[AckerDackerly]

Someone has posted a project sale on Zukikralwers.com ( http://www.zukikrawlers.com/showthread.php?t=54690 ) in the USA that claims to be a 1997 Sierra/Jimny frame/suspension and a 1988 body.

Here are pics:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/28164377@N08/sets/72157648441134972

Yes, this vehicle "Deal" sounds completely useless from a street-legal standpoint based on our import laws...


My questions:

Did the 1997 Sierra and the Jimny models share the same chassis/frame as stated in the post or are we catching someone in a lie?

Since this appears to be an unmodified LHD chassis/frame, is it safe to assume that the RHD Aussie version has the steering gear box on the other side of the frame with a much longer draglink connecting the pittman arm to the steering arm on the back of the wheel hub?

[Blkfxx]

AckerDackerly wrote:

Since this appears to be an unmodified LHD chassis/frame, is it safe to assume that the RHD Aussie version has the steering gear box on the other side of the frame

Might want to have a closer look at the pics, It's pretty obvious its a RHD chassis, crush tubes and doubling plate are there for the steering box, not to mention the primer around the steering box which is now on the LHS and the panhard frame mount.

[AckerDackerly]

Blkfxx wrote:

AckerDackerly wrote:

Since this appears to be an unmodified LHD chassis/frame, is it safe to assume that the RHD Aussie version has the steering gear box on the other side of the frame

Might want to have a closer look at the pics, It's pretty obvious its a RHD chassis, crush tubes and doubling plate are there for the steering box, not to mention the primer around the steering box which is now on the LHS and the panhard frame mount.

It is common for manufacturers to take RHD equipment and convert it to LHD whilst leaving the RHD fixtures in place. Ford does this when someone in the UK orders up an F-150 for some crazy reason... After seeing some pics of US vehicles in Sydney traffic, they probably do it to the Econoline vans and Crown Victoria taxis. No, I do not know why Ford called their full-sized passenger car the "Crown Victoria". They made great copcars when renamed "Pursuit Interceptors" and thoroughly modded with big engines and rugged suspensions, though.

But I digress...

The reason why I was wondering about the actual source of the frame was that I thought that the Jimny was much more than an SJ413 with a newer, stylish body and a coil spring suspension. Then again, I understand the X90 is just a first-gen Vit with a different body so maybe the frame pictured IS that of a '97 Jimny...

[royce]

Its an SJ80 coil spring Sierra, not a Jimny, whilst sort of similar, not really.
Coilys are also useless, there is a reason you dont see too many modded ones, everything falls off them once you mod them


That steering setup is terrible! I don't know how you'd fix it unless they did make LHD coilys somewhere, otherwise you are grafting in axles from something else then you may as well just start with a Leaf spring frame and create suspension that works

[jdk81]

+1
https://m.flickr.com/#/photos/28164377@ ... 441134972/

Holy shit thats bad!
Would have insane bumpsteer and flex limited by the stubby drag link.
Hill billy tech is better than that.

[AckerDackerly]

jdk81 wrote:

+1
https://m.flickr.com/#/photos/28164377@ ... 441134972/

Holy shit thats bad!
Would have insane bumpsteer and flex limited by the stubby drag link.
Hill billy tech is better than that.

My thoughts exactly!

All I can think of in terms of fixing the steering would be to install spring LHD SJ hub assemblies on both sides to get a longer draglink. It would have to be done in pairs because the ones on that axle have the tierod behind the axle...

Thanks, Royce. That's what I thought...

[Gwagensteve]

Nope, not so easy. I seem to recall that coil sierra knuckles won't interchange with leaf sierra knuckles. With the tie rod in front of the axle, room gets very tight for the panhard, draglink and tie rod to co-exist.

On top of that, you'll then need to swap the panhard to the driver's side rail or the bumpsteer will be worse than terrible, and you can't use a regular samurai tie rod/drag link because coil sierra axles are about 1.5" wider WMS than leaf sierras, so you'd still have to make some sort of high steer arm. coil sierras also run tracker wheel bearings and brakes with eh brake calliper bracket cast into the knuckle, so to run leaf knuckles you'll need leaf hubs, rotors, callipers etc.

And once all this work is complete, you could bask in the glory of the worst front suspension design ever - no wheel travel, terrible articulation, arms that bend and brackets that break, no aftermarket support for the axle, no front diff lock, and no gear ratio availability.

As an aside Ack, there is almost no market for steering conversions anywhere else in the world like there is in Australia. In Australia it's not legal to register a LHD car in Australia that's less than 25 years old (this is unique worldwide), so our cars either come in RHD or they are converted by private workshops on a vehicle-by vehicle basis. There are no conversions carried out by the manufacturers locally. As a result, we have missed out on a large number of vehicles which were never engineered for RHD, mostly US models but also some european cars as well. Obviously the price of these low-volume conversions is very high, typically $30,000 and up for a new Camaro or Super Duty Ford.

[greenzook89]

Epitam's Coily is a LHD, viewtopic.php?f=4&t=43707

If someone really wanted a Coily it could be converted properly to LHD using OEM parts.

A better option would be to use LHD Jimny front parts, at least you get a slightly better setup.

[AckerDackerly]

Gwagensteve wrote:

Nope, not so easy. I seem to recall that coil sierra knuckles won't interchange with leaf sierra knuckles. With the tie rod in front of the axle, room gets very tight for the panhard, draglink and tie rod to co-exist.

On top of that, you'll then need to swap the panhard to the driver's side rail or the bumpsteer will be worse than terrible, and you can't use a regular samurai tie rod/drag link because coil sierra axles are about 1.5" wider WMS than leaf sierras, so you'd still have to make some sort of high steer arm.

Yep. Hadn't thought about the panhard bar. That's probably why the guy wants to get rid of it. The front end problems alone makes the project a nightmare and a money pit - just to get a coil spring suspension... Thanks for the information.

[Gwagensteve]

If it was decent coil suspension it might have been worth it, but it's such a terrible design. It's inferior to a leaf car in every possible way except steering precision.

[jdk81]

And of which, the above build will offer no steering precision.
I would expect it to steer ok at low speed thing.
But the steering may/will become uncontrollable at speed, after a pot hole or during body roll etc.

[alien]

I don't think i've ever heard anyone talk about "steering precision" when referring to a sierra EVER? Unless it was prefaced with "it has no..." lol

[SierraDan]

Relatively. Because panhard.

[Marko_SJ]

alien wrote:

I don't think i've ever heard anyone talk about "steering precision" when referring to a sierra EVER? Unless it was prefaced with "it has no..." lol

Driven cars with more vague feeling steering than a sierra

There isn't as much of the slop that we are all familiar with, just that feeling where you wind the wheel and there isn't any response (obviously there is a steering response, just didn't wanna use the word "feel" )

[got_bar_work]

Marko_SJ wrote:

alien wrote:

I don't think i've ever heard anyone talk about "steering precision" when referring to a sierra EVER? Unless it was prefaced with "it has no..." lol

Driven cars with more vague feeling steering than a sierra

There isn't as much of the slop that we are all familiar with, just that feeling where you wind the wheel and there isn't any response (obviously there is a steering response, just didn't wanna use the word "feel" )

Hilux with j arm steering still