I fitted some STiV dampers and lowering springs just under a year ago... fitted them myself and had the alignment done professionally. First time fitting them i didn't get the rear top hats aligned properly, second time round these now look ok and are pretty much even both sides. What i have now noticed is at times the rear ride height is diferent on each side???

Once i noticed this i started checking it regularly. At home it's the worst with about a 10mm difference, but elsewhere it's sometimes ok and other times it's the opposite side that is higher than the other???? At home i have to apply full lock to get on the driveway and in the garage and at work the same.... when i pull up at the mother-in-laws which is just a nice straight road the heights are fairly even. On the motorway it looks ok too (i line up the rear wing with the motorway bridges...)

So what could be causing this.... maybe a sticky damper. I don't think so beacuse i can bounce on the car and it still returns to it's pissed state. The antiroll bar links.... could do with cahnging to solid ones anyway (with the antiroll bar being changed too), maybe seized???

Anybody got any suggestions??? It's beginning to annoy me know. I have pics of all the suspension bits and bobs which i can post tommorrow but o me they all look fine :confused: .

Cheers,

Tony.

this may sound a bit silly, but - is your home driveway perfectly flat?

If the surface isn't flat then naturally one side will be "higher" than the other. The reality is that one side will actually have the wheels lower than the other...because the idea of suspension is to maintain maximum rubber contact with the road.
:)

I've had a few people tell me the same thing about my car, only when it's parked on uneven ground (even a couple of centimetres can make a visual difference!). When I park it on flat ground (not a hill or any kind of rise) it's dead straight. :D

Hi Tony

Although my car is a 1998 North American Impreza, I think my comments may still have relevance.

The rear driver's side (LHD) was lower than the passenger side (by 1/4 inch) when I bought the car new. Shortly after that I fitted Prodrive's "Performance" suspension package, which lowers the rear of the car by about 1 1/8 inch. Still the same situation....lower on the driver's side by 1/4". (And, yes, the top hats were aligned correctly ;) ).

After looking on the NA Subaru boards a bit, I decided this was a fairly common "problem". Nevertheless, it still bugged the heck out of me, so recently (it takes me awhile ;) ) I had a spacer made (out of hard nylon) for the rear driver's side, which fits between the top hat and the car body. Interestingly, the spacer needed to be 1/2" thick to raise that end of the car by 1/4"! Now the car sits level at the back....and feels better :)

Hope this helps. :)

John


[Edited by superstring - 7/29/2003 3:41:25 AM]

Cheers for the replies guys,

I think i am being a bit over cautious about it. It probably is just uneven ground. I've just never noticed how much of a difference it makes :eek: . Still.... if i tell the wife i've got a problem with the rear roll bar and links she can't argue when i tell here they NEED replacing can she ;) .

Tony,

Be careful, I tried that one the other day in order to get some spring compressors and some new links...
It didn't work at all how I wanted it to :(

Apparently, I no longer know the difference between "modifying" and maintanance :eek: so I have to drive around in a clunky, noisy car for a bit longer now. :(

---

As previously stated, I expect your problem with the suspension is not being on something flat. (Remember that we both seem to have car hypochondria tendancies ;):))

LOL..... seems that if they're called Nic it's very hard to pull the wool over their eyes ;) :D .

Tony.