb, just say the M10 Nut FFS, also you made a boo boo there.

[royce]

I didnt get to drive it around before swapping suspension anywhere near as much as I wanted, only some local roads, highway and windy roads with camping gear in the back.

I would say its a worthwhile thing to add to a lifted Jimny.

The video ARB have about it talks of a head wobble effect, that's real and it does reduce that a lot going over angled bumps, like turning out of a driveway down a gutter.
Loaded it feels to have a noticeable reduction in bodyroll, it has never felt rolly with this amount of weight (might be 50kg in the back) but now it feels a little more car like in terms of roll only, doesnt feel like it turns in better or any crazy stuff like that.

I have castor bushes in the front and OME suspension now so any further comparison wouldnt be accurate, too many changes to know whats doing what.

[royce]

I'll also mention that the bracket picks up one of the trailing arm bolts, so things like the Jimnybits shock skids wont fit without modding stuff

[Gwagensteve]

Raising the roll centre (which is what this does) will definitely reduce body roll, and the possible expense of an increase in oversteer.

[DieselBoy]

Gwagensteve wrote:

Raising the roll centre (which is what this does) will definitely reduce body roll, and the possible expense of an increase in oversteer.

Can you explain that one for me in layman’s terms??

I can’t get my brain around how correcting the angle of the panhard rod (flatter), increases the roll center??

I’m off for a google and a YouTube in the mean time

[Gwagensteve]

On a car with radius arm suspension, the roll centre is approximately 1/2 way along the panhard rod. Raising the axle end will raise the roll centre by about 1/2 the amount the axle end was raised. The higher the roll centre, the more the body of the car is trying to push against the force acting on it in order to body roll. This kit will help to reduce the body roll people complain of with OME suspension because OME don’t add unwanted shock valving to compensate for the increased height (other manufacturers use the term “heavy duty” to cover the fact ride harshness increases with suspension lift- it shouldn't. Additionally, the flatter angle will reduce perceived sway and lateral body movement. It’s a win-win and not a common modification in Australia.

[royce]

Lots of car people dont seem to understand there are gains to be made in altering suspension geometry.

You've just made me realise something about some springs

[DieselBoy]

Gwagensteve wrote:

On a car with radius arm suspension, the roll centre is approximately 1/2 way along the panhard rod. Raising the axle end will raise the roll centre by about 1/2 the amount the axle end was raised. The higher the roll centre, the more the body of the car is trying to push against the force acting on it in order to body roll. This kit will help to reduce the body roll people complain of with OME suspension because OME don’t add unwanted shock valving to compensate for the increased height (other manufacturers use the term “heavy duty” to cover the fact ride harshness increases with suspension lift- it shouldn't. Additionally, the flatter angle will reduce perceived sway and lateral body movement. It’s a win-win and not a common modification in Australia.

Thanks, that helped

Regarding increased ride harshness, I always attributed that in part to the higher spring rate used to give the increased ride height I.e often the springs are the same free height as the standard springs, but the lift is achieved through rate increase. Not always, but often. Add big gas pressurised shocks to the mix.......

I always liked the soft valving of the Rancho RS5000 shocks on my leafy LJ’s and 413, I wonder if you can still get the them these days

I’ve got adjustable shocks on one of my other vehicles, but they are useless as I’m always stopping to muck around with them just co’s I can