Uneven ride height - Reasons?


Kozy

Kozy

Bench Racer
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It would seem that my car is still a bit wonky, after sorting out all the possible causes after hitting a massive pothole, and having disconnected ARBs front and rear, everything is now replaced and connected as it should be.

But still, the car sits high on the drivers side by about an inch, and I can't figure out why? I will get pictures up this evening to illustrate, but in the mean time, does any one have any ideas on what could be causing this?

The car rides and handles fine, from in the car you wouldn't know anythign is wrong but it is visibly wonky when parked on an even surface.

Recent work includes fitting RTA bushes and an ASR rear ARB.

Answers on a postcard please, winner gets a signed picture of my mum. :)
 
I did not even read the thread, but know this, any kind of shock/spring combo that is not height adjustable will never be an even drop, some will be more even than others some will be HORRIBLY uneven, adjustable ride height with coilover sleeves or a full coilover suspension is the only way to have even ride height.
 
gearbox is on the drivers side. my theory is wrong
 
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ive heard that its a bit higher on the drivers side in porpuse, so when the driver sitted the car gets on the right height. Here in spain that we drive on the left, still have the right side higher since this cars are made in japan.
 
Kristian said:
ive heard that its a bit higher on the drivers side in porpuse, so when the driver sitted the car gets on the right height. Here in spain that we drive on the left, still have the right side higher since this cars are made in japan.
Click to expand...

This would make sense, but the difference in arch gap is huge, something is clearly not right.

I appreciate that without height adjustable coilovers it's never going to be fully even, but still. On one side I have virtually no arch gap, on the other side, almost 2 inches. I am pretty sure it has not always been like this.
 
My theory is it is cause by the engine placement which is more on the left side of our EK. We have discuss that before, only coilover can fix this common problem on EGs & EKs.
 
Yes there is that possibility, but the thing is, it has not always been like this?

Maybe 5-10mm difference side to side is acceptable, I have about 30mm difference?

It really does not look right compared to my friends EKs.

I will measure it later and post up some photos.
 
Do you have coilovers with a seperate spring rate/height adjustment on it?

If you do make sure the spring rate is equal on both sides of the car..
 
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No, I should have mentioned, the suspension hardware is Koni Sport adjustables and Tanabe GF210 springs.

The car has not been in a smash in the last 5 years I know that much.
 
Have you fully checked over the spring? Seems that if it wasnt like it before the pothole incident, something is stuck or knocked out of alignment?
 
snapped spring
blown shock
circlips on koni shocks dropped from hitting pothole?!
 
I hit the pothole on the passenger side.

Here's the pics showing the ride height difference.

Drivers (High) side.
S1051992.jpg

S1051995.jpg


Passenger (Low) side.
S1051993.jpg

S1051994.jpg


You can fit three fingers in the arch gap on the OSF wheel, the NSF wheel is up in the arch!

New springs will be on their way soon. A few friends had a look over and said that it could possibly be bent subframe? The car handles fine and the damping is the same left and right so I don't think it is damper damage.
 
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Kristian said:
ive heard that its a bit higher on the drivers side in porpuse, so when the driver sitted the car gets on the right height. Here in spain that we drive on the left, still have the right side higher since this cars are made in japan.
Click to expand...

Very true! This happens to my left hand drive civic. It's just a bit though.

As for the present case, apparantly something happened while hitting the bump. Check if everything is in place. (swaybar, endlinks, bushings control arms)
 
I had the car checked out for half an hour by the Technicians at my local Honda dealership and they said they could find no problems?

Nothing picked up on MOT either, surely a broken spring would be obvious?

These are the reasons why I think it could be something more sinister.
 
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Yes I did the car used to sit even. Or at least a damn sight more even than it is now.

There is no way Koni/Tanabe could get away with selling kit that was this uneven. 5-10mm difference maybe, not 40mm.
 
saxophonias said:
yes and kozy replied that this difference increased vastly when hitting a bump.
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oh didn't see that, thanks :)

Kozy said:
Yes I did the car used to sit even. Or at least a damn sight more even than it is now.

There is no way Koni/Tanabe could get away with selling kit that was this uneven. 5-10mm difference maybe, not 40mm.
Click to expand...

I don't know man, i think it may be in your head, since you hit a bump you are looking for something now, i bought Swift springs, the most expensive springs at $320 and had them on my koni shocks a long time ago, the difference in ride height from one side to another was 25+mm!!! I then tried spring springs, i had less gap, i also tried Goldline springs they had even less gap, in the end i went with a ride height adjustable suspension to solve the issue.

I could be wrong, this is my experience, is your car driving any different? More bouncy or anything like that?
 
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