Front suspension help

Good day,

I am looking for some help with regards to my front axel not articulating..

Context:

I recently imported the 4" 4x4 art lift kit, comes complete with radial arms, coils, new coni shocks, extended breaks lines etc.

I have installed the kit as per instruction, and I am very very happy with the result. The improvement was massive. However after doing a few trails others keos noticing that one of my front wheels would often lift when it really shouldn't be. I didn't take much notice of this until someone mentioned it to me again last weekend. And when I watch videos of me on the real tricky stuff, I can see I'm struggling due to front traction.

So the other night I decided to play around abit and test the axel. I jacked up the car and put Teo tresseles under the axels. I then disconnected the shocks, swaybar and removed the coils. Now according to me nothing should be pushing / pulling or affecting the axel.

I then put a jack under the right hand side of the axel and jacked it up. But to my horror, as I jacked it the left side rose up as well. Once the axel had hit the bump stop, thd left was maybe 3cm lower.... This had me seriously puzzled, I was expecting the left to by Kyung on the floor and the right up in the sky, as I previously beleived it was the shocks that limit the travel..

I then thought aah maybe cause the coils are out, they are not pushing down on the axel, I tried by hand putting my weight on the left hand side axel. I could maybe get it to move 3cm further down. This is shocking. The axel cant even flex at 8 degrees.

What could be causing this? I could only think that I'd is radial arms binding.. But what I can't understand is that the back axel flexes like crazy a good 25 to 20 degrees, and it has the exact same radial arms with rose joins?

I am really keen to hear some of your thoughts. I am stuck and this is quite a bad issue I'm not sure how to resolve...


Images:
Back axel flex.
Front axel. Barely flexing..


Front axel jacked up on one side, barely flexing..


Wheel lifting while driving.

Your Anti Roll Bar is still attached, has this been "dropped" to suit the lift? The lift will have altered the mounting angle of the ARB and could well have added an unwanted preload if it is not lowered on the chassis side with blocks.

Repeat your articulation inspection with the ARB drop links removed. Hopefully, you'll get a lot more movement in the front axle.

You can fit an ARB disconnect which breaks the ARB in the centre with a weld on fitting that then allows free rotation when the bolts are removed.

Some just completely remove the ARB and drive the car accordingly (cornering gently due to body roll).

The 4x4Art kit does work well.

sniper

As I understand it, you have removed the shocks, coils and swaybar and then tried lifting one wheel. As you lift the one wheel, the other lifts almost the same amount.

I would suggest you try lifting both wheels together to the point that both sides of the axle are hard against the bumpstops. After that, drop both sides together and see how far the axle lowers. In my mind, with all that you have removed, the only thing left that could cause binding would be the bushings.

Just remove the anti roll bar/sway bar and try again
Never had one first thing i removed

Sniper and Jack:

I think he did: "I then disconnected the shocks, swaybar and removed the coils."

That's why I am a little confused. If he raises and tries lowering the entire axle, and there isn't much drop, I would think the radius arms likely have bad ball joints at the chassis mounts. If the entire axle moves up and down together reasonably well, I'm thinking maybe binding bushings (overly rigid) at the axle mounting for the radius arms.

What do you think? Make any sense?

Maybe it has something to do with that diff guard
It does connect to either side of axle

Sorry, Peeps.

My photos are a bit misleading.

Sway Bar / Anti Roll Bar

Please note that I do have a swaybar disconnect installed on the car, I always disconnect it when offroading, (the image with the wheel in the air on the rocks, it was disconnected)

The front photo with the wheel on the jack, I left the sway bar FULLY connected as a TEST to see if it was limiting my flex, however to my amazement, it had no effect. I actually removed the sway bar while the car was jacked up like that, (the bolt on the knuckle came out super easily) (this is what got me curious to explore further. It should have been really tight with a lot of force on it.)

The image with the diff hanging low, had the sway bar fully disconnected.

Please see image below, (after jacking up the right side of the axel, (left side hanging freely) I connected the right side of the sway bar back up, and then photographed the difference of the ASB on the left, it was minimal (~3cm)


The sway bar has been dropped, but only about 2cm. (this was to fit the swaybar disconnect) (I have not extended it further as I have the swaybar disconnect.) From my tests, it does not affect the full compression or full extension. ( I tested this without coils in, put sway bar on, and tested it).

Rose / Heim Joints

First of all, I'm not sure I agree that the poly bushes would flex more, the whole point of the heim / rose joint is so that it can flex like crazy without stressing the material? Before installing them I remember playing with the rose joins and they can twist ALLOT. I highly doubt this is the cause of the bind up. I could be wrong, but I believe the rose joins are superior flexing at the cost of comfort (as mentioned, because they won't absorb any bumps/force)

Please also note my logic, that the rear radial arms have the exact same topology, rose joint at the chassis end and poly bushes on the axel end, and they flex more than enough.

Axel Side Bushes
Please note the bushes bolts go in the middle, the radial arms are already castor corrected, these are NOT the offset ones.


Here are pictures on the Right Hand Side radial arms on how they twisting (or lack of)



You can see here that the rose join is not maxed out in its twist, and its not touching the chassis cup at all.





So long and the short I am very lost. I can only think the polyurethane bushings on the axel in the front are too hard. However again, they the same as the rear ones, So I dono..

I am in no way experienced in Jimny modifications and so am just reading this thread with interest.
Nice set up by the way, looks well made.

But if the front and back configurations are the same, and you have the roll bar disconnected, Sherlock Holmes type logic would only leave the steering drag link bars etc as the difference between the two. Is it possible these are limiting movement?

Also the rose joint will move freely, however the front poly bushes on each arm will still limit twist if tight enough.

I'll shut up now as I don't know what I am talking about, but feel better now I've thrown in my uneducated comments.

Good luck, hope you sort it, great photos of articulation and interesting.
Mike

That picture of old/new arm together
I have +3 arms and when put next to standard arm
They where around an inch longer

Not that this should make any different to your issue