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My GQ has a drunken lean!

Posted: Sat Aug 01, 2009 2:23 pm
by Devious
Heyyas.

My GQ has a problem! It has around 3 inches of spring lift front and rear and has a lean to the drivers side. The drivers side sits about an inch lower.

I have swapped springs left to right with no change, disconnected the front and rear sway bars with no change. I loosened off all suspension arms, bounced the car and re-tensioned all arms with the suspension at its settled height with no change.

I dont have an extra battery etc, so no extra weight has been placed just on the drivers side.

What else could be causing the lean. The only thing i was thinking of was the panhard rods. If the car is lifted with not adjusting the rods, the rods are pulling the diffs to the drivers side. As the rods are mounted to the chassis on the drivers side, could they be pulling the body 'around'?

I know it sounds odd, but I am at a loss as to what can be causing it.

Thanks.

Posted: Sat Aug 01, 2009 2:28 pm
by steveoo
Join the club ever second GQ has the problem i have dobinsons springs and it leans to the drivers side and so did 2 of my mates cars they have changed there springs and problem fixed!

Posted: Sat Aug 01, 2009 5:49 pm
by 5inchgq
I ve got dobinsons springs and a saggy passenger side ! just replace the springs with something decent.

Posted: Sat Aug 01, 2009 7:26 pm
by Patroler
funny, ive got 2" hd dobinsons - gives about 3" unladen, and the drivers side front spring is marked and slightly longer to accomodate for the driver, battery, sub tank, mine sits pretty good, but i wouldn't expect hd springs to sag much.
Pretty tricky with fourbys compared to cars, as lots of weight gets added, and it isn't always evenly distributed!

Posted: Sat Aug 01, 2009 10:51 pm
by Devious
5inchgq wrote:I ve got dobinsons springs and a saggy passenger side ! just replace the springs with something decent.
The trouble is it has decent springs in it and I have swapped them left to right so I cant be a sagged spring.

Posted: Sun Aug 02, 2009 10:53 pm
by wanna lux
what brand do you have

Posted: Mon Aug 03, 2009 6:32 am
by Devious
Now dont laugh!

I have pedders rear springs that lifted it around 2.5 inches with 30mm spacers in the rear.

In the front I have heavy duty 80 series springs which lifted the car 3 inches on the front.

Before I fitted these springs though, I was running some 1 year old GU springs and the car had a slight lean then, I then fitted the rear springs and the lean was still there, I then fitted the front springs, and the issue is still there. I must say, after swaping the springs left to right, it is not as bad, but still there, I might try and pack the RHF corner up.

Posted: Mon Aug 03, 2009 7:07 am
by garth
You can by 25mm nolethane packers, that'll sort it.

Posted: Mon Aug 03, 2009 9:55 pm
by Suspension Stuff
Due to me asking for a special build coil that was taller on the drivers side Dobinsons have decided to make all the 3" lift rear coils C45-309T higher on the drivers side. I am absolutely certain that we are now going to get complaints about sitting too high on the passenger side but overall I think it is a good move.

For the record Dobinsons or Dobinsons employees did not design this coil so they cannot be held responsible for the coil previously. Also for the record it will be me you can blame if the new version of the coil is too high on the drivers side.

This might be hard to believe but every Patrol is different so every Patrol will sit differently so we will never please everybody.

Also I can say with absolute certainty that Dobinsons make quality coils.

If someone would lend Suspension Stuff a million or 2 I reckon we could do it better though.

Shane

Posted: Mon Aug 03, 2009 10:37 pm
by love ke70
how long til we see a return in our couple of mil shane :P

my GQ, king springs, the springs are marked LH and RH, i would say that as the OP is using mismatched springs not designed for the car, the lean is caused by that.

get shane to hook you up with some new gear, ive dealt with him a few times and hes nothing but a great help :)

Posted: Mon Aug 03, 2009 11:31 pm
by Suspension Stuff
garth wrote:You can by 25mm nolethane packers, that'll sort it.
This is true and it is a permanent fix. Usually there is nothing actually wrong with the coil, just not enough difference between left and right in your vehicle.

Posted: Mon Aug 03, 2009 11:32 pm
by Suspension Stuff
love ke70 wrote:how long til we see a return in our couple of mil shane :P
Trust Me :D

Posted: Tue Aug 04, 2009 5:45 am
by BASSYK
Suspension Stuff wrote:
love ke70 wrote:how long til we see a return in our couple of mil shane :P
Trust Me :D
i would but i just shipped my last couple of mil to a long lost relative from nigeria that sent me an email :armsup:

As for OP , id go with the spacer.

as a test tou could try using a bit of wood cut out approx right to sit on top of the coil to see if it will fix the problem.
i wouldnt recommend driving on it though!

Posted: Tue Aug 04, 2009 6:35 am
by Devious
I was thinking about using spacers to make the difference up.

I was just wondering if it had something to do with the panhards not being long enough.

Has anyone extended their factory sway bar disconnect?

Posted: Tue Aug 04, 2009 9:34 am
by Holtrol
As far as I know offset springs must be used in GQ,s. That is because of the added weight of a battery, injection gear, transfer case & 70 litre aux tank all set on the right hand side of the vehicle. Another thing is that if your car has a lean, most of the time it is because of the front springs as they carry the majority of the weght. I have had a similar problem in the passed when I added a 25mm packer to the right rear only to have it lifted by 10 mm. Got the front left re-set 10 mm lower and problem fixed.

Posted: Tue Aug 04, 2009 4:55 pm
by love ke70
the panhards just shift the body off centre in relation to the chassis, it wont actually pull it down at all, but may add a little more weight to one side, but it pulls the body to the passenger side doesnt it, ie tyres sit further out on drivers side? so it might be helping a fraction...
if it were me, i would get adjustable panhards and sort it out anyway, but they arnt going to be the key issue behind it sitting on the piss.

Posted: Thu Aug 06, 2009 6:38 pm
by 5inchgq
devious, i have extended my factory sway bar linkages not a disconnect but!! That all goes out the window for me now as i have just taken delivery of a set of superflex arms :armsup:

Posted: Fri Aug 07, 2009 6:23 am
by Devious
I removed the front sway bar and the car drives no different on the road, but the rear links are very short.

Posted: Fri Aug 07, 2009 7:33 am
by Suspension Stuff
Devious wrote:I was thinking about using spacers to make the difference up.

I was just wondering if it had something to do with the panhards not being long enough.

Has anyone extended their factory sway bar disconnect?
I have had customers extend the factory disconnect. I think they cut it and welded some tube over it at the bottom.

Shane