Rear suspension height not level [Archive]

White Lightning

14-09-2006, 09:06 PM

I noticed yesterday that my AYC light(s) seemed to be coming on more regularly than normal - like they were more sensitive. So, on the way home today I thought - I'll check my tyre pressures, I've seen posts about that causing problems... However, when I got home, I noticed my nearside rear suspension was sitting low. I did the fingers test and I can get three fingers between the O/S/R tyre and the arch but it's a struggle to just get two fingers in the gap on the passenger side. I am guessing this is the cause for the AYC to be more sensitive as the car is not balanced.

I have not looked underneath but I am guessing this may be due to a failed shock absorber or bush. What do you reckon?

TIA
Wayne

P.S. there was nothing in the boot...

Wodjno

14-09-2006, 09:15 PM

Did you Check your Tyre Pressures ??

If not i would say you prolly got a Flatty :inquisiti

I had a Near Flatty once and it gave the exact symptoms you are describing !!

I noticed yesterday that my AYC light(s) seemed to be coming on more regularly than normal - like they were more sensitive. So, on the way home today I thought - I'll check my tyre pressures, I've seen posts about that causing problems... However, when I got home, I noticed my nearside rear suspension was sitting low. I did the fingers test and I can get three fingers between the O/S/R tyre and the arch but it's a struggle to just get two fingers in the gap on the passenger side. I am guessing this is the cause for the AYC to be more sensitive as the car is not balanced.

I have not looked underneath but I am guessing this may be due to a failed shock absorber or bush. What do you reckon?

TIA
Wayne

P.S. there was nothing in the boot...

White Lightning

14-09-2006, 09:35 PM

Did you Check your Tyre Pressures ??

If not i would say you prolly got a Flatty :inquisiti

I had a Near Flatty once and it gave the exact symptoms you are describing !!

no - I didn't actually. I will do it first thing in the morning. I didn't notice the tyre being partically flat though - but it's definately worth checking!

Wodjno

14-09-2006, 09:42 PM

no - I didn't actually. I will do it first thing in the morning. I didn't notice the tyre being partically flat though - but it's definately worth checking!

No, Neither did I !! The suspension somehow takes the weight from the otherside of the car and the tyre does not flatten as you would expect.. :speechles

I like you, was thinking that suspension had broke /help

White Lightning

14-09-2006, 09:51 PM

oh, that would be a result /yes

I've already got a clonking from the front that I need to look at so I'm hoping I've not got any issues on the rear too...

Cheers mate...

Spirit

14-09-2006, 10:19 PM

What better excuse to lower it ? :evilgrin:

Only kidding mate. Hope it's as Glenn has suggested.

White Lightning

14-09-2006, 10:30 PM

What better excuse to lower it ? :evilgrin:

Only kidding mate. Hope it's as Glenn has suggested.

I did actually say to Kate , "it looks much better at that height" and she agreed /duh

Spirit

14-09-2006, 10:32 PM

Got some standard springs kicking around if you need them.....but I think the rear shocks were weeping........don't forget to speak to Mo if you need rears....or just get new of course

mpau009

15-09-2006, 12:59 PM

Hmmm, iv noticed the same thing (this afternoon ironically), my drivers side rear is sitting about 10/15mm lower with no one in it.:undecided I have leaking shocks all round, and so the car is handling like **** anyway, but i am experiencing a similar trigger-happy AYC.

I'll hopefully be able to get some adjustables, but i'd be really keen to hear what it is when you find out.

White Lightning

15-09-2006, 06:10 PM

Checked my tyre pressures on the way home tonight and these were the results:

N/S/F: 32psi
O/S/F: 32psi
N/S/R: 32psi
O/S/R: 13psi

Nice one Glenn, you were spot on with that suggestion :2thumbsup (have a rep point on me)

I'm shocked how low it was and I didn't realise /help

However, my suspension is still at the same height as it was yesterday. I've only driven about a mile or so from the petrol station to home. Does it take time for the suspension to reset or something - is there some *magic* controlling the ride height on these cars?

