Friday afternoon, while headed over to JoeÆs house to kick-off our wrenching party, Doug was following behind me and made an observationà

Apparently, when I installed my shackle bushings, I over-tightened the bolts on the driverÆs side û because, according to Doug, he could see the passenger side leaf spring/shackle set-up doing its thing, but the driverÆs side was rigid and nearly motionless.

I was quite surprised to hear this, because from the driverÆs seat, I could quite plainly sense the sort of suspension movement back there that you would normally expect to feel. --- And stranger stillà After æcorrectingÆ the problem on Sunday, my suspension is right back to its old tricks again û with the rear end feeling loose and wandery, almost like I have rear wheel steering with worn-out components.



After I installed those shackle bushings, the handling improved quite notablyà but there was still a ways to go before it felt ærightÆ. --- Now IÆm wondering why having one side so stiff made it feel so much better û and if maybe tightening-up BOTH sides to match wouldnÆt take care of the problem altogether. --- Like I said, from the driverÆs seat, everything felt perfectly normal as far as rear suspension movementà so why not at least give it a try?



One theory that IÆm mulling over about all of this involves those prototype springs that I got from Joe Darlingtonà As far as I can tell, thereÆs nothing wrong with the added leaves themselves, but rather in the way that they mate-up with my factory leaves û or more to the point û the way that they DO NOT completely nest with the DORs. --- My original springs were already suffering from spring fatigue before adding JoeÆs set of long and short leavesà as such, there has always been some space clearly visible between the long DORs and the remaining two upper factory leaves on both sides of my Rodeo. --- IÆve just about reached the conclusion that this is a major contributing factor to (if not the actual source of) my crappy handling.

* Ummmà I can still say æcrappyÆ, right?



Anyway, if anyone has any thoughts about that shackle bolt tightness idea (or anything else that might get things back to normal again) FIRE AWAY - I'm all ears!


TIA! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/kewl.gif" alt="" />


Cheers! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cheers.gif" alt="" />
Smiley

JMHO... but excessively tightening the shackle bolts to correct your handling is like putting on a bunch of steering stabilizers to correct sketchy steering...... even if it works, its just a bandaide fix. There has to be something causing your driving woes that should be fixed. Now tightening the bolts just so its handles better while you are mulling over the problem, that is more reasonable. But the problem that often accompanies such actions is that the temporary fix replaces the desire to find a proper solution.

BTW, what are different between your springs from DOR and the springz upgrades? I had to use a couple of huge c-clamps to get my Springz upgrades to line up correctly..... but after doing so, they fit with no gaps.

Believe me; I hear ya, Seanà

I know it wouldnÆt be the best solution to the problem, but even as a temporary measure, it would still be better than having the slightest little gust of wind knock me off course (or having a major gust beating on me like a grade school lunchroom bully! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/scared.gif" alt="" /> )





The æprototypeÆ leaves that I got from Joe pre-date the Spring Upgrades that he sells now. --- They were something that he still had lying around that seemed to be perfect for my needs (I had a snapped Add-a-Leaf at the time), so he brought them to me a couple of Uwharries ago.

They consist of two leaves per side û a short one that is basically an Add-a-Leaf û and a much longer one that installs in the middle of the spring pack, two leaves from the top.

As I saidà My spring packs were already sagging before JoeÆs pieces were even installed, and because of this, they have never really fit together as they shouldà The two upper-most factory leaves are re-curved somewhat downward on the rear shackle ends; so as a result, there is a gap between them and the longer of the added leaves. --- It doesnÆt appear to be something that a C-clamp is likely to fix.

About the only true solution would be to replace my springs packs completelyà which I hope to do, ASAP û but I need some sort of stop-gap measure until I can afford to do so.

IÆm afraid that tightening-up those shackle bolts might be my only real choice right nowà at least for a while, anyway. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif" alt="" />


<img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cheers.gif" alt="" />
<img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

if you over tighten your shackles they will not do their job properly and you will destroy those bushings faster. check your u-bolts and the front bushings if you havent already. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Oh, you mean I should check the Two Things that I've been saying it was all along, but everyone keeps telling me it ain't?

(Hmmm... Did I just say that out loud? <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/ignore.gif" alt="" /> )


<img src="/forums/images/graemlins/lol.gif" alt="" />


<img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cheers.gif" alt="" />
<img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Smiley,

I highly doubt this is the problem, but one I had a year or so back. I noticed a loose feeling in my rear end(also on the truck <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/butwiggle.gif" alt="" />) I went to investigate....found 2 things wrong.

