uneven suspension! advice please...

[quik99]

Ok so let me get straight to the facts..... im sure this may have been covered before but please hear me out.

when looking at my car from a few feet away, the passenger side sits noticeably higher than the drivers side of the car so it sits at a slight tilt.

at first i thought it was just me so to make sure i got a tape measure out, and whilst my car was on a completely flat surface, decided to measure the gap between the top of the tyre and wheel arch. The gap on the passenger side of the car is about 2.5cm higher than the drivers side!!! FRONT AND REAR.

now i have only owned the car for a very short period of time and have looked through the service history and can see that the passenger rear shock was replaced two months ago along with the drivers side front shock.

The car surprisingly seems to handle fine but i do find this a bit worrying. i am thinking of buying some Eibach Sportline springs soon from K-Tech and may even push the boat out and do a full set of coilovers which i would imagine solve the problem but the question is....

should i be worried? and is this at all normal?

Hope someone can shed some light

Cheers guys

 

[Dave..]

Hmmmm, may be because the shocks weren't replaced in pairs... i.e. the old ones are sagging a lot more than the new ones.

 

[Adz]

the coilovers should do the trick. If your to low rasie them up or if u want to goo very low wind them all the way down. you cant do that with spring now can you lol

 

[quik99]

yeah coilovers should and i want some anyway so its all good!

with regards to replacing the shocks... i could understand if they put new ones on the passenger side but they replaced oposite sides which surely wouldnt cause such a tilt on the whole car! seriously tho i look at the gap between each front wheel arch and think f**k me it like its on stilts one side and not the other.... wierd!

 

[Adz]

get a few pictures up so i can see how bad it is.

 

[TimR26]

To solve the problem I'd either get new oem dampers all round or some ktec/vmaxx coilovers if your looking to lower it.

 

[Rocky_24]

has the problem with vmaxx been solved?

 

[Adz]

has the problem with vmaxx been solved?

what problem ?

 

[Parky]

this the problem with the rear spring coming unseated?
http://www.cliosport.net/forum/showthread.php?t=411043

 

[Adz]

yeah they have fixed it. they sorted the problem out so you wont have a problem with vmaxxx at all.

 

[-Leigh-]

Sounds stupid but... have you checked the tyre pressures?

I had this on a car once, and it looked like on side of the rear suspension was much lower, but just turned out to be 6psi in the tyre. Obviously it was the first thing I checked, so imagine you have, but just incase.

 

[White16valver]

Have you snapped your springs?

Get a hand in and you can feel if the bottom ends are as they should or if they've snapped. Used to happen fairly regularly on valvers and williams of a certain age!

 

[quik99]

iv got my hand in and the springs seem as they should! but there seriously is like 1inch difference on either side and its quite worrying.

Im thinking the drivers side front shock is knackered and is sagging maybe? although i cant see any visable oil leak... having said that i havent taken the wheel off to have a look. i may run it down to my local just to see if they can atleast spot the problem so i know what i am dealing with.

The front is slightly worse than the rear in terms of height difference tho.

 

[iimushroomzii]

You are parked on flat ground when you're checking it aren't you mate?

 

[TimR26]

Damper can have no leaks but still be worn out. Also the mix of new and old dampers can't be helping, get new dampers all round.

 

[quik99]

ok guys i need some advice! i seem to have located the problem!

as stupid as this sounds the last place i checked is under the bonet! i think im correct in saying the rubber top mount has moved about an inch upwards on the drivers side which would explain perfectly the visual height difference when looking at the car. the passanger side one has also raised, but only a tiny bit.

Im not sure if i have explained that too well but is this fairly easy to fix? ie can they be tightened up and/or estimated cost to fix it at a garage? i will make it clear i am not a mechanic so would require my local garage to fix this. my car has a warranty on it do you think this would be covered?

any help would be very much appreciated... im a tad worried about even driving it to the garage tomorrow.

 

[White16valver]

I know what you mean. The only thing that seems to cure this is AST solid top mounts, as have been sold on here for a little while now

They're not cheap though!

I understand that having the rubber top mount come away from the turret isn't an issue but, like you, I'd prefer it to be actually on the turret, not an inch away from it...

 

[Damo_Sport]

hmmm i dunno mate :S il have a look next sunday with ya if it aint fixed by then

 

[quik99]

cheers mate would be much appreciated.

Its going into the garage tomorrow to have the O/S/F ball joint replaced so i am going to ask them to have a looksy at the this too. whats weird is that the N/S/F wishbone and shock where replaced only two months ago. now either they have put it all back together wrong which is quite possible or since removing things the parts have given up... will wait and see.

Im one of these people that CANNOT stand things out of place or slightly broken lol i get seriously wound up about anything remotely wrong lol

 

[Chris205]

Im sure its something to do with weights etc, more weight on the drivers side, the passenger sits higher on most cars, Im sure its a weight thing

 

[quik99]

hmmm... i wouldnt disagree with that but there is too much difference for it to be a weight thing. never had this on any of my previous cars... there is deffo something not quite right.

 

[Gaz_]

Christ there some babbage advised in here. Be a broken spring or something not seated right. Simple as that.

 

[quik99]

got the car back from the garage last night.

They have taken the whole strut out and everything apart and they have told me NOTHING is broken and everything looks just as it should. so why the hell is there still a gap between the drivers side top mount and strut but not the passenger side!?

the only last thing i can think of is that the drivers side front spring was replaced two months ago. now its clear everything has been put together properly because that was all checked yesterday.... but what if the previous owners garage put i different spring on, ie a shorter one of a different spec car? i really am running out of ideas and it pisses me off because whilst i know the top mounts shouldnt sit flush i know that it shouldnt be like this. i can even hear a slight knocking when at low speeds coming from the near side suspension (top mount).

something is wrong can anyone help please! lol

 

[quik99]

anyone?

 

[Inferno]

I take it you have the same profile tyres on both sides of the car?

 

[quik99]

yeah exactly same tyres and same amount of wear on each one. its knocking at slow speeds on NFS too so im thinking a couple of washers to sort that but want to find out what the hell the other issue is.

 

[Dunn]

if i was you id just get a set of coilovers to stop your worrying
chances are the replacement springs shocks arent rite
sayin that wen i look at mine it looks a bit leaning to the rite hand side lol
but im like you as soon as i see a slight fault it drives me mad till its sorted lol
get the coilovers