Right side of car sits higher any fix?

[peter]

So about a month or so ago I installed new struts and H&R springs along with new wheels and tires. And a few weeks ago a friend that helped me install everything said my car looked like it was lopsided. I said I had noticed something like that but thought it was just parked on uneven ground. Well today I got the car in my garage and measured at all 4 corners. The right side sits a half inch higher in the front and rear. I'm not sure what would do that or how to fix it. Any thoughts?

[prodriver1]

weird :smt017 sway bars, tophats, something small has to be the culprit.

[peter]

That's what I keep thinking but what could be wrong in the front and back for it to be even like that? Unless something was wrong with both of something on one side like both left side tophats.

[harrymaneuvers]

Maybe you put the front springs on the right and the rear springs on the left?

[peter]

Nope. We checked that several times to make sure we didn't mess that up

[prodriver1]

I was thinking old bushings vs new ones. did you get any new bushings put on? new rubber in the tophats on one side? also did you check tyre pressure?

[peter]

Nope nothing new on just one side. And I doubt it's tire pressure cause the gap from the wheel well to the top of the tire is bigger on the right side but I'll check it out anyway

Edit: tire pressure same at all 4

[Huffer]

Someone else had the same problem - it was on a BE/BH though.

In my head I'm trying to remember what is different on the left (driver?) side. There's the battery, steering column & that part of the dash, but that's about it.

Are you positive that the springs are correctly seated in the spring perch on the strut?

I found a lot of threads about "lopsided cars" after suspension swaps and the conclusion is that it's inconclusive. It has a lot to do with the way the vehicle is designed, and probably something to do with the load resistance on a stock spring - they probably wind the factory spring to a slightly higher rate so as to compensate for the fact that 80-90% of a vehicle's life will probably be spent with just one person in it (driving).

Here's some example threads:

http://www.dsmtalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=178948

http://www.google.com/search?q=new+susp ... en___US367 (http://www.google.com/search?q=new+suspension+lopsided+car%3F&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&client=firefox-a&rlz=1R1GGLL_en___US367)

[peter]

I am pretty sure that the spring is seated correctly. But the right rear was done by a shop cause I couldn't get one of the strut bolts off. But if they did it wrong wouldn't just that corner be higher? Maybe it just needs time to settle even though it's been over a month

[Huffer]

The car is a unibody, so it's supposed to sit relatively evenly. A height difference in one corner is going to translate in a difference somewhere else too.

The difference between your H&R spring and a stock spring is easily an inch. If the shop didn't seat the spring correctly, either top or bottom, and the car hasn't been aligned then that could be the cause. Jack the car up and have a look at it. If it's all just been put back together then you should have no problems pulling it apart and checking that everything was assembled correctly.

[peter]

I guess Ill to jack it up and take a look. But it was aligned at the same time the shop did the install.

[SativaMan04]

The left side of my car sits 4mm higher than my right side with stock suspension. When I lowered it with bilsteins and lowering springs, the left side was still higher by 4mm.

nothing seemed wrong with stock or with the lowered suspension. I can live with it, but It is weird that its like that. I have a BH. I just went up hill running and it handled really well!! I need a rear swaybar though!!

Does your car still handle and manuevar well?

[2000gtb]

sway bar endlinks... see if they are different length.. look around the swaybar area, make sure its centered