Help me understand my Jimny please

I think I understand what you mean. On the left (passenger side) radius arm, do you mean that the arm is not sitting horizontal in the chassis mount? Ie the inner aspect of the bushing is sitting lower?

Could that be a worn bushing?

Maidan wrote:

I measured the wheel bases tonight. They are only out by about 2mm.
-2258mm on the left side (passenger side)
-2260mm on the right side (driver side)

What this tells me is either ...

a) both front & rear axles are not perpendicular to the vehicle center line (both driver side wheels are "more rearward")
b) the front driver side wheel is not "more rearward in the arch" - the arch is more forward.

A two mm difference can be attributed to an error in measurement or worn bushes.

We are looking at a two dimensional image of a three dimensional object and this can dramatically alter how we perceive the picture. The two pictures at the beginning that show the apparent difference between the tyres and the bodywork cannot be relied upon to depict accurate information because the wheels are not in the straight ahead position. We need more pictures showing the true positions.

Roger

Right it sounds like I have some more info to gather then.

I’m going to remeasure the wheelbase in the first instance.

Is there any merit to measuring the distances from rear/top/front of arches to each tyre?
 

I have just spotted something I didn’t see before.

Your first two pictures in your first post, the height of the axle (centre of the wheel) is different on both sides, so on the drivers side the wheel is higher than on the passenger side to the point where the wheel diameter is maximum at the point of minimum wheel arch.

On the passenger side it looks like the wheel centre is below the bodywork and therefore the distance between tyre and wheel arch look uneven.

Can you measure body height vs wheel centre height on both sides just to confirm?

Robin

Maidan wrote:

Is there any merit to measuring the distances from rear/top/front of arches to each tyre?
 

It might help you understand why the tyre is closer to the body work, if it is in fact closer.

Let's say, purely for the sake of discussion, that the wheelbase measurement remains, essentially the same - you're probably eyeballing the center of the hub, so you could be off by a couple of millimeters - and, let's say that measurements from the arch to the wheel rim at the rear are similar, then I think it's safe to say, both front & rear axles are correctly positioned, front to rear.

Please note that I am suggesting measuring to the wheel rim rather than the tyre, tyre size is a variable, and I will come back to this later.

If the distances (note that is plural) to the front arches differ from side to side, it MAY be cause for concern, but it also may not, or at least not immediate concern, here's why...

Because of the suspension design, coil springs, radius arms with a panhard rod, the axle normally has some sideways movement, relative to the chassis, as it moves up & down, again relative to the chassis.  When the vehicle left the factory, the axle would have been more or less centered relative to the chassis when at normal ride height.  If the vehicle has been lifted using longer or stiffer coil springs, the axle will be offset relative to the chassis, and I believe the offset is towards the driver's side.

If the entire front axle is offset to the driver's side, then it won't be just the clearance at the back of the driver's side arch that is less that the passenger side, the clearance at the front will also be less, assuming there is no body damage - if this is the case, one way to fix it is with a longer, adjustable panhard rod.

Now back to the tyres - tyre sizes vary, even if the sidewall size is the same, different brands have different measurements, and it's a good idea to verify the size on each tyre when making your measurements - many years ago I bought a used Suzuki 4WD (not a Jimny) and then discovered it was fitted with two completely different sizes of tyre and three different brands.

Please note that retreads can be especially bad when it comes to size differences.