Wodjno

15-09-2006, 06:45 PM

Glad you got it sorted :2thumbsup

Suppose it depends how long it's been like that ? Give it a good drive on some Bumpy and Twisty Roads.. Give it a bit of OOOOoooomph :evilgrin: It should settle it back to Normal :happy:

Checked my tyre pressures on the way home tonight and these were the results:

N/S/F: 32psi
O/S/F: 32psi
N/S/R: 32psi
O/S/R: 13psi

Nice one Glenn, you were spot on with that suggestion :2thumbsup (have a rep point on me)

I'm shocked how low it was and I didn't realise /help

However, my suspension is still at the same height as it was yesterday. I've only driven about a mile or so from the petrol station to home. Does it take time for the suspension to reset or something - is there some *magic* controlling the ride height on these cars?

Spirit

15-09-2006, 06:49 PM

Wodjno

15-09-2006, 06:53 PM

Also suggested to Wayne he jacks both rear sides up so both wheels are hanging for a while and then let them down together.

Knowing Wayne though he will go with option 1 tonight.....so if you're in Bracknell watch out for a white blur going around the roundabouts :evilgrin:

Option 2 is only for Members who live in "Central Londons Congestion Charging Area":P

Shame on you Pete :| Suggesting to Jack Up a VR4 so it's High and Dry :uhoh:

White Lightning

18-12-2006, 02:30 PM

Well, this is back again... :thinking:

Noticed last night that the front of the car was not level so decided to check my tyres pressures this morning. They were all reasonably OK - between 30-33psi. Got them all back to 34psi just in case. Have taken the car out lunchtime and gone around a few of Bracknell's roundabouts at speed and it's made no difference.

I have not checked with a tape measure but a rough estimate (using my mobile as a measuring device) shows:

Distance between top of tyre and wheelarch:

approx. 10mm more on one side than the other at the front
approx. 20mm more on one side that the other at the rear

So, the whole car looks a bit "on the p*ss"

I guess this suggests that there is an issue with the rear suspension. What ever it is it will have to wait until after Xmas but any ideas what I should look for ?

Leaking shock? Knackered bush?

White Lightning

18-12-2006, 08:05 PM

Just parked the car up in the garage (on level ground) and measured the distance between the wheelarch and the garage floor on each wheel:

Front O/S : 69.1cm
Front N/S : 68.3cm

Rear O/S : 68.0cm
Rear N/S : 67.6cm

So a difference of 8mm at the front and 4mm at the rear. Not as bad as I thought but still not right. The tyres are all the same make and the same age so there should be no great difference there...

Funny thing is, it looks worse to me looking at the front of the car. But I guess that's a combination of my snooker player's eye and being a bloody perfectionist /pan

Dan_G

18-12-2006, 08:45 PM

Thats not a huge differnece and one thing to bear in mind is the fact the car tries to sit level due to the CoG and if your drive is not 100% level ou will have different gaps. I was paraniod about this on my cars and then I realised my drive is not level.

Reverse your car up the drive and re-check to see if you get different results but the other way around... if you see wot I mean? spirit level on the drive?...

failing that check for broken springs or that slidey problem SGHOM had when he was called something different when his front shock slid through the hub carrier...

White Lightning

19-12-2006, 11:58 PM

Tried what you suggested Dan and parked the car the other way around tonight. Results were as follows:

Front O/S : 69.0cm
Front N/S : 68.0cm

Rear O/S : 68.0cm
Rear N/S : 67.5cm

So a difference of 10mm at the front and 5mm at the rear. And the O/S is still higher than the N/S so the car is definately listing over a bit. I guess I'll have to get underneath at some point and try and work out what is going on ...

Kieran

20-12-2006, 12:19 AM

Hmmm... I wonder if the rubber mounts that cushion your springs against the strut top plates are missing - they're about a centimetre and a bit thick...

