VX 80 rear trailing arms and panhard rod

[mumbls]

HI

I have vx 80,
some from ore may know the vehicle.
it is chch built in last ~2 years

the rear pan hard is on [or more] a near 45degree angle and a speciailist in 4wd modification has told me the trailing arms are to short. unfortunately I was unable to visit the shop due to time constraints but i doubt a trailing arm being to 'short' affects the pan hard rod angle.


the car has a 4-6inch lift, it drives like utter shit on the road, it is actually dangerous. FULL STOP. I do question whether the certifier and modifier[s] ever drove it but that is irrelevant - it was bought and built in chch, some may have even worked on it, its all been done at well knowen shops in chch area, I bought this vehicle site unseen based on different shops reputations in being leaders in 4wd upgrades or accessories in nz etc etc etc

I do not write this to start a shit fight or name an shame I just want it 'safe' to drive on the road, as well as offroad. If it makes it. I'm startign to think of the $1 trademe thing, anywho

the vehicle is currently in wellington. I am after recommendations of a workshiop that understands suspension geometery 'shifts' and has proven experience in modifying vehicles, that still drive on the road.

i currently have no idea of who to see, apart from avoid ah wong...



also, please, if you know the vehicle, negative comments towards previous shops arent really going to contribute towards getting this sorted, which is, what the aim is, which is why i haven't included any pics

cheers

mike

[SV1K]

G Guy motors mate, they understand these things...

[basics]

G Guy motors mate, they understand these things...

they were the first that popped into my mind, expensive but get what you pay for i guess.

dose MrO still work there?

[SV1K]

G Guy motors mate, they understand these things...

does MrO still work there?

Yup, as far as I know he does and he's in to old classic cars now.

[1hamish1]

Why not just get some 2" or 3" lift springs/shocks and drop it down? Not overly costly and easy to do at hm. Otherwise You will have to extend panhard mounts to change the angle, not hard to do but alot of shagging around as well as modifying other bits and pieces if it hasnt been done properly. Obviously depends what else has been done ie; front radius arms been replaced with aftermarkets due to big lift, castor etc etc if you drop it down. Do you need a 6" lift? because its more involved and expensive to get it riding as nice as a 2" or 3"lift

[badnuz]

yup plus 1 for GGuys, no point guessing and what to do, if its as bad as you say it is take it to the experts.....

have you checked all the usual 80 Issues (cracked chassis etc etc), could it be you tahs are unbalanced/bent rims/uneven wear etc??

so many factors to consider, and as others have said 6 inch is a big lift, do you need it??

good luck!

[Zooker]

Yea get someone proffesional,
Can we have a picture of the panhard setup please? I'm curious.
45 degrees is extreme..

[Jay]

Hey there...

You sure it's only a 6" lift....? I have a 6" lift in my 80 series... and even with standard pan hard rod in the rear, the angle is not that extreme - and drives fine on the road.

Good luck sorting it out though - be worth it once its all done

Cheers,

Jay

[mudlva]

.

[Big]

Silly question BUT is the rear panhard bent..? as they are hollow in the rear.. Fronts are solid little fkrs.. as I have about a 6" lift in my truck and doesnt do any of the things urs does..

[ClassicCruiserSpares]

If you do sell it you can buy my one

[mumbls]

Yea get someone proffesional,
Can we have a picture of the panhard setup please? I'm curious.
45 degrees is extreme..

It's not 45, but is extreme, it's at mechanics at moment,

Ok

I take that 45 degree, back, it is a exaggeration,

I will take photos when I an back in a week

The pan hard has been lengthened, but I believe it needs mount dropped
A lot

I an searching for an old photo at the moment.
It has 14" fix racing shocks
And superior engineering front control arms

[Sadam_Husain]

coz you asked for advice mate


I wouldnt hesitate taking it down to G.Guy and spending a couple of hundred bucks for their time getting them to have a good look over it and giving you an assessment of how its set up, whats wrong with it and what needs to be changed to get the geometery and road handling corrected, those guys have built and modified a lot of cool comp trucks and offroad race trucks over a lot of years and can most likely point you in the right direction pretty quickly. It would be money well spent for some good advice

[Jerry]

worth having a chat to brian howat as well

[mumbls]

coz you asked for advice mate


I wouldnt hesitate taking it down to G.Guy and spending a couple of hundred bucks for their time getting them to have a good look over it and giving you an assessment of how its set up, whats wrong with it and what needs to be changed to get the geometery and road handling corrected, those guys have built and modified a lot of cool comp trucks and offroad race trucks over a lot of years and can most likely point you in the right direction pretty quickly. It would be money well spent for some good advice

OK will book it in for evaluation - my unawared impression is GGUY builds offroaders, im more htan happy with offroad characteristics, i want to improve on road, is this within there skill set etc?

just incase anyone thought i wasnt sure

IT DOES NOT DRIVE FINE ON THE ROAD, it is unsafe an aquires 100% attention 99% of the time.

It is only a 6" lift

It is not a 45degree angle but it is extreme

Pan hards should be near on horizontal - not large angles

I doubt the persons [mudluva] brother that lifted a wagon 6" only had a 10mm change in panhard..... havent seen it, just basic math, do the figure in your head mudluva

Mine drives like shit with brand new balanced tires and rims.

Will book it into GGUY soon as its out of mechanics. Apparently mechanics an diesel mechanics are busy as fuk at the moment.

or on that note - has anyone used howatt engieneering to modify ROAD going vehicles, off road is complete diff pot of gold, im after on road characteristics

[pressy]

will do a straight swap for mine, complete with a fridge full of drink of choice.....

