Is it possible for the body or the suspension to shift to one side in our cars? If so what could be the causes of this?

I would imagine it would take some extreme force or pressure to shift the suspension sub frame.

Anyone?

 

My reasons for asking by the way are that the left side of the car is sitting lower that the right by about 1/4" and my right rear wheel sticks out by about 1/4 to 1/2" compared to left rear. I have posted 2 other somewhat related topics and am hoping to get some insight as to what has happened after installing a Hotchkis TVS kit.(springs & sways)

https://my350z.com/forum/showthread....threadid=95660

 

Installing springs and sways would not cause a side to side imbalance like that. Height maybe. It is possible that the sub-frame is not centered. Not sure how much leeway there is in movement. When I had tried to get the proper alignment after installing Eibachs the left was much worse then the right that they shifted the sub-frame. It helped a little but the left side still has more negative then the right.

 

Alright. Here's an update. At the recommendation of GSC the place I bought the Hotchkis TVS kit, I took the rear apart again. I reseated the springs and made sure they were in correctly. I tightened everything up. There is no doubt in my mind that all is well with the install.

I still have the uneven look to the rear wheels explained in the link above. I am at a loss to explain it. I am really statring to think that the suspension subframe has shifted to the right!

Maybe since I did this with one hydrojack and had to raise one side at a time to put in the stands, having too much weight to one side made the body somehow slide over a bit.

I have never heard of such a thing much less seen it. I don't know if it can even happen.

Or a simpler explanation could be that Nissan dealer screwed up the alignment I got after installing the spings and sways. It would have to be a combo of toe and camber, mostly toe since it's the rear of the right rear wheel that is out by 1/2". The reason I don't totally buy it, is that the right side has about 1/4" to 1/2" more wheel gap than the left rear does.

Well unless any of the resident suspension gurus can help I will have to take it to the dealer and see whats up. Of course I fear they will say the aftermarket springs and sways are to blame.

 

this is my theory,

how much do you weight?

the reason why i ask is cause i weight about 200. i'm 6'1.

with h&r springs on my 00 prelude, the left hand side settled about a 1/4 of inch lower. this is cause they settled with my weight.

i know it might sound dumb, but the thing is some suspension mods do settle more cause of the driver's weight. i'm always driving my car so there is always 200 more pounds on my side.

this is just a theory,

now with the Z, i did the eibachs and they have the "even" settle technology, which i have no idea is.

and i drive it the same amount of time as i did with the lude, but no un even settle this time.

just a theory though.


sang

 

SangWL,

These are new springs. They haven't had time to settle. They were this way since day one.

 

Ok guys one of you out there has to at least know if the suspension subframe might have shifted causing this effect. The scenario was as follows.

I lifted and put the passanger side rear up on stands. When I was about to do do the other side, I got a phone call. It was an important work related call and I was tied up for about 45 minutes to an hour. When I finished I came out and lifted the other side and inserted my stands and went to work.

Could the time sitting on one side for an hour caused the body or suspension subframe to have moved under it's own weight? If so how can this be corrected. The car drives and behaves fine, the dealer was able to align it with the new springs and sways but it is cosmetically bothersome to see the right rear wheel sticking out further that the left rear even if it is only 1/2".

 

Well had some time today and took the Z back to the dealer to have them re-check their alignment work. They really took their time this time and got the specs well within recommended spec and equal from side to side.

Ended up with fromt camber of -1.2/-1.2 and rear camber of -1.9/-1.9 front.

Front toe of .02/.01 and rear toe of .03/.02.

Tech said that was the best he could do and it is much better than how he sees them come in with original factory alignment.

The right rear wheel still looked to stick out about 1/2" more that the left rear. The tech was stumped at this point. He said nothing was bent, the car tracks straight, etc.

He raised the car up higher to eye level and we both just stared at it for a bit. Our reference point was the rear fender edge and down the edge of the mud guards. After much staring and looking and searching, it seems the right mudguard is improperly installed. This became noticable once the car was at eye level. It is subtle but enough to cause the optical illussion of the wheel being out a bit.

I am going to remove and remount the guard. They offered to do it but not today since it was near closing. Since I don't want to leave the car for this trivial adjustment I will head downstairs in a minute and remount it myself. Hopefully that is all it it is and there is really no mechanical problem.

I hope so because I am a perfectionist about shi*t like this and the uneven look from behind of the wheels is driving me crazy.

As for the dealer I must admit they really should interest in my problem and spent alot of time working on the alignment to make sure it was without a doubt correct. I was amazed they let me go into the service area so I could satisfy myself that they were doing everything by the book. Hopefully any future service issues will go this way. For locals it is Bill Siedles Nissan out by International Mall in Miami.

 

Ok, I knew that was too simple and too easy. Although the right mud guard was installed a bit lower than the left, adjusting it didn't quite fix the problem. Tomorrow I will be looking at how the lower sections of the bumper cover are fastened. I think that if I find some play I can push the lower section out a bit on the right and in a bit on the left. If that works I should be able to make the wheels look to come out to edge equally.

I wish I wasn't so darn **** about this but this uneven look is killing me..................

 

Take the springs off and check their rate. I've measured springs from Tokiko and Suspension Techniques and found that the two in the box were significantly different. I wouldn't be surprised if one spring was 20lb/in different from another. Put the stiffer springs on the driver's side or send them back and complain. The dealer won't do anything until you put the stock springs back on and still have the problem.

Asterix

 

Actually the vendor suggested that very thing. They said to swap springs and see what happens. What a pain, but fortunately the rears aren't too bad since you don't have mess with the struts.