Changes to steering after 50mm lift

[Drew Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close Drew]

G'day everyone,

Two weeks ago I had Old Man Emu +50mm springs and Bilstein shocks fitted. I've noticed that my steering is considerably heavier, the the front end feels more susceptible to "tram-lining". It also seems to pull to the left slightly.

I have a feeling that the wheel alignment needs revisiting, but I just wanted to check with others to see how your steering was after performing the upgrade.

Cheers,

Drew.

[Guest Close Guest]

Your steering is heavier after fitting air lockers and they are OFF? WTF?That doesnt sound right at all, they are Open wheelers when off. Sounds like they might be binding.

[steve120 Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close steve120]

Drew

I've had Bilsteins and Ridepro springs fitted for over 12 months and very happy - no steering issues that I noticed. The only downside for me is the bigger leap I need to make to get in the truck and watching out for low car parks :!:

I got mine done at ATS in Geelong and I do know that they definitely needed to tweak the wheel alignment to suit the new set-up.

I'd take it back to have 'em check your alignment.

Don't know if it's valid ('cause you've got different springs), but I have the alignment settings written down somewhere if you like to compare?

[lc120_man Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close lc120_man]

Take it back and get them to fix it. Should drive better and stability should
be better vs. OEM shocks/springs and no lift.....

[Drew Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close Drew]

Thanks for all the replies,

I've got it booked in for Monday afternoon after Toyota do the CV boot (finally :roll.

Steve, I thought the alignment figures would be the same as for the standard set-up, by that I mean the angle of the wheel to the road is the same. Maybe I'm wrong.

I'd assume your figures should work for me given the same struts (Bilsteins), and the same height spring, therefore the same resting geometry.

That would be great if you could post them, I can take them in on Monday and show the alignment guys.

Cheers,

Drew.

[steve120 Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close steve120]

... That would be great if you could post them, I can take them in on Monday and show the alignment guys.

Cheers,

Drew.

I won't pretend to understand the geometry of wheel alignment Drew - maybe it was more to do with Darren's experience in reducing the front left tyre scrubbing (and seems to have worked).

But FWIW, here are my settings:


CASTOR (LHS/RHS): 0 deg 55 min / 0 deg 56 min

CAMBER (LHS/RHS): 0 deg 03 min / 0 deg 05 min

TOE (LHS/RHS): +1 mm / +1 mm

Also, there are recent posts on this topic over on 120_lcool. Search for "Wheel Alignment Results". Some more settings are posted over there - trouble is, no two look the same :?

Good luck with it

[Drew Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close Drew]

Thanks for that Steve,

I had a look at the posts on LCOOL, like you say - it's a bit of a mish-mash.

I'll take your figures to the alignment place and see how we go. Sure does seem to be a bit of a black art. At least I have a starting point now, as your vehicle is very similar in it's set up to mine - even same tyres.

I'm looking forward to getting it sorted, the ride with the Bilsteins is truly incredible. Well worth the money. It's just the steering letting it down at the moment.

I'll let you all know how I got on.

Drew.

[Guest Close Guest]

Any further on your heavier steering with lockers fitted Wengnuts??
I was speaking to ARB and they said it should have no difference, if it was heavier the diff may be binding somewhere in the front?

[Drew Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close Drew]

Should drive better and stability [b]should[b] be better vs. OEM shocks/springs and no lift.....

Why is that? I really like to know why all ATS customer dislike OME. Care to elaborate on the differences.

I think there might be a bit of confusion here - lc120_man was referring the OEM (original equipment manufacturer) suspension components - i.e. the original Toyota factory fitted hardware, I don't think he was having a swipe at OME (Old Man Emu) hardware.

And I must agree, the Bilstein/OME setup I have had installed is far superior the the original Toyota configuration in terms of ride quality and stability - it's just a small matter of getting the alignment sorted in my case.

Cheers,

Drew.

[lc120_man Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close lc120_man]

Should drive better and stability [b]should[b] be better vs. OEM shocks/springs and no lift.....

Why is that? I really like to know why all ATS customer dislike OME. Care to elaborate on the differences.

Wengnuts,

As Drew said above - OEM is different from OME. But then again OME
with bilstein shocks is not OME any more :lol:

OME (ARB shocks/springs) are OK, but bilsteins setup is sooo much better.

Not sure what beeing ATS customer gonna with with it but have
you tried to drive cars with both setups back to back???

I did...

[Drew Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close Drew]

Had the post installation tighten up carried out then went around to the alignment place.

It feels better and doesn't pull to the left anymore. It still feels different (post lift), I guess I'm just feeling the different geometry of the suspension mod in action.

All in all, it seems fine - although my trip home up the mountains was pouring rain all the way.

Thanks everyone for the replies,

Drew.

[Drew Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close Drew]

Well it's been quite a few weeks since taking the 120 back and having the wheel alignment "fixed" and I've just noticed that my left front tyre is scrubbing. :evil: Not happy. So I've given up on the place that Macquarie 4X4 use and I'm taking it to my tyre bloke.

I just wanted to check, particularly with Steve_120, that the settings you had are still serving you well.

I'm pretty disappointed that I've had to run around to get this right. Just another one of those challenges I guess. :roll:

Cheers all,

Drew.

[Drew Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close Drew]

All fixed

All fixed now.

See:

http://www.pradopoint.com/viewtopic.php?p=5958#5958

Drew.