Dave's "S200KYS" Jimny 'laner Build...

Here's how the panhard rod drop bracket fits -







And together with the drop pitman arm -



Nice and parallel, and closer to original spec... if we translate the panhard page (which is only avaliable in Italian) we get -

"Description available only in Italian ... This attachment is one of the most important that you can install on your vehicle. When you mount a kit upward, your front panhard rod changes its position, bringing failure of directionality, although minimum This already happens with a rise of 30mm. Over the kit is installed and comfortable with excursion, the more you feel this failure. On a Jimny with original order, the Panhard bar front is in a position such as to ensure a lateral displacement of the front deck very few millimeters, this to allow a precise directionality even in situations of full travel at high speeds. The ideal location of a Panhard rod front is always, in running order and with the means resting on the ground, that of the parent. On the side frame is always anchored 25-40mm higher than the bridge side, according to the models. If we restore or we get closer to these values, we will have a precise and linear Jimny with Kit upwards of 5 ". This accessory is installed simply by bolting on all 'original welded, you will not have to cut it to change any detail of your frame, but the bridge will be slightly shifted 5mm or if you want to kill, not used to a particular edge of the stabilizer bar on the deck. This particular does not help the stabilizer bar is only contour, to move you can simply use a hammer or it will cut with the hose. If you install this accessory, without a rebound bumper additional 75mm on the front deck, will be dismantled the anti-roll bar, otherwise interfere with the new media. His structure is extremely sturdy and pleasant aesthetic impact. The article in question it is suitable for Kit upwards by 3 "up to a maximum of 5" lateral view .."

I hope it all 'translates' to a right-hand-drive vehicle!

Hope it fits cos the panard mount is not square to the chassis at the from.

I personally would sooner go hi steer on the axles and lift the panard on the axle as well

The printed instructions are a PDF in Italian but the photos show cutting something with a slitting disk, so they've emailed me a copy so I can translate them...

Jimny-Dave wrote: The printed instructions are a PDF in Italian but the photos show cutting something with a slitting disk, so they've emailed me a copy so I can translate them...

Don't think it's bump steer you experience. Don't make much sense with the panhard rod and steering rod being parallel. Also according to Wikipedia Bump steer does not occur on live axles. But perhaps it's roll steer??

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bump_steer

TomDK wrote: Don't think it's bump steer you experience. Don't make much sense with the panhard rod and steering rod being parallel. Also according to Wikipedia Bump steer does not occur on live axles. But perhaps it's roll steer??
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bump_steer

If you lift or lower the front axle with the steering lock off then the steering wheel will rotate - that's bump steer. Lifted SJs suffer from it as well.

Rhinoman wrote:

TomDK wrote: Don't think it's bump steer you experience. Don't make much sense with the panhard rod and steering rod being parallel. Also according to Wikipedia Bump steer does not occur on live axles. But perhaps it's roll steer??
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bump_steer

If you lift or lower the front axle with the steering lock off then the steering wheel will rotate - that's bump steer. Lifted SJs suffer from it as well.

I've never experienced it on my own Jimny.

It makes good sense that it happens on an SJ as there's no panhard rod to control lateral movement.

Since fitting a +4" suspension lift to my Jimny, I've often thought that the front panhard rod chassis mount should also be lowered, and that a drop pitman arm off the steering box would also be advantageous... I've had a rear panhard rod bracket installed since the +4" lift springs and castor corrected radius arms were fitted -



After fitting new wheels and tyres, 31" to replace the 29" ones that had been on for 18 months since the original build of the Jimny, and also replacing the +4" springs as they too had had 18 months use, and some 22 offroad / greenlaning trips so were getting a little fatigued and had settled about an inch, I couldn't help but feel the steering had started to suffer from what I would consider to be "bump steer" although others say (example above) that you would only suffer bump steer on a leaf sprung vehicle, and not a coild sprung vehicles, and that what I was experiencing was called "roll steer" and not bump steer.

Anyway, what I WAS experiencing was a jittery front end whenever I went over bumps in the road... a bit like driving a blancmange (Jelly), a slight hopping feeling is another way to put it...

So, from what I've read in the past, it always said that the panhard and steering bars should be parallel to each other, and I figured with the amount of lift I had I should be looking to drop them by an equal amount, and somewhere approaching the +4" I had added to the suspension...

I couldn't find any solutions in the UK (not yet anyway), so I looked further afield, and ended up on www.zanfit.it





Where I found the above +80mm (so 3.2" in old money) panhard relocation bracket, which clamped around the chassis rail, and around the existing panhard rod bracket, and also through the existing panhard rod mounting bolt holes, and then replicated the mounting down 80mm, seemed ideal!