Wodjno

20-12-2006, 09:24 AM

bradc

20-12-2006, 10:27 AM

He could be the first VR-Nascar :) Or maybe he's got a fat person on the nearside hiding somewhere in the car?

It seems to be worse at the front, so I would guess there is a need to start looking at the front first.

White Lightning

20-12-2006, 11:42 AM

He could be the first VR-Nascar :) Or maybe he's got a fat person on the nearside hiding somewhere in the car?

On the same note, at least the car is probably level when I'm driving /lol

Thanks for the replies though guys. I am going to have to try and sort this out once Christmas is out of the way.

SGHOM

20-12-2006, 11:54 AM

Check the front suspension Wayne. :thinking:
I had this problem & it turned out to be the front N/S strut bolt loose. the strut had dropped slightly & was not located in the 'peg' . worth a try ?? 2 minute fix ! :pimp2:

The Vee

21-12-2006, 01:24 AM

TBH honest, think it may be just worn springs. We noticed this when it was having it's engine replaced and the front suspension (lower half) was in bits. Certainly the horseshoe - strut mounting bolts are fine on it. Easy check though, just look to see that the same amount of strut protrudes through the clamp at the top of the horseshoe (the bit that goes from the strut, then either side of the drive shaft and fixes to the lower arm). The clamp bolt is at the rear of the strut as you face it from the wheelarch and is a 17mm, or is it 19 - can't remember!! It's unlikely to move as the bolt actually locks it in place by going through a small slot in the strut. It can happen if a wrong diameter bolt is fitted ie too thin or it snaps and falls out - extremely unlikely.

Spirit

21-12-2006, 01:27 AM

Don't forget I have some original springs in the garage if you want 'em Wayne

White Lightning

21-12-2006, 12:06 PM

Thanks guys :thumbsup:

I will check the bolts when it's not too cold and dark ... and Pete, thanks I will bear that in mind about the standard springs. I seem to recall that people don't recommend just fitting lowered springs on these and that really if you are going to change the suspension you should do the whole lot i.e. shocks and springs ?!?! :inquisiti

The Vee

22-12-2006, 12:44 AM

White Lightning

22-12-2006, 02:33 PM

Just had a thought! Is it actually any worse than when I last saw the car? Or is it just that the original prob needs sorting. Was the NSF leg taken out when you had the top mount done? As for complete upgrades of suspension, then complete assemblies are always going to be better, but depending on the amount of drop, then original shocks may be satisfactory if in good order.

Difficult to say but I think this is still the original problem. The suspension did seem to be all over the place when I first got it back but I put that down to the fact that the car was up on the stands for so long and would take time to settle again. I thought it had sorted itself out but obviously I was wrong.

I don't believe they actually touched the NSF leg when they did the top mount in the end.

White Lightning

26-02-2007, 11:46 AM

Well this is turning into an ongoing Saga...

Andy and I replaced all of the springs on Saturday with Pete's original post-facelift springs. Interestingly, the post-facelift springs were slightly longer and now as a result the car sits a little higher. Anyway, more importantly, the car is still listing over ... not a lot but enough to bother me.

I've got the measurements at home but basically when parking the car one way in the garage the offside is 8mm higher at the front and rear. And when parking 'tother way it's 5mm higher on the offside at the front and 2mm higher at the offside on the rear. You can also notice the difference when doing the finger test between the tyre and the wheelarch - although the difference is more noticeable on the rear ...

All of my shocks looked to be a reasonable order - not that they affect ride height anyway. We confirmed that they are all Mitsubishi KYB shocks (and also noticed that Pete's old post facelift shocks had different part numbers - but we didn't fit those anyway).

