InfernalVortex

iTrader: (4)

Ive read a bunch of threads.... No one ever seems to figure it out.

I bought my car in 08, factory suspension, factory shocks 180k miles, no signs of any accidents and a clean carfax.

About an inch lower on the passenger side.

I put some IROC springs in it and some Koni struts.

Sits an inch higher per side. Same mismatch, however.

Got a new differential, new rear LCA's, new panhard bar, cut my IROC springs, removed the isolators in the rear to get an even stance while cutting as little as possible on the rear springs. Paid no attention to which spring was which side when I cut them. Thrown back in randomly, etc. Car still sits about .5-1 inch lower on the passenger side. There's really not much I HAVENT touched in the suspension.

So Ive pretty much given up, car must be hopelessly tweaked or something, who knows. Drives fine, whatever. Ive read enough posts from people with this same problem, and even a guy who said he had everything measured out and the only discrepancy was one of the front shock towers was out of spec. He was told it wasnt a problem nor was it unusual. And that made me realize this... I'ven ever had the car aligned, always drove fine and so I never bothered with it.

Note the adjustment of the strut mounts:


Not the best angle, but hte passenger side is adjusted ALL THE WAY towards the center of the car.Driver's side is not that far adjusted. Not sure thats a big deal at all, but it must move the spindle slightly inboard... ? I doubt it matters anyway.


I'd like to lower the car more. That means proper lowering springs. The .75 inch drop I gave it was nice, but I want more. I also want it to perform well in the twisty bits. Wanting to autocross/track it and trying to get it ready over time. So, how do I even out the ride height? Do I lower with generic springs and just deal with it forever? Should I put a spacer under a spring? Weight Jacks? Coil spacers?

What do I do to not tweak the handling balance of the car? Is it better being uneven or is better if I trim a spring down to even it out?

AM91Camaro_RS

how are you measuring the height? to a body panel? a panel could be tweaked or something. If you're measuring to a point on the frame or suspension, I would probably say cut the driver's side springs more if everything else checks out good. The K member is straight and pulled up flat to the frame, right? I would measure from the ground (on a good, flat surface) to the front a-arm bushing bolts and see how they compare.

InfernalVortex

iTrader: (4)

Im measuring to wheel arches. It's pretty obvious from side to side. The more I think about it, seems like weight jacks are the real solution. Adjusting ride height independent of spring rate. It's a shame they're so friggin expensive. It's easy to make a rear set of weight jacks, but the fronts are the annoying part.

AM91Camaro_RS

I'd measure to something other than a body panel to try and eliminate a mis-aligned panel as the problem. You can get race car type weight jacks far cheaper than the ground control style. They're harder to install though.

BlackenedBird

iTrader: (5)

Has you tried rolling the car back & forth some? Once the engine came out, reducing the weight holding the car down....The suspension could have risen unevenly.

I wouldn't even touch the ride height issue until the engine was back in & driven some, to find out where the suspension settles.

micktroup2

Tell your fat friend to get out of the passenger seat!

DeathStarr89

iTrader: (1)

I've got the same problem other than being opposite side.. the passenger side of mine is 1" higher than the drivers side. I've re-indexed the springs and checked everything 4-5 times.. makes no sense so i just gave up on it for now.


stock rear springs, fronts have had exactly 1 coil cut. All isolators are in place. The only major change i have is the Spohn K member.

novaderrik

unhook the sway bars and measure it again.. if one of them is bent a little, it will twist the body.
if that doesn't change it, then unhook the rear shocks one at a time.

as already pointed out, don't measure to the external sheetmetal on the car. the production tolerances on these cars was pretty craptastical by modern standards and they are rather poorly built, so things will move around after being driven hard for 20+ years... measure from the ground to solid measuring points like the control arm mounting bolts and to the factory measuring points on the frame rails.

my car looks tweaked- as if it's done a few Dukes of Hazzard jumps that were landed on the right front corner- but it sits level if measured to the hardpoints on the floorpan and subframes and it drives perfectly straight down the road without any signs of funky tire wear.

InfernalVortex

iTrader: (4)

Maybe it is just tweaked, then. But is there a practical solution for body panels that sit way too high?

And here's a picture from a month ago or so:





Not exactly scientific, but honestly after driving the car for years and years and looking at it for years and years, it doesnt really matter. Thats pretty much how it always looks.


Lol that engine swap was 4 years ago.

BlackenedBird

iTrader: (5)

Well you posted the empty engine bay pic on 09-01-2012, 02:29 PM so of course I assumed it was a recent problem regarding a recent (engine-less) pic.

InfernalVortex

iTrader: (4)

It was just a picture illustrating the strut tower being adjusted all the way over. Which is apparently irrelevant to pretty much anything. However its the only clear picture I could find of it.

I dont blame you for putting that together, it's very understandable. Thats why I thought it worth a chuckle.

TreeFiddy

Dumb question but I assume the car is sitting on level ground when you make the measurements, not tilted a little? Flip it round 180 on the same spot, see what u get.

InfernalVortex

iTrader: (4)

Has never made a difference.

DeathStarr89

iTrader: (1)

Same here, i put a level across the strut towers and you can see it's off for sure.