I have an 03 S2000 and I installed the Ground Control coilovers. I adjusted the coilovers so that they match left to right. I preloaded the suspension when tightening everything up. My problem is that the passanger rear rides about 1/4" higher than on the driver side rear. My car is virtually new and never been wrecked so what should I do? I was thinking maybe I did not lift the suspension enough to get complete preload before I torqued everything back up (although this is not likely). I will redo it but if it rides higher should I keep the two rear springs at the same height and just leave the unequal ride height (perhaps also due to unequal weight distibution) or should I lower the passanger side to match the driver side? I have not corner weighted yet either.

 

How are you measuring the heights? The best way is to measure from the edge of the wheel to the fender. However, there is nothing you can do to completely compensate for a wavy floor or differences in tire pressures or tread depth. You may also find that if you go for a drive, then measure again, they will be different again. The "correct" way to fix it is to have a race shop corner weight it.

 

I measured from the top of the wheel lip to the painted edge of the fender. I also measured the lip at the bottom of the rocker panal right in front of the rear wheel. Both measurments show that the car is riding about 1/4 inch higher on the rear passanger side. Tires only have 6k miles and wear is even so the tires should be pretty similar. When corner weighting, a race shop will adjust height in order to weight corners. I guess perfectly even height (and suspension travel) is not required. Still, I cant imagine that my car mounting point from the rear shock is 1/4 higher on one side. I'll double check to make sure the springs and rubber pieces are all seated properly as well.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by gernby
[B]How are you measuring the heights?

 

You still need to make sure that your tire pressures are all the same. You can also be sure that your floor is not perfectly flat. Any variation WILL cause the car to rest uneven.

 

Many cars, including mine are lopsided from the factory and I never really figured it out. That was one of the reasons I bought the JIC units, so I could make the damn thing level without odd preload.

 

Well I redid height (set exactly even on rear corners and front corners) , redid preload and the results are the same. The passanger rear is a litttle over 1/4 higher than the driver side rear, and the passanger front is a little of 1/8 inch lower. I guess the question is it better to:

1) leave the coilovers at the same level and ignore ride height or

2) set ride height and ignore tha fact that the coilovers will have different settings?

I am tending towards #1. Thanks in advance for any help you can provide.

 

One thing that could be effecting your height is your sway bars. They may not be perfectly even. You really should disconnect them to check your heights. If they are the issue, you can replace your end links with adjustable end links to get rid of the preload in the bars.

 

Thats a good idea, perhaps just disconnecting and reconnecting will help to balance things out.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by gernby
[B]One thing that could be effecting your height is your sway bars.

 

I doubt it. I know my front sway bar is a bit twisted, and my rear bar is worse. The only way to compensate for a twisted sway bar is to get adjustable end links.