[tomsoffroad]

You say it handles like crap on the road, but what exactly does it do? Does it wander all over the road, or does it bump steer, is the rear end "twitchy" when you hit a bump, too much body roll?
6" lift is bugger all really. It shouldn't be a problem to get it driving nicely.

The rear panhard rod angle, if it is too steep will make the rear twitchy but shouldn't make it undrivable.
Is the front panhard parallel with the draglink on all plains? If these are different you will have all sorts of issues. Also is the front panhard as long as it can be or is it much shorter than the draglink? If these two are radically different length then you will have nasty bump steer too.

Can you post some clear pics of the front and rear suspension looking straight in from the front and back?

[mudlva]

.

[mumbls]

You say it handles like crap on the road, but what exactly does it do? Does it wander all over the road, YES
or does it bump steer, YES is the rear end "twitchy" when you hit a bump,YES too much body roll?yes, start preparing for corners 2 km down the road etc...
6" lift is bugger all really. It shouldn't be a problem to get it driving nicely.The rear panhard rod angle, if it is too steep will make the rear twitchy but shouldn't make it undrivable.
Is the front panhard parallel with the draglink on all plains? not sure is aftermarket
If these are different you will have all sorts of issues.
Also is the front panhard as long as it can be or is it much shorter than the draglink? If these two are radically different length then you will have nasty bump steer too.

Can you post some clear pics of the front and rear suspension looking straight in from the front and back?

early/mid october im back for a few days will try get in touch before hand

im right your wrong bla bla bla

personally i think you are looking at the problem wrong but hay what would a mere builder know

goodbye

You seem to be focussing on the wrong part mate, the panhard rod angle 'number', most others make suggestions, you merely say 'YOUR WRONG - dont ruin my reputation with a poorly lifted 4wd',
it doesnt drive well on the road, simple, i now have 2 viable options to get it looked at by professionals, you being, not one. cheers to all that help,

to those that wonder why there are no photos, to go with such bold statements, i do not live in nz. the car is in nz. based in wellington at the moment. it is currently being mechanically serviced, hopefulyl next week it will get into GGUY for a measure up. and we will go from there

on a side - the rear wheel track may run 20-40mm to the left of the front wheel track, could be an optical illusion but a few people have notice, when lining up the wheels.

[mumbls]

will do a straight swap for mine, complete with a fridge full of drink of choice.....

Tempting but yours is red, if were white an covered in rust specs id be in

[kbushnz]

Gees mumbls I had to read thru this thread a few times to see if I missed something...
You have been given some good advice re this 6 inch lift issue you have...
And some open and honest results from experienced 4 wheelers who use their vehicles as daily drivers...
And then you go and FLAME them.....(mudluva's posts) Poor form for a newbie....
I suggest you get those photo's up ASAP and keep an open mind...

[mudlva]

.

[zephyrheaven]

Ooooo I know that truck, I drooled over it on my watchlist for months - saw it once in Chch parked near a tyre shop - so huge

Always wondered who did the bar work - lovely front & rear

No real help sorry - but would have a gawk at IH8MUD - they all run 6" lifts & freeway speeds on 37's so cant be that hard, some of the lifts are bloody awful with huge alloy spacers so tread carefully with some ideas

I think that 'man a fre' guy was building dropped trailing arms & custom bumped panhards for these lifts - from what I saw of the pics of yours the trailing arms did look a little short but never saw it in the flesh like that
Superior may also be doing rears now?

Cool truck, will be the ducks nuts when its sorted for handling - everything else was well set up by the looks

If its any consolation my 3" lift on 35's needs at least 80% of my brain on highway cornering fully laden with kids & a camper on - its like the Millenium Falcon in the Asteroid belt - slow & steady

[Pedro]

or on that note - has anyone used howatt engieneering to modify ROAD going vehicles, off road is complete diff pot of gold, im after on road characteristics

Howie build off roaders, 4wds, trials trucks, hot rods and anything else that can move, is very knowledgeable on suspension and setup of suspension, would not hesitate to take it there at all.

pedro

[Fakey]

or on that note - has anyone used howatt engieneering to modify ROAD going vehicles, off road is complete diff pot of gold, im after on road characteristics

Howie build off roaders, 4wds, trials trucks, hot rods and anything else that can move, is very knowledgeable on suspension and setup of suspension, would not hesitate to take it there at all.

pedro

Id take it to him over G Guys personally

[pressy]

will do a straight swap for mine, complete with a fridge full of drink of choice.....

Tempting but yours is red, if were white an covered in rust specs id be in

can sort this out for you.... its only paint I'll pay....

[pressy]

found these this may help. sorry as clear as i could get them. not to good with photo shop....

[Danjr]

Yeah I remember this truck from Trademe too.

From memory it had Superior front arms but they were modified for some reason (ordered wrong ones maybe?). So perhaps its a castor isssue depending on what it's doing on the road (like TomsOffroad says), but if its tracking all over the show it might be worth checking out.

My 80 was scary after a 5 inch lift with only 2 degree offset bushes. Its now got drop boxes but until I did these, it needed 100% attention.

Dan

[Danjr]

Just found the old link to it (if its the same truck)

http://www.offroadexpress.co.nz/Forums/ ... 22&t=30151

Dunno what the hecks up with that LHS front radius arm too with that dodgey extension bracket thingy.....

Its looks like its got the Superflex arms from Superior Suspension. A nice way to spend $1500 Oz.

It is a super flex kit but the wrong kit was ordered so they modified the brakets to suit.

[mumbls]

off to see the specialist this morning

anywho - its not 45 degrees,without gettign a protractor or tape out, ill just post a pic, driveways not flat but shows angle, im assuming it has been lengthened due to the weld?


and heres a factory one

the panhard bushes had been flogged out so much it was flopping about

anyway thanks for the replies, evenyou mudluva, flame away..