Just noticed the passenger side is about an inch lower than the driver's side. I have no idea how long it's been like that, my muffler's lop-sided (which is also confusing as it's mounted to a bracket attached to the back of the tranny) so it gives this weird optical illusion that I guess I assumed made it look like the back of the car was leaning.

Is there any quick way to figure out what the cause might be, or am I going to have to start taking stuff apart? There's no creaking when I bounce either side up and down, and neither feels particularly softer than the other.

Thanks
John

Have you check the rear suspension console mounting points for rust or damage?

Make sure the springs are sitting properly in the perches. If they get rotated they will be uneven.

I did notice my car sits about 5mm higher on the drivers side, which is ok by me for the weight of the driver. Threaded rear spring mounts are the best way to get it absolutely perfect. Front is easy to adjust side to side.

Our 40 year old rear springs get weak over the years. Maybe one got weaker than the other?

Replaced mine two years ago with 100 lb springs and it made a big difference.

Check gaps of rear wheels and fenders with a ruler to see if a difference.

That said, also look at the ride height on the front....measure from the donuts to the shop floor. If you change the left front it will affect the right rear. Best approach is to get a corner balancing done...

My car sat lower on one side. Put new springs, new struts...no difference. Everything else looked good. Pulled the strut on the low side and added a rubber spacer on the top of the strut. Worked great. I probably need new parts up there but for now it does the job.

Thanks for the replies.



I think you might have just taught me something about my car. Are these threaded rear spring mounts? One was set higher than the other... Duh.

Not threaded--you don't see any threads, do you?

Those are adjustable spring perches, which were pretty standard on some brands of rear shocks for our cars. There is a C-clip which you move to change the height of the lower perch, changing the ride height.

The threaded adjustment is a collar that slides down over the shock body, sliding about halfway over the C-clip. The outside of the collar is threaded, and the perch is threaded on the inside.

--DD

Ah, that's odd, I twisted the perch one way and it went down, the other way and it moved up. I just assumed those channels were a thread - although the fact they're parallel and horizontal should have made me check the back of the strut to make sure.

Guess I better get back under there and check what's going on.

See the bump down where the end of the spring is? You were probably running the end of the spring upward along the perch away from the notch. It would work its way back down again over time.

--DD