Ride Height Off?

[mpower3o2]

Last night I let a friend of mine drive my car as I followed in his. After a while behind my car, I noticed the rear left was a smidge lower than my rear right. Curiosity kicked in and when I arrived home I decided to measure.

Parked my car in the garage (which is level) and measured the following: Fronts (L&R) @ 25.5" FTG, Rear Left @ 25.75" & rear right @ 26".

Current Suspension Setup: Bilstein Sport Shocks w/ H&R Sport Springs. Car hasn't been involved in any accidents, alignment is within spec, tire pressures match, have half a tank of gas, etc.

Anyone here have an idea of what could be going on?

[Dannydyn]

Bilstein B8?

[mpower3o2]

Bilstein B8?

Correct. Bilstein B8 Shocks :)

[Dannydyn]

Correct. Bilstein B8 Shocks :)

Oh boy, I have this setup (B8/H&R OE) on order...

[mpower3o2]

Oh boy, I have this setup (B8/H&R OE) on order...

I doubt you have anything to worry about. Have another friend with the same setup and his is just fine.

Just trying to see if someone might have run into a similar issue that could help guide me to a solution.

Love the ride & handling!

[Dannydyn]

I doubt you have anything to worry about. Have another friend with the same setup and his is just fine.

Just trying to see if someone might have run into a similar issue that could help guide me to a solution.

Love the ride & handling!

[B8 S4]

Did you drop the rear subframe with the install? If so it might be ever so slightly misaligned. I needed to extend one of might rear coilovers compared to the other side due to this issue.

Also try measuring again, the heights vary depending on the ground and parking position. You more or less need the average of all FTG measurements in 4 or 5 parking situations.

[SteveYem]

The fact that you noticed a 1/4" difference from a distance is impressive, but once noticed I'm sure it is bothersome. I'm not sure if this is even related, but on both my old B8 and my current B8.5 the distance from the rear wheel hubs to the fenders on both sides is different. I have read in various places on this forum that it's due to the rear subframe being misaligned relative to the chassis, and specifically in both cases for me the rear passenger side wheel hub sat closer to the fender than the rear driver side. The effect is that the wheel+tire on the rear passenger side sits farther out than the same wheel+tire on the driver side, when the wheel alignment settings are equal on both sides. Maybe the subframe misalignment also affects how the springs seat, resulting in a difference in ride height from side to side? Probably not, but maybe worth considering.

Or maybe the spring on the passenger side is not fully seated at the top and/or bottom perch? Typically there is a recess in the perch for the end of the last coil to sit in, but maybe the end of the last coil on that spring is not fully seated against the end wall of that recess?

[mpower3o2]

Did you drop the rear subframe with the install? If so it might be ever so slightly misaligned. I needed to extend one of might rear coilovers compared to the other side due to this issue.

Also try measuring again, the heights vary depending on the ground and parking position. You more or less need the average of all FTG measurements in 4 or 5 parking situations.

I bought the car used a while ago w/ Super Sport springs. Wondering if the previous owner's shop dropped the subframe or not.

Thank you for the advice, I'll have my shop check the subframe alignment!

[creativecody]

Did you get your car corner balanced? If you did the heights won't be the same on all corners.

[B8 S4]

Did you get your car corner balanced? If you did the heights won't be the same on all corners.

He doesn't have coilovers.

[mpower3o2]

The fact that you noticed a 1/4" difference from a distance is impressive, but once noticed I'm sure it is bothersome. I'm not sure if this is even related, but on both my old B8 and my current B8.5 the distance from the rear wheel hubs to the fenders on both sides is different. I have read in various places on this forum that it's due to the rear subframe being misaligned relative to the chassis, and specifically in both cases for me the rear passenger side wheel hub sat closer to the fender than the rear driver side. The effect is that the wheel+tire on the rear passenger side sits farther out than the same wheel+tire on the driver side, when the wheel alignment settings are equal on both sides. Maybe the subframe misalignment also affects how the springs seat, resulting in a difference in ride height from side to side? Probably not, but maybe worth considering.

Or maybe the spring on the passenger side is not fully seated at the top and/or bottom perch? Typically there is a recess in the perch for the end of the last coil to sit in, but maybe the end of the last coil on that spring is not fully seated against the end wall of that recess?

I just had the suspension installed about 3 weeks ago. I might have to ask my shop to check the subframe alignment and possibly fix if they find something. I know they didin't touch the subframe.

I'm in the same boat as you though. Curious if a misalignment affects how the springs seat, etc.

[SteveYem]

I just had the suspension installed about 3 weeks ago. I might have to ask my shop to check the subframe alignment and possibly fix if they find something. I know they didin't touch the subframe.

I'm in the same boat as you though. Curious if a misalignment affects how the springs seat, etc.

In my case, the best I can figure the subframe is shifted about 5mm off-center. [I say this because last week I installed a set of wheels+tires with 10mm spacers in the rear, and the passenger side was rubbing severely while the driver side was not. Visually, I could tell that the pass. side tire sat closer to the fender than the driver side. I replaced the passenger side spacer with 5mm and the problem went away, both rubbing-wise and aesthetically. Camber angle is the same on both sides].
It doesn't seem right that a ~5mm horizontal shift would cause a ~6mm [0.25 inch] vertical shift, but I'm not sure what else it is except for maybe a manufacturing inconsistency between the two springs.

[968Reckless]

Put some air in one tire


Sent from my beeper