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Bumpsteer-help

1K views 1 reply 1 participant last post by  GRVIT_Hellas 
#1 · (Edited)
Hi all.
I have a problem with my frond end.I did my SAS on my Sidekick more than a year ago.It was(and still is) 3 link front with panhard and wishbone rear.
A bit of History
My first panhard was a Z shape bar.Upper mount behind stock pitman arm,lower mount -same height next to the lower drag link mount on the steering arm.Everything was ok.Here it is

Recently I decided to replace the Z panhard with a straight one .Lower mount almost same as previous(a bit higher),upper 2 inches lower than the height where stock pitman arm is.The result was bump steer and body roll, not too much but it was annoying.
So I decided to get a drop pitman arm in order to lower the drag link too.I ,saw that with the drop pitman,the upper drag link mount would be a bit lower than the last panhard upper mount.So I ordered the drop pitman arm that Calmini makes for Sammies that use Sidekick's steering box.
From this point everything got worse.Truck stands still,I turn the steering wheel and I had body roll.In addition,when turning on the street the axle was "walking" when on turn.The steering had become too sensitive.I searched more in here,learned more about panhard,and I made a new one.Note that I use rod ends on both ends of the panhard.
Here is the current set up


lower mount


upper mount (you can also see the Calm drop pitman arm)



What wrong do you see in these photos ???
I m asking this cause I still have a little bumpsteer,not a problem but its annoying.When going straight and passengers side wheel hits a bump ,the steering wheel turn (right if I remember right) for 2" and comes back to its straight position.It also gives me the impression that its the start of a death wobble which is not going to happen of course (panhard mounts-rod ends ,every thing else checked).
I cant find why this is happening and I need a little help.
Have in mind the following :
- Caster checked,toe in-out checked,differential position(i.e centered) checked,panhard mounts,ends -drag link's ball joints checked.
- I tried to make the panhard and drag link mounts at the same height.(I relocated the lower panhard mount-lower /I still have a slight body roll when truck stands still but its almost as if its not there,I ll raise a bit the lower panhard mount to get it at excactly the same height as the lower drag link mount is/that is where the bolt goes through the steering arm)
- Panhard and drag link are parallel to each other and
- they have almost the same length.I didnt have space to make the panhard same length as the drag link but I dont think thats its very significant cause the difference is that the panhard is aprox. 1,6 inches shorter.
I ve noticed that the lower panhard mount is less than half inch lower than the lower drag link mount.This makes them almost parallel but not completely parallel.Could this be the origin of the problem?
Another thought is that something is wrong with the drop pitman arm.I m not sure but it makes the steering very sensitive and immediate.A slight turn and the truck turns a bit violently.Is there a case that its not the right pitman for me ? I thought that pitman arms were just for lowering the upper drag link mount.I know that they can be just a bit longer than the steering arms,but not too long.If you check the photos,I think you ll see that its just a bit longer.
Is there a case that it drops too much the upper mount?

Cant think of anything else,so I thought that its better to ask for your help.I m ready to cut everything ,replace the pit man arm with the stock one and relocate the upper panhard mount.The only problem with this ,is that when suspension flexes ,the drag link gets too stressed.
Thanks
 
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#2 ·
The last 2 days I could feel that the steering day by day was becoming somehow loose.I could also feel a tendency for death wobble.
Today I hit on purpose a small bump as I was driving on the street with aprox 20 mph and ....I had death wobble.It was strong cause I obliged to use the brakes to stop it before becoming worse.
I ll check the steering parts again but....
Noone has experienced something like that ?
 
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