A question about front suspension and the ride.

Hi - bit of an odd question...

With my SC, it's always a bit of a chore going over speed bumps. With the design, where the driver and front passenger are sitting right over the front wheels - any type of bump will make it feel like we're being launched, compared to 'regular' car designs where the amount of deflection is less as you tend to sit half-way between the two axles.

But i was in a friend's Mazda Bongo yesterday but speed bumps were a lot less pronounced. I know you aren't right on top of the front axles on these, but you're still quite close.

So, I was wondering what your experience of bumps are in your vehicles? is the front suspension a bit poor at absorbing movement?

To add, it's a 2WD. Also, if I hit the bump at a speed, it's not quite as pronounced, but still quite a hit.

The front shocks seem to be damping any subsequent kangarooing - and it passed the MOT OK. Though there is a 'squeak/groan' from both front suspensions when going over anything - up and down.

Cheers.

Ours is very bouncy at the front as well. We almost have to stop before a speed bump but still get launched as we go ever them. Followed a second later by the rear bouncing in the air.

The van also crashed and banged going over smaller bumps and potholes until I coated the underneath with Lanoguard. This has got into all the suspension joints and really made a huge difference to the ride quality.

Mine was a bit rattly with bumps and used to bounce a bit but I changed all the shock absorbers, inner and outer track rods ( one was wobbly ), the stabiliser bar bushes ( knackered ) and greased or WD40d everything that moved.. It got a lot better and my brain stopped shaking after a bump.

I think these are based on vans so the ride will never be like a car and I don't know how much you could put in one as a van but it's got to be lighter as a camper so it will bounce and sitting over the wheel doesn't help.

I think it all becomes very noticeable when you swap from a car to your van, then it feels rougher but you get used to it. The one bad thing I encountered with switching from my car was the wing mirrors make everything look a long long way off and I pulled out on a truck that wasn't supposed to be as close as it was, the truck driver wasn't happy and I felt guilty for ages !

Thanks - i'll use some silicone spray around the rubber mountings to see if that helps with the squeaks - and identify anything that needs replacing.

Mine is a 'standard' 2wd Super Custom, not a camper or converted GL - so I think the ride may be a bit more refined - a bit more american-car wallowy-feel to it if you know what I mean. it's just the amount of movement over bumps. Maybe the shocks are on the way out?

Reading about the Lanoguard reminded me that the OEM suspension top mounts have grease fittings on both their inner and outer joints. The outer ones are fairly easy to re-grease (if fitted). Not all the outers have grease fittings

The inner ones are harder to find and access. From memory, one is on the front end of the pin and the rear one is on the inner part of the casting.

It might be that these inner pivot points (particularly) are dry and the suspension doesn’t move smoothly or progressively.

With the torsion bars tight it might be hard to get grease to circulate all the way round the necessary areas and jacking the vehicle up doesn’t really help but greasing will help if the area is dry.

The best way to grease the front top mounts is to relieve the torsion bar tension so you can manually pump the suspension (albeit if the shock is in place this is damped). This is probably more trouble than it’s worth unless you have the twist off the torsion bars for another reason.

There are a few other areas of the front suspension that will benefit from being greased, such as the anti-roll bar bushes, but these don’t have fittings.

It’s not that hard to fit grease fittings but again probably overkill. The rear prop shaft has a fitting as do some rear prop shaft spiders.

On the rear, some similar Toyotas have grease fittings for the mounting bolts on the leaf spring shackles, hangers and pins but my Hiace doesn’t. Unsure about the coils, but I expect there are grease fittings on these.

A good garage near me highly recommended Lanoguard btw.

HTH!!

Shocks. Replace your shocks/dampers. What you’re describing is classic behaviour of Hiace with tired shocks.

Btw Greasing rubber is not recommended unless the fitting is designed for it and then only using the appropriate compound. Sway bar mount and link bushes are not designed to be greased. You run the risk of premature swelling and perishing.

Reading the original post I have had the same noise when on rough roads horrendous squeak grones new shocks ball joints swinging arms role bar bushes the noise returned very difficult to pinpoint , in frustration I sprayed every joint bush and pivot point with a liberal dose of old ATF result silence, it transformed my driving experience, still no idea what causes the noise that returns after about 6 months so more ATF and as yet no perished rubber .

I've had a mechanic suggest I spray individual rubber mounts/bushes one at a time with Silicone aerosol to identify where the squeak is coming from.

I'm looking into replacing the shocks. There ones I need for the front have a lot of aftermarket options in the UK (non TEMS). 48511-80056

One set of options is using KYB shocks - which possibly were the OEM company making the originals anyway. The options they have are the oil filled 'KYB Premium' or the gas 'KYB Excel G'.

I believe the originals are gas-filled (2001 2wd) as the manuals describe puncturing them to release the gas before recycling them. But I've read the Excel G's can be quite stiff and 'sporty'. I quite like the smooth ride at the moment so I was looking for recommendations for replacements?

Cheers