I'll keep you posted. I'm going there tomorrow morning. Hopefully the issue can be resolved.

 

No kidding. I just ordered mine a few days ago

But I figure it's like most anything. You ask or mention something about anything and 1/2 the people will say one thing and half will say the opposite.

It's all just a crap shoot.

 

Hey BhashZ, since you can get direct access to Hotchkis himself, ask him whats up with all these leaning Z's after the spring installs.

There are many here including myself that have the issue of one side of the rear sitting lower than the other.

 

I would like to know if there is a fix for this in the works, I will not buy until I know it will not lean.

 

I'm thinking since camber is changed after spring installed, I think it would be wise to measure from ground to top of tire as well. Perhaps the tires are wearing unevenly. Therefore when you measure from from ground to fender, it would be off.

 

Okay. I went to Hotckis and JUST got back. They said there was a slight problem with the install, something to do with tightening some bolts while the car was still in the air. I have no idea what the heck they're talking about since I didn't do the install. Anyways, they redid whatever had to be redone, and now the car sits slightly better. Both left and right side are almost identical, probably within 1/8" of each other. So I guess that issue for me is "solved".

But I still think that the car sits a little high in the rear overall. IMO, both sides should be lower by about 1/4" to sit "perfect", but I didn't compare it to before. You cannot tell the difference in ride quality AT ALL (at least normal street driving, which is what I primarily do and will do). In all I am satisfied with the springs.

Now to address the "unevenness". Well, since the driver's side is lower, I'm guessing that the gas tank is on the right side of the car. Due to gas prices, I am driving with 1/4 tank or less, so that may lead to the unevenness. I am sure that other springs have the same issue. Maybe those with other springs can chime in. However, since the spring rates are actually lower than stock in the rear, this may increase the sensitivity to weight of the car, i.e., when you are low on gas, your car may be more uneven, whereas when you fill up the tank, you may be more even. Of course, this is pure speculation. I will see once I fill up my tank if this actually does indeed make a difference (normally I fill up half the tank at MOST since, well, I just can't bear to drop $60 at a time )

Others, please take measurements and post your results, Hotchkis, Tein, Tanabe, RS-R, Eibach, etc....whatever you have. Also post tire specs.

 

Actually that's a good point. I just got the tires about 300 miles ago, so I don't think that there is uneven wear yet. However, when I was leaving Hotchkis the guy there said that I have more camber on the driver's side rear. This may be what makes the driver's side appear lower.

I guess once I get the car aligned, I should see the results then. After I do get the alignment done, the car should be "higher", correct? By how much, I don't know, but I'm guessing up having the wheels/tire more upright, the rear may be raised a bit.

 

Yes, the tank is on the right side. Full tank or not mine leans on the driver side. So that is not it. Even with a passenger in it I have the lean. I would lean with the stock wheels and tires as well as with my GTC/Toyo setup, so it's not uneven wear in the tires.

I do suspect it is the car and not the springs. Many folks here have the issue from past discussions. Since the springs aren't marked for right or left it's a 50/50 chance that everyone just happened to install the springs in the same manner as to cause the exact same lean on the drivers side.

Too much coincidence if you ask me. Therefore it may be a build issue that only becomes more visible when the car is dropped and the wheels are set closer to the outside edge as most aftermarket setups are. Maybe stock it's there but just not as detectable.

One more thing, Hotchkis informed me that when they did corner balancing on their test Z, the rear drivers side was heavier. Maybe since the Hotchkis rear springs have a lower spring rate than stock, it sits lower on that side due to weight. I am just speculating here since they didn't say that was the cause.

 

I think that can definately be a possibility. With stock height, since the gap is so big, you are most probably not going to notice. However, once you start lowering it and adding lower profile tires, you will notice the slightest bit of gap because 1) the gap is exaggerated with lower profile tires, and 2) you are looking for something wrong.

Truth is, I never really bothered thorougly checking the stock height so much so as after I lowered it, so there may well have been an issue even then. I took pix before I lowered it, but I can't seem to find them.

 

Here is my guess as to why the drivers side sits lower than the passenger side.

Most of you guys are single, which is why you bought a 2 seater. Or, ever since you bought and spend so much time with your Z any of your girlfriends got tired of you spending all of your time with your Z and dumped you. When you spent $300 on new springs and not on them, that's when they all left you guys

Therfore.

Since you are mostly by your lonesome self when you drive, your springs settled in favor of the drivers side cuz your woman left you for a guy that drives a Bone stock Civic?

Well you know what I mean. Serioiusly maybe it's cuz there was no passengers to even out the break in and settling of the springs??

Try driving in a counterclockwise cirlce over a bumpy road really really fast

 

Lots of good guessing ideas...

As I mentioned before, Tein s tech rear (high spring rate) with the same problem, whatever passenger seat & tank fill up.

Did you notice that your right tires F+R were much more worn out? As I noticed in my stock,original set up.

 

I am more inclined to believe it's certain Z's if not all. The fact that other brand springs have the issue really points to the car.

What we need is a stock Z owner to go out and measure floor to fender edge on each side so we can confirm that the problem is there stock.

 

from someone gearing up to buy the hotchkis tvs kit.........yes i want the get rid of the drag car raked look, though all the ice did level it out quite noticeably.....ill go out tommorrow and measure, using both methods

 

I think you are over exagerating a bit. These springs are top quality and when it comse to being 'uneven' they are NO different than teins, eibachs, etc.

Amit,
You need to go take your car for a 'spirited' drive. Bomb into some corners and have a little fun with the car. The springs will find their place and most likely "settle" (I hate that word in relation to springs- springs don't settle, they if anything seat themselves). Stop driving like grandma all the time and stop being so paranoid about the car.

 

Yup, I've driven through the canyons a couple of times. To me, they're fine now. The uneven drop I mentioned in my original post was a secondary, minor problem. My actual concern was the rear not being as low as it should be, but in any case, Hotchkis seems to have made things better. I would wish they "seat" themselves better but I'm definately satisfied with them.

Overall, people, my car is practically even now. With less than 1/8 tank of gas, the difference between driver's side and passenger side is ~1/8", but after the alignment, it should be fine. In other words, I think PROBLEM IS SOLVED.

BTW Aaron, did you get your $ back yet? I went to Apache (finally...) a couple of days ago, but Sergio wasn't there. I went again yesterday to get additional padding for my seats, and I talked to Sergio who said he was going to look into it. But I just want to make sure that you are still waiting on him before I tell him for sure.

 

Glad you have things resolved on the springs

NO I still haven't gotten any $ back - the bastard has yet to even call me/answer his phone. I mean it is only $40, but it's the principle of the thing

 

See on mine I have better than a 1/4" difference side to side. Doesn't sound like much but with aftermarket wheels the visual effect is obvious.

 

off topic. can i install just springs and nothing else to get a little drop? or do i need new shocks as well? sorry for my stupidity. thanks.

 

yes