Steering and Poor Stability

Shopkeep said:

Maybe, but the factory steering damper on the Grenadier is not neutral. It seems to be pressurised so it always wants to extend to its full length when removed, unlike other dampers which stay at the length you compress or extend them to. While this force is relatively low compared to other forces in the steering mechanism it may be contributing to the wandering?

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Well that's interesting, and unusual. Without correction that would give a minor right steering bias I think? The camber spec is the same on the left and right side of the axle so some bias might help minimally to counter road camber (crown) on RHD vehicles wanting to run to the left and low side of the road. NA and presumably EU vehicles have the dampener flipped but I haven't seen the mounting to know if a dampener bias might be in play here. Presumably the NA/EU vehicles are tracking straight?

I recall when military mogs first came into service in Australia they had terrible lane position holding and wanted to run off the left side of the road due to a fixed camber angle built into the axle for LHD/Euro markets, i.e. opposite road camber/crown to RHD/Australia where we often have apexed roads. A modification kit was fitted to correct the camber so mogs would track straight.

Clark Kent said:

Well that's interesting, and unusual. Without correction that would give a minor right steering bias I think? The camber spec is the same on the left and right side of the axle so some bias might help minimally to counter road camber (crown) on RHD vehicles wanting to run to the left and low side of the road. NA and presumably EU vehicles have the dampener flipped but I haven't seen the mounting to know if a dampener bias might be in play here. Presumably the NA/EU vehicles are tracking straight?

I recall when military mogs first came into service in Australia they had terrible lane position holding and wanted to run off the left side of the road due to a fixed camber angle built into the axle for LHD/Euro markets, i.e. opposite road camber/crown to RHD/Australia where we often have apexed roads. A modification kit was fitted to correct the camber so mogs would track straight.

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I did some highly technical damper tests in my laboratory/lounge room using finely calibrated equipment (thirty year old mechanical luggage scales) and found the following:
-when compressed it takes approx 7.5kg/16lbs of force to stop it expanding (at its mid point)
-it takes approx 100 seconds for the damper to self extend the 181mm range from fully compressed to fully extended
-the expansion speed slows markedly as it approaches full extension
-this damper was approx 6 months / 8000kms old when removed

I am in love with my Gren, which gets stronger every time I take it for a drive, discovering new capabilities, and expanding my own driving skills and offroad knowledge. I did _not_ get this with my previous vehicle. I never really considered doing much in the way of options with that vehicle - my Gren on the other hand has lit a fire under my butt, to kit it out and get out there onto tracks I'd not considered before now.

I noticed about a month ago that the steering seems more solid in my Gren than it did in my previous vehicle (an Amarok), which is a funny statement given the criticism around steering of the Grens. What I noticed was I didn't have to move the steering wheel as much in my Gren as I had to in the 'Rok in a corner - I could set a steer angle, and keep it there, and the Gren would track around a corner (given a constant radius curve corner that is...).

I would consider myself used to the steering, and lack of re-centering, and I'm returning to centre pretty much without conscious effort now.

I initially had serious thoughts about swapping the steering damper to an aftermarket one, but now I've been driving this Gren, I don't think I will. As @Clark Kent said above - a lot of the steering nuances probably sits with the driver, not the vehicle - and I agree with that.

... but I think it would be an interesting exercise for me to get my alignment checked, just to see how much better the centering and track could be.

Last week, I found myself rotating between four very different vehicles, steering-wise:
RR Classic - heavy steering wheel, no play, considerable understeer, perfect track.
LR4 - light and quick steering, with zero damping (rack and pinion), some oversteer in the corners.
D5 - light and quick steering with zero feedback (by far the least favorite)
Grenadier - right between an LR4 and RR Classic.
Absolutely zero need to adjust "muscle memory" or anything.