Uneven height when lowered??

[Mrk_Mickey]

I reckon I know the answer to it but it doesn't hurt to ask anyone that might know for sure!

Looking at the front wheels on my car, there's wheel gap on the left tyre whereas the right tyre has none. There's a difference of maybe just under an inch, and no matter how much I lower the left side it doesn't go down. Is this just because of the engine being on the other side of the engine bay??

If there's a fix to it, or it's something small I'm missing, please tell me...I'm sick of wheel gap!

[Golf Houso]

There should not be any difference in the height from side to side, I just installed coilovers in my car and I measured the heights exactly front and back, matched them and they are identical from side to side. Looks like you may have another problem with it, broken engine mount maybe?

[rayray086]

Lowering height is dependent on spring compression rates, so obviously the more weight you force on one corner, the lower it will go. Also, when you observe your ride height, you gotta make sure you're on smooth ground. Checking it when the car is on the road will never be accurate as roads always have a convex curvature. Best to do is park it inside a shopping centre carpark and see if there's still a different in wheel gap.

[Mrk_Mickey]

Alright I'll go have a look tonight, cheers guys.

If the height is still uneven, does that mean my chassis is bent or something? lol...

[hokenmk3]

I had the same problem on my car after spinning out and hitting the kerb. It annoyed the sh*t out of me big time not having the car level!!! It took weeks before I noticed the cause of the problem.

With the car on the hoist, look at the steering column from underneath and there is a suspension bar that crosses it. This bar (don't know what it is called) was slightly bent. I straightened it by levering it with a strong metal pipe wedged underneath the crank case and on top of the apex of the bend. It didn't come into balance straight away but after jacking the rear right wheel to change a brake caliper the next day it has been level ever since.

It is worth checking this out on your vehicle. I understand completely how annoying it is to have the car not level!!!

[Mrk_Mickey]

That sounds like the front swaybar...

[MattyT]

I use a spirit level mounted on the dash and on the rear wing to tell if my car is level

It's not exactly but it'll do!

I do it on my driveway which according to the spirit level is fairly even with a slight downward gradient (maybe .5 a degree?).

How do you measure the height of your coilover???

[Golf Houso]

I use a spirit level mounted on the dash and on the rear wing to tell if my car is level

It's not exactly but it'll do!

I do it on my driveway which according to the spirit level is fairly even with a slight downward gradient (maybe .5 a degree?).

How do you measure the height of your coilover???

The number of threads, or the distance from the bottom of the suspension arm where the bolts come in to the bottom of the locking nut, I used the latter.

[rayray086]

How do you measure the height of your coilover???

Haha I use the amount of tyre it tucks once off the jack.

[Mrk_Mickey]

Haha I use the amount of tyre it tucks once off the jack.

Me too...I also mark (with my hand) where the car comes up to on my leg (cos it doesn't reach my hip/waist )

Mmmm anyways the car isn't level, I checked tonight at the carpark. What the hell can I do about it?? There's still about an inch of tyre gap on the front left wheel arggghhh!!!

[KI11Z]

oh dear guys spirit levels, tyre gap, number of threads left

a lesson here dudes, as ray mentioned, make sure your vehicle is on level ground before continuing; Then grab your tape measure and measure from the centre bottom of your rim to the top of the wheel arch, like so . . .


as for the un eveness of your hight, i'm not sure, i know mine is out buy like 5mm side to side, possibly due to the sway bars preventing the other side to drop, keeping the car "level" . . .

[KI11Z]

we're talking about measuring the evenness of your lowering not how to go low its how i was taught and i'm sure how many shops do . . .

[Golf Houso]

we're talking about measuring the evenness of your lowering not how to go low its how i was taught and i'm sure how many shops do . . .

Wouldn't it be better to measure the coil itself with a vernier's caliper? I can't think of a more accurate way of doing it...

[Mrk_Mickey]

Guys, they're all good suggestions...

But they're not helping me!! My wheel gap is bigger on one side and the car is higher on that side. Help!! lol

[Jarred]

Guys, they're all good suggestions...

But they're not helping me!! My wheel gap is bigger on one side and the car is higher on that side. Help!! lol

have you checked the threads to make sure that they're at the same height?

Maybe they've ones changed when you were tightening or something, hence is higher/lower than the other side. jack up the car and get a small ruler out and measure the bottom of the spring to the bottom of the thread on each side and compare. taht's what i'd do in this case.

just spit-balling.