Ive noticed this from day 1 that Ive owned MY01 but either its in my head or the gap is getting bigger. But the gap between the fender and my wheel on the front drivers side is ALOT, moreso than the rest of the car and its driving me nuts. All the way around the car the gaps appear to be the same aside from the front drivers side. I checked for the shipping spacers (was that what theyre called, cant remember) between the springs but theres nothing there. The car was wrecked before I bought it (poor car), aside from the fender(which was replaced) it doesnt look anything else was damaged. Its almost as if the suspension on that side is not compressing properly.
I do need an alignment and the inside of the tire on the front drivers side seems to be wearing out prematurely, is that something (fender gap) that could be adjusted during an alignment? Could something in the suspension be worn out from wear and tear (98k miles on the suspension) or damaged from whatever wreck it was involved in, and how could I check it to know? Or could the frame be bent? What recommendations can you all give so I can figure out the cause of this nagging issue? Thanks!

BTW, Ive noticed the bottom of the front bumper is higher on the drivers side than on the left side by about half an inch or so. This is irking the crap out of me more and more every day, time to get to the bottom of it.

Oh yea, stock suspension.

 

anyone?

 

I hear a half inch fender gap difference is normal. Most stock cars dont sit perfect. Your shocks might have something to do with it. At 95k they have to be worn. I had a stock shock go on me at 5k. You could get some coilovers or buy another set of used shocks and springs. Im sure a lot of people here have some laying around.

 

It could be more than half an inch, its certainly noticeable, i can stick my whole hand in the gap where as the other gaps on the car are about 2 fingers or so. Wow, what a ruler LOL. But I will start with replacing the suspension with newer, less used suspension. I wish I could get coilovers so bad but my piggy isnt that big. Ill be willing to bet that the suspension on the front drivers side was replaced from the wreck and thats why its off like that. At least I hope its that easy. Thanks for some insight.

 

From past experiences that I have haad with other cars (not the S), and the way you stated that your S was in bad shape... It may be that the car has not been 'jigged' properly or has not been jigged at all! The frame and other parts of the chassis could be bent through inappropriate or poor repair work.

Sorry if you don't use the term 'jigged' over there. I'm sure you know what I mean.

 

I HAD THE SAME PROBLEM.

I drifted into a curb, and messed up ONLY the left rear suspension (had the the knuckle and control arms replaced). I kept the orginal strut and spring but the car was sitting an inch higher on the left than the right side. It was very weird since I only hit one wheel and it seemed as if 2 wheels were affected.

Anyways, I ended up getting Tien Flex RS and adjusted my car that way. There's still something wrong on the inside, but i'm not racing or tracking my car, so it's ok.

I still have no idea to this day why, but my MY00 had about 65,000km on her, so it might be just from wear and tear, and then the shock of hitting a curb.

 

You don't say when the car was damaged (i.e. what year). The spring rates have changed over the years. My guess would be that whomever did the repair got the wrong spring (if indeed the spring needed to be replaced).

Utah

 

I'd look into the wrong year spring being installed as well. The use of used parts in collision repair is very common.

With the stock suspension ride height is not adjustable.

It's also normal to see inner edge tire wear on the front tires, due to the aggressive alignment settings of the car.

 

Utah may be right in terms of a different model year spring being used.

I put my '04 into a curb last summer (hit the rear passanger wheel). Even going as slow as I was when I hit the curb (20 miles an hour, tops), I took out a lot of the suspension.

I'd be interested to know if they actually replaced all of the parts that needed replacing.

 

Hmmm, sounds logical by all means as the people who did the repair work looked like they did it in a shop class for high school or something. Very upsetting to think someone would repair a nice car like this in such a manner. Which in one way is a reason I bought it because I knew it would have a good home. I suppose I will try to seek out a good/ reputable suspension shop and maybe have them take a gander at it and see if they can detect a direct cause for it and go from there. I did a visual inspection while adding new brake pads and o2 sensor on the car and didnt see anything out of the ordinary, but there again when it comes to suspension I dont know that much so my analysis means jack LOL