My car leans to one side, as most do from what ive read, but i havent gotten a definitive answer. I saw that there was a 2" difference from side to side, so i figured the springs were bad, because the suspension isnt new, but it doesnt seem to have any excessive wear in any of the bushings. So i bought Tein s tech springs, and i love them. But heres the problem, now that theyve settled in, and ive had the car packed with people for the last few months, my front drivers tire rubs, and makes a god awful noise, only with weight in the car under hard cornering. The springs didnt change the lean at all. So ive read up and i guess thats just how the car is, with the gas tank and driver on the drivers side. Would there be a way i could maybe shim or space the top hats to get rid of this problem? Coilovers arent in my budget, as good ones cost as much as i paid for my car! I plan on autocrossing next month for fun, not really too competitive, and dont want my car rubbing the whole time. But three finger on the pass and tucking on the drivers isnt cutting it.

 

Bumppp.

 

stock shocks?

 

did you loosen your lca bolts then lower the car and then re tighten em while lowered so the change in ride height doesnt twist the bushings all up making em wear early?

 

Yeah stock shocks, and im pretty sure i tightened the lca's while the car was jacked up, are you supposed to leave them loose? They dont appear to be in too bad of shape, they sag a little, but i figured its nothing out of the norm for a car this old. They dont look torn or cracked or anything.

 

Just get ya a fat chick to ride shotgun!!! lol

Has it always been like that or something that recently happened? Has the car been wrecked? Sounds like you have some worn components that need replacing, just need to figure out which ones. I wouldn't try to shim anything because that is just covering up the problem rather than fixing it and top hats won't do anything to help.

 

Looks like it was in a front end accident, doesnt look terrible. And its been exactly the same since ive had it. I was wondering if the frame is messed up? Kind of doubt it because front and rear are exactly the same angle from side to side if you know what i mean, but there was a 2-3" difference before AND after the lowering, hasnt changed for 2 years, no worse, no better.

 

2" drop on one side is not normal. Something is bent. Jack up your car and take a few pictures of the front end from different angles, including below the car. Maybe someone can spot something you missed.

 

how old are the stock shocks? after years they will begin to sag from the weight of the driver, its especiallrsy noticeable in our light cars, altho a full 2 inches sounds like a bit much.

 

PICS!!!

 

Alright alright haha, ill get some in the morning. I dont believe shocks affect ride height though, thanks for all the replies guys! I dont know what id do without forums.

 

They actually can. The shock resists the force of the road and the spring resists the force of the shock, if the shock is soo worn that it cant rebound it will actually make the spring compress due to its inability to push back up to its resting stroke position, causing the spring to remain compressed wich will lower the ride height on that side. Seen it happen in a da teg with 350k+ on stock shocks lmao. But pics pics we want pics!!!!

Edit: i see in ur sig u have 320k on that ej2. I think we have our culprit!!!

 

335K now, its a champ! Its honestly in great shape for a michigan car with that many miles. DEFINITELY looking for a new front bumper, and I know about the CV boot haha. EVERY SINGLE thing on the car works fine besides the rear defroster, interiors nearly mint, im not complaining, still want an e46 bad, but the overall "cheapness" of my car is what stops me from selling it.







































There you go, its my birthday! So help my out haha.

 

Well i spent the time to turn these all in the right direction, and they are on photobucket, but not on here. Whatever.

 

Well, your driver side outer CV boot looks shot, but that wouldn't cause a lean. I don't see anything obviously bent or broken, but I'll keep staring at them while I have the chance.

 

Bro did u not read my last post? U can be cheap with your car to a certain extent, but your contradicting that by being concerned with its looks. If u really cared about it you would have threw sum new shocks on with those teins. Lowering ur car on stock 330+k mile shocks is not gonna help u or fix anything. Judging by the looks of the rust all over the shock body those puppys are not anywhere near new. Learn how suspension works, comprehend what i said in my last post, and spend some money on a good set of tockicos or kyb's or koni's. I am willing to bet money that it will fix your issue your shocks are sagging and compressing the springs on ur drivers side.

 

Here i even quoted it for you. Read it and comprehend it. Cuz if it aint what im sayin than u bought a tweaked car, and i refuse to believe that.

 

Well when i bought the springs because I thought the old ones were bad, so why go with stock, but the dude said the shocks were a few years old and oem, the ride ISNT bouncy, whatsoever, there is no leaking oil on the shock body, doesnt look wet. And in an earlier post i wrote i knew about the cv boot, i did it myself -_- its been to cold to fix until now, but ive just been busy lately.

But i would bet money that the shocks arent original, there was no rust at all on them when i threw the springs on last fall, thats just michigan for you, you wouldnt believe how insanely rusty cars get here from the salt. My car is REAL clean for detroit area. Ive seen plenty of new taurus' and 2008+ dodge rams with rust through. Its ridiculous. Went to buy an 06 mazdaspeed 3 with 110,000 miles only to see that i could stick my fingers through the back wheelwells and rockers. Its ignorant haha.

 

Not saying shocks are new, but gauranteed dont have more than 100,000 on them, if they were blown thered be oil on them, and Ive done the bounce test, before and after lowering, and they seem fine. I could take a video if you wanted to see, thanks for the help though.

 

At first glance I don't see anything wrong that would cause this but I keep saying to people NOT to get simple lowering springs because the car will never sit even at all four corners. Looks like you're proving this big time.

 

Yeah, i regret not going with coilovers, but I just wanted this car too look alright and get me from a to b for cheap. I wouldnt care about the lean if my drivers tire didnt rub, but it does now. I dont want to cheap out and do something the wrong way, but it honestly seems like the only thing obviously causing the lean is just how the car is designed. What about these rubber or poly "spring spacers"?\

 

I guess you can use those but you'll never be sure that the height of the ones you wind up purchasing will correct the problem, or worst case scenario, make it worse. I could only image what that would do for shock travel.

 

Take the suspension off the car. Leave them assembled, quick strut style. Hold the fronts side by side, and the rears side by side. If they're equal height, something in your chassis is bent. If they're not equal height, replace them with something that is.

 

Hmmm, alright, i wish there was an easy way to do this! With the lowering springs, it should just make the shock travel closer to stock, so better for those shocks, i would think.

 

what he said. good idea bro i was leaning towards the same thing in my mind. was about to reccomend he go to a chassis/frame guy.

95dx95: ur doin good with the pics and info bro. it might sound like it will be a pain to remove the shock and spring to compare them but its really not all that hard and is probly the best/quickest way to see wats goin on here. good luck bro.