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88 rear end sits lower on the driver side than the passenger and how to fix?
Somehow my 88 which I have owned for 22 years and has 133,000 miles now sits higher on the passenger side than the driver’s side. I think this has been going on for many years. Now I have proof. The only maintenance I have done on the rear suspension is new U-joints, shocks, and the passenger side wheel bearing. When I drive the car up the ramp on the car lift the bottom driver side of the side pipe scrapes.
I rebuilt this area last year.
If I take measurements from one side to the other I find this
Distance from castle nut to the bolt ends are the same for both sides and the bushings do not look to be degraded
This is how the view of the rear looks and it is hard to tell
There is no evidence of a prior accident. Other than adding adjustable spring bolts I am not sure what is going on. Thanks for any thoughts.
I would start with basic measurements. Look for anything out of whack. I'd also measure things like the distance from the bottom of the spring to the ground, tire diameter, length of the spring-to-knuckle bolts, thickness of the pads on both the knuckle and the spring.
If everything checks out, then I would suspect the spring is weak on 1 side. The best course IMO would be to replace the spring. 2d option but I'm not so sure of is to remove part of the pads (a little from the top and a little from the bottom) to even it out. Maybe someone has a better solution but that's all I can think of right now.
I would start with basic measurements. Look for anything out of whack. I'd also measure things like the distance from the bottom of the spring to the ground, tire diameter, length of the spring-to-knuckle bolts, thickness of the pads on both the knuckle and the spring.
If everything checks out, then I would suspect the spring is weak on 1 side. The best course IMO would be to replace the spring. 2d option but I'm not so sure of is to remove part of the pads (a little from the top and a little from the bottom) to even it out. Maybe someone has a better solution but that's all I can think of right now.
To be on the cheap side I will rotate all the tires and re-measure.
Use a floor jack centered under the front cross member to lift the front wheels. Now take your measurements. If it levels now the problem is not the rear suspension. If it is still low one one side you could start by swapping shocks left to right or reverse the spring. I had to shim one side of the front spring to level the rear, then shim the hood hinges and adjust the bumper to level the front. It didn't take the twist out of the frame but you can't see it now. Trying to raise the low side at the rear spring didn't help, just transferred weight and degraded the handling.
Use a floor jack centered under the front cross member to lift the front wheels. Now take your measurements. If it levels now the problem is not the rear suspension. If it is still low one one side you could start by swapping shocks left to right or reverse the spring. I had to shim one side of the front spring to level the rear, then shim the hood hinges and adjust the bumper to level the front. It didn't take the twist out of the frame but you can't see it now. Trying to raise the low side at the rear spring didn't help, just transferred weight and degraded the handling.
I wasn't sure I could flip the spring. I think that is the only way to see to find out if my problem is the spring. I have to fix this problem before I can get the car painted.
By the way I am 6" 0" and 215 pounds.
I wasn't sure I could flip the spring. I think that is the only way to see to find out if my problem is the spring. I have to fix this problem before I can get the car painted.
By the way I am 6" 0" and 215 pounds.
I was curious if you were able to resolve your issue by flipping the spring? My 94' is just a touch lower on the driver side and I wonder if this might solve it. I am replacing my half shaft u joints so perfect time to do it.
I was curious if you were able to resolve your issue by flipping the spring? My 94' is just a touch lower on the driver side and I wonder if this might solve it. I am replacing my half shaft u joints so perfect time to do it.
I did this with my 91 as after 15+ years it had settled about 1/4 inch on the right. I turned the spring around after changing shocks, than new shocks and all the bushings still made no changes. Finally put longer bolts and got it down to 1/8 and left it.
Awhile back I measured from the ground up to the top edge of the rear fender curve, turns out I had this problem too, about 3/4 inch lower on the driver's side. Measured a few times over different days, just to be sure. Tightened the nut on the left spring end but only about 1.5 turns so the cotter pin will still engage the castle nut. It's still a little lower on the driver's side, but better now. Not enough to worry about. If I tighten it too much, the cotter pin won't engage and also the car might handle funny with higher spring tension in just one corner.
I really think part of this height difference is not that the car is actually riding higher on one side, but more due to the body panels being glued on... there is naturally a bit of variation from car to car. I can go out and measure from the ground to bottom of rear tail lights and they are exactly equal, every time, while the fenders are still off by about 1/2 inch.
Also could be a combination of making mostly right turns (cloverleafs are fun) and also the driver's weight being on the left side for decades.
Who knows.
Originally Posted by HAD2HAV2
This is how the view of the rear looks and it is hard to tell
There is no evidence of a prior accident. Other than adding adjustable spring bolts I am not sure what is going on. Thanks for any thoughts.
Jim
Yes it is very hard to tell from that picture since the camera is tilted and you can't really see the bottom of the tires.
For the time being, I went with adjustable spring bolts.
Driver side, the side that was low. There are additional shims on top.
Passenger side.
I raised the driver side and lowered the passenger side. Now the distances I measured are only 1/4 inch difference. 88 drives fine. In a couple of years I will rebuild the rear suspension and find out what is going on.
01-21-2017, 08:13 PM
88 rear end sits lower on the driver side than the passenger and how to fix?
