Bump Stops

[JAMAS]

Are the bump stops supposed to be making contact when the VX is parked(key out of the ignition) or should there be clearance underneath the bump stop when it is at rest?

Thanks.

[ZEUS]

The rear bump stops? The front has two pairs/types of bump stops and the rear has one pair/type. Generally, in stock form, the rear bump stops seem to be within an inch of the axle when at rest... touching though sounds like potentially mild sagging of the springs, to me... or maybe a missing spring isolator (?). The front droop bump stops may be touching the upper A-arm if the torsion bars were cranked up enough, which would be bad. If the VX was lowered enough, the lower A-arm could be touching the rebound bump stop, which would also suck.

[JAMAS]

Rear bump stops. I just double checked they are definitely touching.

Its parked in my driveway, at a very,very slight angle(front is a wee bit higher, back is a wee bit lower, wee bit)

Should I be concerned?


Thanks!

[ZEUS]

If you are riding around on your bump stops, you can expect a rougher ride and in some situations it may be dangerous. Some VXer's in the past cut down the bump stops so as not to ride on them but offset wheels and/or bigger tires could cause the tires to rub the wheel well after performing this action. Go over some speed bumps and stuff at an angle and with some speed to see if the VX gets pitched around because of the extra stiffness. I figure the VX rides on the outer bump stop during hard cornering anyway, so I doubt it is a problem... but like everything else you read, take it with a grain of salt. I imagine someone on the board has some stock springs collecting dust, if it makes you uneasy, you could swap out perhaps. As a lame guideline, the VX in stock form sits with a rake toward the front - so the rear end is higher than the front.

[pbkid]

or you could raise yours VX ever so slightly (like 2") so you dont have to worry about it....costs about $150 and 2 hours of your time...

[Ldub]

IIRC, & it's been a while since mine was stock, on level ground, there was only about 1/4" of clearance between the rear axle & the bump stop...

[JAMAS]

I just spoke with the previous owner. He said that the front was always raised a little higher. He thinks that maybe the torsion bar was cranked too tight.

Does that make sense? If so, how do I go about correcting that so my VX is level again. Should I just go to a suspension place and have them look at it?

Thanks for the help. I just purchased yesterday and have been going over everything with a fine tooth comb making sure I made a good purchase.

[JAMAS]

Searching now.

Could that explain why the front is higher?

Thanks!

[ZEUS]

Yeah, it could and it could explain why you are riding on the bump stops also. Take a measurement between the rear wheel well and the tire, the front tire should be about 3/4" to 1" closer than the rear - in my experience, anyway. Congrats on the purchase, BTW!

[JAMAS]

I will give that a try, hopefully I can manage.

I am usually pretty good at figuring things out, but I always worry that I am going to mess something up.

Yeah, my ride height is about 1-2 inches higher (from tire to cladding) in the front than the rear. So I am the opposite of what you said.

Are there any pictures out there of what the torsion bar looks like so I know I am looking at the right part?

Sorry for all the follow up questions, I do appreciate the help.

[deermagnet]

This stuff should help ya out.





I don't know if there's any adjustment for the rear height. Mine since new has always been slightly higher in the back and I like that look.

Mark Griffin (a VX lifer)

[tom4bren]

IIRC nfpgasmask has a set of rear springs to dispose of.

An alignment shop can crank your torsion bars for you if you don't want to do it yourself. You should have an alignment done after the adjustment anyway.

[deermagnet]

Mark

[pbkid]

you just wanna turn that bolt on the far end...

just MAKE SURE you turn them the same amount of times, that way they dont get uneven...

your car should have at least 1 degree of rake towards the front...if not, you may have rear axle problems...

oh, and to give you point of reference, i cranked my bolts(a lot of people say bars but i think that is confusing because the bars dont turn much) 14 times to get about 2.5-3" of lift.... so if your looking to drop 1" in front i would crank them maybe 4 times??

also, make sure you crank them less times than expected, drive it around the block (over some bumps and turns) then re-measure...because they settle

[deermagnet]

If you were taking it to an Isuzu dealer for the alignment, you could explain the situation and they'd get the height all squared away before doing the alignment. If you were going to a generic alignment shop, I'd do my best to get the height back to normal on my own first. Is that shop going to care that the trim height is 4.69" before they do the alignment? If the front wheel bearings have never been repacked, I'd have that done by an Isuzu dealer also before aligning.

I've had mine aligned seven or eight times and the bearings repacked four times all by Isuzu dealers and it rolls down the road like it's on rails. I do plenty of tire rotations and have never seen the slightest bit of uneven tire wear.

Mark