So 95 Suzuki Carry...I'm looking for a mall-crawler look, IE: Looks off-roady, but will, at worst, go down a few gravel fire roads. Had it lifted, and had some Fairway Alloys golf cart wheels and chunky 12x23x10-12.5tires put on. And ouch... Metric ton of noise from the tires (particularly the unloaded passenger side), and prone to death wobble above 35mph. Tire shop tells me it's basically that's just the way it's going to be, due to the wheel and tire choice. So, I'm looking at attempt #2, hopefully something abit more street-friendly. My bolt pattern is 4x100, Anyone have any suggestions, in particular for an off-road looking tire that is happy at 50mph on pavement? I'll be keeping the lift on, unless that proves to be part of the problem. I have access to stock rims, a set of 14" steelies, and not unwilling to buy another set of new rims....although my wallet is very unhappy with me for spending so much on the set I am abandoning.
The wider, taller tires are increasing the load on the tie rods. And making them deflect. Crawl under and have someone turn the wheel while you are under there looking at things, and look for things deflecting. Rod bushings, ball joints, etc., that are sloppy. You can probably stiffen them up by splitting a length of black pipe and then welding it around the stock tie-rods. The other way to stiffen them it to find a length of black pipe, with the right inside diameter to let you slip the rock ends into it. And then weld the correct size of nuts on the end. There is a classic book on suspension tuning, “How to Make Your Car Handle”, by Frederic Puhn. It is pushing fifty years old, but I have yet to final a newer book which just goes through tuning up a suspension as well.
You vastly overestimate my mechanical ability. But, I appreciate the advice, although I'm pretty much resigned to switching to a less-agressive tire and wheel choice. But, since that's still going to mean a *larger* wheel and tire, the problems could persist, in which case, I'll take your suggestions to my local shop.
Right now you have money invested in a tier and wheel combo, which isn’t working. Your truck isn’t new, and suspension parts wear. I’d find a good suspension shop to check it out before I invested in another set of tires and wheels.
Well, "A good suspension shop" isn't anywhere I'm going to get without a trailer and a long road trip, but I understand what you're saying. Search for a good suspension shop near me, and all you'll get is Midas and the same tire shop I'm already dealing with. I'm not going to buy anything immediately, what I'm doing in the short term is just leaving the lift in place and reverting to the stock wheels and tires to see what effect that has.
Well...that didn't work....just drove the truck with the lift still installed and the stock wheels and tires back in place, and it was making even worse noises. So, next step is to pull the lift.
Kauai! Sorry to hear about your problem. What brand of tire are you running! I have 12” Vison rims with a 2 1/2” lift. I’m running 25 x 8 x 12 mongrel 10 ply, I can run down a paved road and hear a little road noise but not enough it kills me. Now going down a dirt road I do t have no road noise. We are doing 55 to 60 mph on pavement and dirt roads. I also put a half bag of balancing beads in each wheel. 4 oz per wheel. If your looking for a lift look at Facebook Haley Rose. He’s in Blanco, Texas. He’s up there in price and I was really Skeptical buy a lift for my truck. But after talking to him on the phone and telling him that I’m not afraid to spend some money on something that is built heavy duty and made to last. I told him what my plan was to do with the truck and he made the right lift with HD shocks and new struts. The thing rides like a dream & it has 25” tires on it. We actually tried to roll this thing. On purpose just to see how the handling was in the nevada desert and we didn’t get the tires off the ground.
12" Fairway Alloy rims, 2" lift, the tires are 23 x10-12.5 x12. The shop that did the lift says it all looks good. Took it to another shop, and they didn't see anything wrong with the lift. The camber ended up not perfect, but the original shop said it was as good as could be done. I am confused, I admit, because prior to my own list of fail, I was under the impression a 2" lift was pretty much a non-issue. I don't have the budget for major work, I was just looking for a little extra room for bigger wheels and tires. I've contacted Boeki, who are a dealer in Vancouver, WA. They'll add lifts to trucks you buy there, so they should hopefully have experience in getting it right, and fingers crossed they're willing to work on a truck they didn't sell.
You might need to lengthen the strut rods which go forward from the a-arm a bit, and replace the bushings.
Keep us posted! Like I said! I’m really impressed with Harley rose lift kits and how heavy duty and well made.
The death wobble is a sure sign of loose font suspension. I would bet its the large steering yolk that both tierods attached to is the main issue. I had that with 13 in wheels with the tires the van came with. New tires and a balance helped but the wobble wasn't cured until I replace the bushing in that yoke (not for the faint of heart, really requires a large press to do it easily). I still have some loose tierod ends but the death wobble is under control. At some point I'll do shocks and tierods to tighten it all up. Get under there and have someone turn the steering wheel back and forth and watch that yoke move. If it deflects up or down at all, its shot. I did this with my cell phone under the truck recording video to see it. Just an idea.
Very well put!! The old ford and Chevys had ball joint and tie rod problems! You can jack it up and feel the play if you shake the tire right to left as your looking at it!
Check out Racing Chassis and Suspension Design by Carrol Smith. A little newer, and still very good. I don't have the Puhn book so I can't compare them https://smile.amazon.com/Racing-Chassis-Suspension-Design-PT-90/dp/0768011205
