Nissan Patrol 4x4 (Africa)

Clem I would like it if my vehicle is higher on the right than the left with nobody in and with empty tanks.
Mine unfortunately is the other way round and the you add a 80 kg drver and 40 liters in the sub tank that sits on the righthand side, it just worsens the problem. Anyway I am getting there

petrol wrote:Clem I would like it if my vehicle is higher on the right than the left with nobody in and with empty tanks.
Mine unfortunately is the other way round and the you add a 80 kg drver and 40 liters in the sub tank that sits on the righthand side, it just worsens the problem. Anyway I am getting there

Have you considered perhaps switching the springs around from left to right?

Yes that was done twice at two different occasions and they are definitely the write way in.

Many cars use spacers for this reason, manufacturing tolerances could create these sort of differences, though 2cm's area a lot. I haven't read all the posts but how and where is the measurements taken. I hope it's from the the center of the wheel to the tupperware

I would suggests adding spacers, this will not change the spring rate.

If you still want to identify the root cause then get the chassis checked , but lets start with basic measurements to clear any issues.

Measure the tire part and ensure they are all the same, i.e. on a level floor measure from the floor to the center of the wheels. are they all the same?
Now measure from the floor to the the bottom of the springs - are they all the same?
If no then this is where small amounts start to add up.

Now measure from the bottom of the spring to the top. Are the front and back set still the same, If this is still the same then measure from the floor to chassis rails, you can normalize the value for different tire heights. If all is still same, - then you know your chassis is straight. lastly measure to the sills.

This way you should identify the cause, i.e. is the suspension point at the same level, is the wheels equally deflected, is the chassis straight, is the body straight.

Finally you can check the corner weights , i.e. the weight on each wheel is measured, this will give you an idea of the weight each corner . I'm sure PC can elaborate on this.

Andries, I was purposefully steering clear of adding that to the mix...

Not many people have the tools to do this, and fewer of those know how to use them on cars that don't have adjustable spring platforms.

But have the panhard rod bushes been checked?

Clem wrote: ↑17 Jul 2013 09:19 For what it is worth, I was looking at my vehicle the other day and it seemed to me that when it was empty the right-hand side (driver's side) stood slightly higher than the left-hand side. I did not pay any more attention to it as I know that Land Rover often used to do this with vehicles so that they would sit perfectly level with an 90 kg (70 kg?) driver in the seat. I can check if it really matters terribly much to anybody – I can use a measuring tape to measure from the floor to the wheel arch top centre on each side in the front.

Okay, so now fitted ARB with 8500lb winch (a bit small but probably not utterly hopeless) and OME all round. And guess what? It now leans to the right by 2m measured on the back wheels. Ek is half lus om al die k@k af/uit te haal and return it to factory spec.

Clem, is it higher than before, the same or lower?

I still wouldn't bother about 2cm though.

Morning Peter, the vehicle as a whole is lifted a bit. Graham fitted an ARB, winch and OME in the front for me and judging by eye it was level (left to right and back to front) with the factory coils in the back. But because it was clear it would "hyena" with a load in the back and the car felt weird (tight up front, loose at the back because of the different coils) I got 4x4 Megaworld to fit the right medium rate springs in the rear. The rear as a whole is lifted a bit but the rear right is 2cm down compared with the left even though the right rear OME coil free length prior to fitment was noticeably longer than the LR. Front I haven't measured but looks more or less level. Simplest is probably to throw in some airbags and level it that way. Thoughts?

Spoke to John Van Onselen of OME this morning. He reckons that the car must be used for a while first and that the springs need some mileage to settle and then after that if necessary a trim packer can be inserted.

Firstly, i would agree with John

Secondly, you would be amazed at how difficult it is to find a truly flat floor. My feeling is that if the front measures level but the rear doesn't, there is a good change the floor is not flat.