Rav 4.1 Handling

[paulink]

I have had the Rav (4.1 3 door, Freesport) for a couple of months, everything is Ok except that as I have got used to driving it I've noticed that on occasion the rear end seems to step sideways slightly over some bumps, though strangely not when driving through longer bends, more so when in a straight line or slight bends in the road and finding a pothole or other irregularity in the surface. It went through an MOT a few weeks ago no problem, so could it be just old knackered shocks that aren't actually leaking (no MOT fail) or is it a feature of short wheelbase, wide track road biased suspension on a high centre gravity car? Tyre pressures are all as they should be too, there's not that much give in the sidewalls. Anyone shed any light on this? I have owned a ot of different cars over the years, the only car to even vaguely handle like it on rare occasions was the (real) mini, if you pushed it hard!

[aiberdonian]

I have had the Rav (4.1 3 door, Freesport) for a couple of months, everything is Ok except that as I have got used to driving it I've noticed that on occasion the rear end seems to step sideways slightly over some bumps, though strangely not when driving through longer bends, more so when in a straight line or slight bends in the road and finding a pothole or other irregularity in the surface. It went through an MOT a few weeks ago no problem, so could it be just old knackered shocks that aren't actually leaking (no MOT fail) or is it a feature of short wheelbase, wide track road biased suspension on a high centre gravity car? Tyre pressures are all as they should be too, there's not that much give in the sidewalls. Anyone shed any light on this? I have owned a ot of different cars over the years, the only car to even vaguely handle like it on rare occasions was the (real) mini, if you pushed it hard!

Have had the same with my 2000 4.1 3 Door GXS since I bought it 2 1/2 years ago with 53,000 mls and now on 80.000 mls.

It's had new shockers and different wheels and tyres since then and I have had it on the pit levering and probing at all the suspension links but so far haven't been able to find anything.

I also get a constant twichiness of the rear end when towing a 1/2 Ton camping trailer and it doesn't make any difference whether it's pulling, coasting or on the over run.

[bothwell_buyer]

:lol:

And I thought it was my driving!!

Just joking.

My RAV conforms to the Time Warp song...." and a jump to the left..."

Hit a bump and it jumps to the left, or twitches to the left. I've gone over a slow bump at traffic lights quite quickly (not telling you how fast) and the car jumped to the lane on the left...just as well it was 3 lanes!

I notice it more prfoundly when doing the 1/4 mile standing sprints....it tries to move its rear nearside off to the left.

We've done a lot of checking - and its had new adjustable Konis for over a year now which made no difference. I bought 2 new rear sway (toll) bars for both my 4.1 RAVs, but have had a lot of trouble trying to obtain polybushes for the rear suspension. Despite the car passing the MOT, we reckon that under more severe conditions - ie hit a bump - there is play in the rear suspension, between the main bush and slight play in the remaining bushes. Not enough to fail an MOT but enough to feel a sideways movement.

I have been in touch with polybushes as they seem to have rear bushes altho I'm still waiting for confirmation.

Basically, the rear suspension needs pulled apart and re-bushed. The bushes that Toyota do last about 80k miles. I'm hoping that if I can get polybushes, then it will stiffen up the suspension and stop the wandering about.

In addition, the sway bar will help to prevent the dancing rear!

At the moment cos I have the shocks turned up very stiff I get a heluva thump if I go over a pothole/bump. Its a bit off-putting but I know that we have inspected it so much that nothing is going to fall off quite yet. Hopefully, I will get the bushes this month and will get photos taken of the job and what we find. What we haven't found is any movement in the main bush using a crowbar so I wouldn't waste time checking.

If you try emailing the USA mob, they might see an opportunity in the UK market/ or we could save shipping by bringing a dozen sets over. Thoughts??

I should say that I have tried to source these bushes in UK to no avail; USA - 2 other suppliers couldn't help; and tried searching Aussieland via the internet. So I'm hoping these guys in the USA will get them - they are on their website, but having been in touch with the manufacturer, I think I'm hoping that someone will have them in stock in a shelf somewhere.

[aiberdonian]

:lol:

And I thought it was my driving!!

Just joking.

My RAV conforms to the Time Warp song...." and a jump to the left..."

Hit a bump and it jumps to the left, or twitches to the left. I've gone over a slow bump at traffic lights quite quickly (not telling you how fast) and the car jumped to the lane on the left...just as well it was 3 lanes!

I notice it more prfoundly when doing the 1/4 mile standing sprints....it tries to move its rear nearside off to the left.

We've done a lot of checking - and its had new adjustable Konis for over a year now which made no difference. I bought 2 new rear sway (toll) bars for both my 4.1 RAVs, but have had a lot of trouble trying to obtain polybushes for the rear suspension. Despite the car passing the MOT, we reckon that under more severe conditions - ie hit a bump - there is play in the rear suspension, between the main bush and slight play in the remaining bushes. Not enough to fail an MOT but enough to feel a sideways movement.

I have been in touch with polybushes as they seem to have rear bushes altho I'm still waiting for confirmation.

Basically, the rear suspension needs pulled apart and re-bushed. The bushes that Toyota do last about 80k miles. I'm hoping that if I can get polybushes, then it will stiffen up the suspension and stop the wandering about.

In addition, the sway bar will help to prevent the dancing rear!

At the moment cos I have the shocks turned up very stiff I get a heluva thump if I go over a pothole/bump. Its a bit off-putting but I know that we have inspected it so much that nothing is going to fall off quite yet. Hopefully, I will get the bushes this month and will get photos taken of the job and what we find. What we haven't found is any movement in the main bush using a crowbar so I wouldn't waste time checking.

If you try emailing the USA mob, they might see an opportunity in the UK market/ or we could save shipping by bringing a dozen sets over. Thoughts??

I should say that I have tried to source these bushes in UK to no avail; USA - 2 other suppliers couldn't help; and tried searching Aussieland via the internet. So I'm hoping these guys in the USA will get them - they are on their website, but having been in touch with the manufacturer, I think I'm hoping that someone will have them in stock in a shelf somewhere.

I'd certainly go for a set Bothy, even if I just keep them in stock until the handling does start going downhill as it's been much the same over the last 25,000 mls.