problems keeping it straight!

[DensGU]

I have a 2000 GU. Its got 5 inch EFS extreme in the front and setup leafed rear end. anyway obviously theres no swaybar in the front end. Every litle bump, pot hole tiny peble anything on the road sends it all over the shop (I know that not having a sway bar causes this but not that bad) its got brand new factory bushes all over and stirring arms, but an old stirring shock. I'm out of ideas, so any advice would be appreciated.

[RoldIT]

Castor

[jet-6]

What tyres are you running, rags or radials?

[DensGU]

33inch Mickey Thompson radial claws, but Ive got my bro's wheels on at the moment, they made a bit of a difference but not much at all.

[chpd80]

I'm running a 2 inch lift with 33's

Unless your running 37's you've got a 5 inch lift for the wank factor.

Do yourself and everyone on the road a favour and lower it or get an expert that know 4wd suspension to look at it.

Putting the front sway bar back on will help, after all the leaf rear will limit the flex so much it wont matter what you do to the front.

High and wobbly is for nancy's
Low and Fast rules.

[jet-6]

Bais anyone

[nastytroll]

I'm running a 2 inch lift with 33's

Unless your running 37's you've got a 5 inch lift for the wank factor.

Do yourself and everyone on the road a favour and lower it or get an expert that know 4wd suspension to look at it.

Putting the front sway bar back on will help, after all the leaf rear will limit the flex so much it wont matter what you do to the front.

High and wobbly is for nancy's
Low and Fast rules. :D :D :D

I can run 37's with stock coils, but it is useless offroad.

There's nothing wrong running lift.

What caster correction you running DensGU.

Low and fast is for mud pluggers and winchers, high within reason and stable is for drivers.

[DensGU]

I did have a set of 35 simex peds, but sold (for bills) thats why im running the 33"s, anyway basically should I not worry because there all wobly? As for castor correction I assume they are 5 degree, but I'll have to check.

[jet-6]

With that sort of lift it would be wise to run drop boxes or arms, castor bushes are not much chop when in the larger degree's

I ran drop boxes for years with my 6" lift, now i run arms but i never had issue with the boxes, they were great

[zenteren]

I think the only problem would be in the castor angle.
When talking....what is the largest lift kit QU can handle only with caster correction bushes to work perfectly?

[MyGQ]

3" lift is the highest you can get away with in a Nissan for castor bushes, but even then your pushing it cause the diff will still roll with the amount the arm starts getting pushed down away from the diff

Plates are better option than the bushes if you 3" or above, nasty option, run drop arms if you can afford them or if not go boxes as the cheaper option

[Red Dog 4x4]

Every litle bump, pot hole tiny peble anything on the road sends it all over the shop (I know that not having a sway bar causes this but not that bad)

Not having a sway bar wont cause this,

but an old stirring shock.

This will go and get a Exteme stearing stabalizer and it will fix most of the problem, As for caster if you have plates get rid of them. I had them on my GQ coil cab handled like S(-)!t, have recently fitted drop boxes, big diffrence in handling.

[... rick]

Firstly, upgrade that steering damper.

When you say it is all over the shop, exactly what do you mean?
Let me draw you a mental picture that may help you understand castor little better.

Imagine you have a wheelbarrow. When you pick up the handles and stand with the handles at your waist, that is like the radius arms in your standard Patrol. You can steer and control the barrow with a minimum of fuss.
Take that same barrow and lift the handles to your chest and try going for a jog and see how difficult it is to keep that barrow in a straight line. This is the effect of a lifted Patrol with NOT ENOUGH castor.

Is this what your rig is doing? Or is it "tramtracking" and following every line in the road? Is the steering vague and slow, or is it quick and twitchy?

Lastly, if your trying to identify what correction you have in your truck, plates will be 5 or 5.5 degree, and bushes will ususally be 2 or 3 degree.
Let us know what you have and we can help you identify the issue a little better.

Rick.

[DensGU]

It has 5% castor arms.

Is this what your rig is doing? Or is it "tramtracking" and following every line in the road? Is the steering vague and slow, or is it quick and twitchy?

When it hits dips/pot holes in the road it wobbles badly. It also tends to tram track and the steering is slow, in my opion (as you turn the wheel it takes a quarter turn before the car physically turns).

[RUGS]

hi guys i have same problem i have just brought a gq coil ute and it has 4 inch susp 2 inch body and running 33's and it has a brand new tough dog return to centre steering dampner and when i hit a dip in the road it turns my wheel to the left and over a rise it goes right!! i have front sway bar but no rear??

[brad-chevlux]

It has 5% castor arms.

Is this what your rig is doing? Or is it "tramtracking" and following every line in the road? Is the steering vague and slow, or is it quick and twitchy?

When it hits dips/pot holes in the road it wobbles badly. It also tends to tram track and the steering is slow, in my opion (as you turn the wheel it takes a quarter turn before the car physically turns).

is your steering box adjusted properly? and is there any slop in any of the rod ends?


get someone to sit in the car with the engine running, have them turn the steering from left to right using about 3/4 of a turn.
while they are doing this take a look at ALL joints and bushes on the front end. you'll soon see if there are any problems.

[waandy]

i was running 4 inch lift + 35s with caster bushes to suit the original 2 inch lift in my shorty.
it was driveable but takes alot of concerntration as it wondered alot. lane changes were also a lil sketchy and u could feel the front tyres let go turning through round abouts. the caster plates, radius arm spacers and stock nissan radius arm bushes will be going in as soon as we get the engine back in and find a new head.
i miss my shorty

[... rick]

It has 5% castor arms.

Is this what your rig is doing? Or is it "tramtracking" and following every line in the road? Is the steering vague and slow, or is it quick and twitchy?

When it hits dips/pot holes in the road it wobbles badly. It also tends to tram track and the steering is slow, in my opion (as you turn the wheel it takes a quarter turn before the car physically turns).

Both are classic symptoms of too much castor. Have you had it to an aligner and gotten any specs? My guess is it has plates in the front. IF so, ditch them and bung in some 3 degree bushes instead.

Rick.

[DensGU]

Have you had it to an aligner and gotten any specs?

Yes about 4 months ago, (don't drive it much mainly to tow the boat), was told wheel bearings were sloppy, fixed that and alignment wasn't to bad.

get someone to sit in the car with the engine running, have them turn the steering from left to right using about 3/4 of a turn.
while they are doing this take a look at ALL joints and bushes on the front end. you'll soon see if there are any problems.

I'll try this tomorow night, see how we go.

[hiy6o]

Checked the front panard rod bushes ? Make sure they were replaced and are tight.

[DensGU]

yes they where recently replaced.

[mavzilla]

the dip and the rise problem is bump steer due to the panhard rod faceing down not straight due to lift (easy fix lower it or learn to love it)

[nzdarin]

the dip and the rise problem is bump steer due to the panhard rod faceing down not straight due to lift (easy fix lower it or learn to love it)

No. Bumpsteer is caused by the panhard rod and the draglink (or what ever you want to call it) / arm that goes from steering box to the diff, being on a different angle. As long as they are parrallel then there 'shouldn't' be any bump steer.

Also I have a 3" lift with no castor correction and it is pefectly controllable. A little bit twichy but nothing too bad and that is compared to my other GQ that has basically no lift at all.

[mavzilla]

nzdarin then tell him to lower the steering box and hes all good to go then

[mavzilla]

oh ya nzdarin ya gu dont steer as bad because of the bigger camber angle of the hub bearings