Combined with a drop pitman arm, showed the steering bar and panhard rod nice and parallel...

So, with my birthday coming up (Sunday), I decided to treat myself - and my Jimny - to some new parts from Zanfi, so I ordered them online and soon received them within a few days -



Beautifully made parts, very impressed when I received them...



From the back you can see how the bracket mounts around the chassis rail and over the existing panhard bracket and the spacer infill where the panhard rod used to sit, and then the spacer at the bottom for where the panhard rod then mounts lower down... and the dropped pitman arm... Brilliant...



So, today, Wednesday my day off, I got a few other jobs out of the way, and then eagerly started installing the new parts... Wheel and tyre off, and the old panhard rod bolt out to drop it out of the way...



I'd previously had to weld plates over the mounting holes as they had elongated into oval shapes, and were causing some "death wobble", so I had to get the angle grinder out and remove these to get the new bracket over the old mount...



And move the brake line out of the way...



Hmmm, after working everything out and eventually getting the new bracket over the old mount... when I tried to get the big U-bolts in from around the back of the chassis rail as in Zanfi's photos above, I found that on a RIGHT-HAND drive Jimny there is an engine mount in the way! This obviously doesn't exist on a LEFT-HAND drive (Zanfi are an Italian company, and they drive on the left "wrong" side of the road).



So... on the other side of the chassis rail...



... although the front U-bolt lines up correctly...



... the rear (left in the photo above) won't line up at the top as the engine mount is in the way!!

Hmmm, what to do?...

I decided to carry on, and see if everything else would line up... and considered redrilling the top of the bracket in an inch to the right and mount the U-Bolt on a slope?... But it the proved to be not long enough...? I could cut the U-Bolt in half and extend it...?



Hmmm, with a bit of adjustment everything else did line up... you can see I've had to notch the end of the chassis crossmember tube in the photo above... and that the bracket does line up flat against the chassis rail, and into the old panhard rod mounting hole...



Back to my routes then... being a grocer (as well as an online Suzuki parts retailer), I went and got an old grocery box, and like I have many times before, began making a cardboard template... I used the U-Bolt to transpose the distance between the mounting 'bolts' to the cardboard by pressing the U-Bolt into it, and then drilled holes where they needed to be...



I then roughly cut the cardboard template until I could get it around the top of the panhard bracket and around the engine mount, and above to line up with the back of the Zanfi panhard bracket...



I then printed that photo out on our shop's colour printer / copier, and then used that and the first cardboard template...


To draw the next one, leaving as much "meat" on it as possible...

[img]www.bits4vits.co.uk/bumpsteer/DSCN1347.jpg[/img]

I then cut that one out and test-fitted it to the back of the chassis rail... right first time!



So I transfered the basic shape to a piece of 6mm steel plate...



And then drilled and cut it out, and then fettled it to fit nicely, before cleaning it all up with a grinder and a sander...



And then gave it a few coats of matching red Smoothrite paint, whilst I cracked on...

The bracket can then be placed behind the chassis rail with bolts through it so that the nuts will look the same either side of the Zanfi bracket... (when the paint dries)



I refitted the panhard rod into the bottom of the Zanfi drop bracket... all looks good there in the end...



Although that nut does look close to the spring... I'll have to articulate the axle up and down and see if it fouls, and if it does I'll source a thinner nyloc nut for the end of the bolt... and fit an extra washer the other side to pull the end of the bolt back a touch too...



So, whilst waiting for the paint to dry... I started on the drop pitman arm...



Both ends slackened off...



And the (Rockwatt Heavy Duty) drag link steering bar out of the way... I ATTEMPTED (lol) to get the old pitman arm off...

And that;s how I eventually left it for the day!... I ran out of time, it wouldn't come off, so it's soaked in penetrating oil, and awaiting another go soon...

And, if it still won't budge... Mr Angry the angle grinder will have to persuade it to come off... More soon...

Have you tried giving a whack with a hammer while its under tension like this:

Rhinoman wrote: Have you tried giving a whack with a hammer while its under tension like this:

Nope, I'll give that a try when I get back to it, thanks James

Dave

Try using your mig welder on full power to run a few seams of weld round the steering arm while the puller is on .
The heat does not seem to spread as much as opposed to using a gas welder to warm it up so does not spread to the steering box. In the past i have used this method on landrover drop arms and various balljoints on cars and commercials.
Hope this helps, Ian

Thanks Wombat, will get back to the pitman arm soon, but in the mean time...

This morning the paint had dried on my bracket -



And I nipped out to get some suitably sized bolts...



All done!

And I also got a slimmer headed nyloc nut for the bottom bolt where the panhard now bolts through, to clear it away from the spring as much as possible...