marinesniper0318

Anybody run into this problem before, the left side is sagging lower than the right side...? I am assuming it would be the spring that is causing this...?

Comments, help...would all be greatly appreciated... : )

James Bailey

Your ride height is fully adjustable (big nuts under the lower shock perch turn in threads).... plus you need to measure from points under the car.

marinesniper0318

James you are the man, always helping thank you so much. I just bought the car on Saturday and did not notice this until today, is it possible it occured naturaly (dont laugh), and all I need to do is adjust it...?

Or could something be bad....? I will try adjusting the the big nut under the lower shock tomorrow, is it clock wise to increase height or counter clockwise....?

thx...

James Bailey

It is an odd looking nut uses motorcycle style wrench with a U shaped end and two upright pins to engage the notches in the nut. Clock wise moves up the lower perch and raises the body. You also can use a hammer and a drift/punch to turn the nut, rather crude and leaves marks.

Mrmerlin

before you start adjusting anything,
I would try driving the car up a driveway at a 45 degree angle, what ever side is higher should be the wheel that hits the driveway first . make sure to pause for 30 seconds so the right wheel will be forced up and it can take a set.
You may find that the car will level out if this is done.
I was chasing the same thing one side of the car was higher, once i started driving it so the other wheel hit the driveway first it leveled out.
Also you should measure the lower nut to the bottom of the shock or the lower bolt center, to see if the perches are adjusted to same length , they should be within a few MM of each other

marinesniper0318

Merlin that is intertesting as I just noticed this after I had the exhaust done, the car had been on the rack. I will try this first.

SeanR

Technically, it should take 100 miles of normal driving for the suspension to settle after being in the air.

marinesniper0318

I checked again and it is only the left rear side that is sagging low, it is about 2-3 inches lower than the right side. I guess I can try adjusting the ride height adjustor on the spring

JHowell37

One or two doughnuts on a dirt road will settle it within a few hundred feet.

marinesniper0318

Does the S4 have Gas shocks...?

JHowell37

Yes, it has gas shocks. Having one side 2-3 inches lower than the other is a lot. Please post pics.

marinesniper0318

ok, I tried taking picture but they came out bad...condo parking with bad lighting...I will drive it outside and take better ones later today...

I measured the distance from the top of the wheel to the fender and on the right side it is 1" gap, on the left side there is no gap it is even with the fender. So my 2-3 inches off may have been wrong, but it is noticeable. These are stock rims with stock tires...

Mrmerlin

first you need to find out where the ride height measurements are taken using the fenders isnt how its done,

as previously stated measure the lower edge of the perch nut
to the center of the lower shock bolt this will give you an accurate way to find out if the shocks are correctly adjusted then go from there

Randy V

There is a link to a complete ride height adjustment tutorial located in the new visitor faq topic posted at the top of this forum.

dr bob

^^^ What Randy said.

Adjusting ride height is an iterative process, and includes the effects on corner weighting that aren't immediately apparent. ie: Left rear low can be not enough load on the left rear spring, or too much load on the right front spring.

Before you adjust anything, you need to settle the car from its little adventure on the lift if the lift did not lift the car by the wheels. This settling can take 75-100 miles of normal driving on normal roads. Once the car is settled again, you can measure the ride height. That's done on a level floor. Most garage floors are fairly level side-to-side, but have drainage slope down towards the door. OK for most measurements, but the car does need to be pointed with the slope. Measurement is done from the points on the inner bushing brackets of the suspension. At either end of the car, if the left-to-right measurements from those points to the floor are within 10mm of each other, don't adjust. Guidance on measurement includes a full tank of fuel by the way.