I had sheared center pins(which I highly doubt is your problem) However, I also had loose shocks. The bottom of the shock was tight with the DOR Skidderz, but the top of the shock had a lot of play in it. This created a pretty nasty ride. I don't know (and in actuality, doubt this is the problem) but thought I would throw it out there.

I fixed the problem and was good for quite awhile. Now I have a set of new bushings headed my way to fix my worn out ones.

Steve

Sorry dude <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

I thought I was helping by pointing out the tight shackle..
that is weird though that just loosining up that shackle bolt would affect it so much <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />..........

Have you checked you lugnuts?just a thought......

Oh and does your locker still "click" when going around corners?


Bansil

Steve,

IÆve been down the Sheared Center Pin road before myselfà It happened in conjunction with that Snapped Add-a-Leaf (I did a write-up about it).

As far as I can tell, judging by the upright alignment of the heads of my center pins right now û and the lack of any unusual leaf positioning within the spring packs, I donÆt think thatÆs the problem this timeà But IÆll be checking anyway, just in case, as soon as the weather breaks. --- IÆm not going to leave anything to chanceà I want this problem resolved, once-and-for-all.


--- Shock Mounts: As far as I know theyÆre fine too, but you can bet that IÆll make sure.





Doug,

ThereÆs nothing to be sorry about, Broà

You saw something that wasnÆt right û and I greatly appreciate you telling me about it. --- If you hadnÆt, I would have continued thinking that I was one step closer to correcting my handling problemsà Instead, now I know that the improvement was a fluke, and that the real cause still remains to be found and addressed.


--- Lug Nuts: EverythingÆs fine there.
--- Locker: Yep, it still clicks in turns and seems to be functioning properly.




Some thoughts about what might be causing the problem:

Originally I had the notion that either the U-bolts werenÆt snug, and were therefore letting the axle move around a bit -or- that my forward spring bushings were worn-out. --- However, a few people with a whole lot more Isuzu knowledge than IÆll ever possess didnÆt think that either of these ideas was the caseà

After discovering that an over-tightened set of shackle bushings will help to alleviate the problem, I can just about rule-out the U-bolts, because they wouldnÆt really be affected by the stiffer shackleà However, if limiting the motion of the spring pack has that much of an effect, then it stands to reason that the forward spring bushings might be the source of the problem after all.


My æSeat-of-the-Pants MeterÆ tells me that the rear axle is shifting around on its horizontal axisà and with a leaf-sprung vehicle, there really arenÆt very many things that could be causing it (Heck, I believe ALL of the possibilities have now been listed within this thread).



My current plan of attack:

IÆve still got a set of Poly Bushings and Sleeves around here somewhere, so - assuming that I can find them - thatÆll be the next thing that I try.

If that doesnÆt do it, IÆll replace my U-bolts.

And if that doesnÆt workà I think I still have a Ouiji Board stuffed way in the back of the den closet û Who knowsà Maybe IÆll get lucky and channel the spirit of a recently deceased suspension expert <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif" alt="" />


Cheers! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cheers.gif" alt="" />
Smiley

It's just my opinion, but I don't think it's either one of these causing your problems. It seems wierd that you started getting this odd rear suspension thing just after installing the Darlington upgrade prototypes. They (I assume) were prototypes for a reason. Joe himself said he changed the design of them considerably.

The front bushings didn't change from one set of springs to the other, but your handling did. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

I'd get a new set of springs from Joe and call it a day. They are $369. Or you can get the heavy huty OME leaves for $434. It's really not worth your time to try and get the front bushings out of your frame. Unless you want to take it to a shop. If I'm not mistaken they are pressed in. That and I'm sure they are just fine anyway. What's a shop going to charge to tkae apart the rear suspension and press those bushings out press new ones in and reassamble the suspension. About 369 dollars <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/lol.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/lol.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/lol.gif" alt="" />

My .02

Joe

I doubt that this is your problem, but I've read a couple reviews of MT/R's that said a lot of em are (or become) out of round. That would make the locker misbehave, I'm not sure what else.

And hey if this is not causing the spooky handling, I can at least chuckle to myself about giving you something else to worry about <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/nana.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />