New Surfer,Ride choppy,poor mpg, remote key

[singy]

I have just bought a 96 SSR X 3.0L KZN185 Surf, "I love it" but I feel the ride/handeling is very choppy. When I hit a bump or pot hole, even a small one it seems too through me about and I get a lot of bump steer, I have had other 4x4s before and not found them too be as dad, Is this normal ? I am also only getting about 20 mpg. Finaly do the SSR X have remote locking off the key? CAN ANYONE HELP!!

if your getting bump steer, its probebly the steering stabilser bit the dust, a normal Surf with handle the bumps smoothly. But also get the shocks checked out and make sure that the front springs arn't knackered and letting front end sit on the bumpstops.

MPG should be between 25 at the worst and 30 at best for a 3.0, but it bepends on your right foot.

[Koi]

I have just bought a 96 SSR X 3.0L KZN185 Surf, "I love it" but I feel the ride/handeling is very choppy. When I hit a bump or pot hole, even a small one it seems too through me about and I get a lot of bump steer, I have had other 4x4s before and not found them too be as dad, Is this normal ? I am also only getting about 20 mpg. Finaly do the SSR X have remote locking off the key? CAN ANYONE HELP!!

if your getting bump steer, its probebly the steering stabilser bit the dust, a normal Surf with handle the bumps smoothly. But also get the shocks checked out and make sure that the front springs arn't knackered and letting front end sit on the bumpstops.

MPG should be between 25 at the worst and 30 at best for a 3.0, but it bepends on your right foot.

As said get shocks checked out and the steering stabiliser, same as for the mpg

[Rob]

3rd gen doesn't have a steering stabiliser - don't go looking for it Instead use your time to search for the illusive flux capacitor.

I had my front shocks replaced about a year ago which helped a lot with the handling and pot holes. Still not that great tho. The replacement shocks were stock Toy ones btw.
Next on my list is the lower control arm bushes - will see if that helps sort my issues. I'm planning a 2" suspension lift (replacement springs & shocks) after that, so I should be able to tell what makes the biggest difference to the front suspension.

[Rob]

Oh yeah, mpg. I usually get about 26 on longer journeys with a bit of m-way, dual carriage ways and A roads. Above 80 or 85 it starts to go down v quickly tho and around town its crap too!

[jimbob_steele]

3rd Gen, 3.0, variable MPG

My 1996 model gets 21 to 26 MPG on smaller journeys - mostly 20 miles a day around lanes, with 40 miles into town once a week.

But I've recently started experimenting with the vegetable oil approach. Whilst I've not measured the MPG yet... normally I'll do about 400 kms on a tank. Presently, I'm at 400 kms on only 3/4 of the tank.

This suggests to me that the MPG can be much better with a little bit of veg oil. I'm only using 10 liters in the tank, the rest being ordinary diesel. Might be worth looking into?

I'll post some accurate figures when I have them. (I do this in Excel... bit anal retentive about it!)

[singy]

Thanks every one for your help!

Will be looking into some of your suggestions, I am a motor technician and have checked the most of your suggestions. The only way I can describe it is "if you've ever driven a convertible car, when you go over bumps its like the front and back ends bounce separately as the body twists" This you wouldn’t expect from a monster 4x4 like a Surf.
Will keep you all informed!

Singy

[TonyN]

The only way I can describe it is "if you've ever driven a convertible car, when you go over bumps its like the front and back ends bounce separately as the body twists" This you wouldn’t expect from a monster 4x4 like a Surf.

Just a thought, check all your body mounts for tightness.

[rich]

Has someone removed the anti-roll bars?

R.

[RobD]

Nature of the beast,big cumbersome 4x4s DONT handle like sports cars!Mines also has a noise when driving along windy/bumpy country roads which can only be described as a "chattering" noise coming from either the doors/windows or wind deflectors......any suggestions?Cheers.The shocks on mine seem to be too hard and unforgiving,unfortunately I don't have the luxury of adjustable dampers.

[ni9eofse7en]

Compared to a car, it does seem to bounce more. I tried the hard setting but could not notice any real change. It's like anything new, it takes a while till you feel comfortable with what it can do.

The solution - I was down at B&Q the other day, and bought 10 bags of sharp sand, ballast and cement. The Surf handled it beautifully and did not bounce too much.

Reminds of the days with my old SDi Rover, that needed a bag of sand just to hold the rear end down in the wet.

[singy]

After further diagnosis

After looking into my poor ride/handling problem further. I have found that it is bottoming on the front bump stops, (as it only has 1cm clearance). This would normally only happen if like my front coil springs had broken, but! They are ok. Comparing the front ride height with the rear there is 4.5cm less, if this is raised by jacking the car up on the chassis it gives me another 1.5cm at the bump stop, whitch would probably solve my bottoming.
However other phase 3's of similar age seem to be the same, but the new crew cab pickups available in the u.k have about 2.5cm at the bump stops and still show signs of bottoming! I don’t think new shockers will help, as they don’t control the height of the vehicle.
Any one got any ideas!!!!

[rich]

Shorter bump stops and uprated springs.

Rich.

After looking into my poor ride/handling problem further. I have found that it is bottoming on the front bump stops, (as it only has 1cm clearance). This would normally only happen if like my front coil springs had broken, but! They are ok. Comparing the front ride height with the rear there is 4.5cm less, if this is raised by jacking the car up on the chassis it gives me another 1.5cm at the bump stop, whitch would probably solve my bottoming.
However other phase 3's of similar age seem to be the same, but the new crew cab pickups available in the u.k have about 2.5cm at the bump stops and still show signs of bottoming! I don’t think new shockers will help, as they don’t control the height of the vehicle.
Any one got any ideas!!!!

[flash]

95 ssrx 3.0

i hav a 95 3.o on soft suspention mode i use it on speed humps rough roads & off road eg,beach & back lanes,then hard setting for main roads of cornwall etc it drives like most cars & it flies but i only get 20mpg.