Nutter_John

26-02-2007, 11:54 AM

Wayne , maybe have a chat with Rally or Red , I'm sure they will have a car jig which could be used to see if the chassis is twisted ( I pray it is not )

Good luck with your quest

White Lightning

26-02-2007, 12:00 PM

Well John, that is where we will have to start looking next if we are going to get to the bottom of this. Andy and I still think it's a problem at the rear as it was noticeable that is was a lot harder to get the nearside rear leg back in compared with the offside rear leg i.e. the amount we had to push down the hub to get the assembly back in place ...

Car seems to handle fine though and no over sensitive AYC nowadays (since having the correct tyre pressures!) so 'tis really strange ... also we can't see any evidence of accident damage but the rear end has been repainted, I was told about this when I bought the car off Mike but that was apparently due to the fact it got damaged (scrape'd) during shipping ... :thinking:

ralliart-type-s

02-03-2007, 11:45 PM

Could the problem be down to rubber bushes being worn?? new arms or poly bushes will fix it i think u'll find.

White Lightning

12-05-2007, 10:08 PM

This is still ongoing ... /Grrr

Took the car into AP for them to have a look a few weeks ago and Kev said that the rear anti-roll bar was bent. So, this week I collected a new anti roll bar from Mitsi and today set about sorting out the problem. When I looked at the new anti roll bar it seemed to be bent the same as the one on the car. So before I considered fitting the new one I removed the rear drop links and the anti roll bar and took the car for the spin to see if it levelled up.

And ... no ... the car is still "on the p*ss" and is sitting too low at the passenger rear side.

I also put the new and old ARBs next to each other and they are exactly the same.

The bushes were not in great condition so I will fit the new bushes when I refit the old ARB tomorrow. I just hope that Mitsi will give me a refund on the unused new ARB.

So, back to square 1 again ... :inquisiti

Anyone got any other ideas what on the rear suspension setup could be affecting ride height ... :thinking:

Spirit

12-05-2007, 10:19 PM

Ohhh arse mate.........../Grrr

horndog

21-11-2010, 10:42 PM

Bit of a blast from the past - Did you come to a conclusion on this?

Whan cleaning the car today I noticed that my back end looked a bit off, parking on level ground it looks as though my rear passenger side is 12mm lower than my drivers side. ( front end is within 3mm )
Tyre pressures are all 32psi, tyres are all new with less than 300miles on them
I recently Tw**ted a kerb and broke my rear hub carrier, Replaced it, the rear wheel bearing and the wheel and had a 4 wheel allignment, and was wondering if anything else may be bent? any tips before I start randomly replacing all my rear suspension bits

Cheers
Marc

Humpty's Revenge

21-11-2010, 10:57 PM

Marc has your car got coilovers?

horndog

21-11-2010, 11:06 PM

No its Tein-S lowering springs & Bilstein shocks ( front and rear )

Humpty's Revenge

21-11-2010, 11:09 PM

No its Tein-S lowering springs & Bilstein shocks ( front and rear )

AH throws that theory out the window.

Nick Mann

21-11-2010, 11:09 PM

How certain are you the ground is level? I'd find ground elsewhere and recheck. Several different spaces in a multi-storey car park for example, as they tend to be flat and level.

horndog

21-11-2010, 11:12 PM

Its a new car park area, I parked front in then span the car 180 and rechecked, error was near enough the same (as far as I could measure with a tape)

I will try a different area tomorrow and recheck

horndog

22-11-2010, 02:04 PM

I took my spirit level with me this morning the carpark is flat left to right, (it slopes slightly front to back - approx 3deg)
I rechecked the heights and rear Passenger is 14mm lower than rear driver,
on the front it is the opposite way round front passenger 4mm higher than front driver

Davezj

22-11-2010, 02:15 PM

have you checked the tops and bottoms of the springs as it has been known in the passed that a spring can snap but only at the end top or bottom and effectively lower the car, but still work as a spring.
you would only have to loose one turn to make a large difference. I have seen/heard more and more reports of suspension spring snapping lately and most people are putting it down to speed bumps, continuously hitting these with a large force is going to put a massive strain on the spring and shock. So having a major impact on the rear end as in you case could very well snap coil off.