Uneven Ride Height from Factory

TWiTCHY

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 28, 2019
Threads
6
Messages
54
Reaction score
26
Location
WA
Car(s)
2020 Toyota Supra Premium
A coworker mentioned my car looked a little crooked so I broke out the measuring tape. Sure enough - he was right. The passenger side is 0.625” higher than the driver’s side when measuring from the ground to the top of the wheel arch. The front and rear show the same height difference, and the gap between top of tire to top of wheel arch is visibly different. Car has 3000 miles on it on stock suspension. Planning on bringing it in to get checked unless others are observing the same. Anyone?
Sponsored

 

XtremeMaC

Well-Known Member
Joined
Aug 8, 2018
Threads
41
Messages
2,957
Reaction score
3,205
Location
_________ SE Michigan, USA
Car(s)
2020 Supra
Here are my measurements.
Top - fronts
Bottom - rears

Right - driver
Left - passenger
[Edit]Sorry the collage software put it like this. Just realized it.

FD 69.0cm 27.17"
FP 69.3cm 27.28"
RD 70.7cm 27.84"
RP 70.4cm 27.72"
Both 3mm 0.012" difference. [/Edit]

20191213_235739_1576300134458_1.jpg
 
Last edited:

ToyoBMW

Well-Known Member
First Name
Jonathan
Joined
Nov 7, 2019
Threads
5
Messages
472
Reaction score
453
Location
SoCal
Car(s)
2020 Supra LE, 2004 S2000, 1999 Carrera
This happened to one of my friends with a 4runner, he took it to the dealer and complained about the height difference. The dealer said they are not suppose to be the same all the way around, there is some variance.

He ended up hiring a lawyer to try and get the dealer to replace all his shocks.....and this is still ongoing
 
OP
OP

TWiTCHY

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 28, 2019
Threads
6
Messages
54
Reaction score
26
Location
WA
Car(s)
2020 Toyota Supra Premium
This happened to one of my friends with a 4runner, he took it to the dealer and complained about the height difference. The dealer said they are not suppose to be the same all the way around, there is some variance.

He ended up hiring a lawyer to try and get the dealer to replace all his shocks.....and this is still ongoing
I’m sure there is a nominal and tolerance allowance with ride height but it just seems odd that the whole driver’s side is that much lower. I planned on going with aftermarket springs anyways, would that fix it?

Here are my measurements.
Top - fronts
Bottom - rears

20191213_235739_1576300134458_1.jpg
Thank you for taking the time to do that and sharing it. Mine are:

FD: 27.5”
FP: 28.125”
RD: 27.5”
RP: 28.25”

where F/R are front/rear and D/P is driver/passenger. So max difference is actually 0.75” at the rears.
 

s219

Well-Known Member
First Name
Doc
Joined
Jun 22, 2019
Threads
2
Messages
528
Reaction score
635
Location
Virginia USA
Car(s)
BMW X3 M40i, BMW M2 Comp, Ferrari 328
I bet the dealer forgot to remove the shipping spacers on one side of the car. Happens all the time. Look at the spring/strut and see if there is a plastic-rubber bushing jammed in there. You can jack up the car and remove the spacer yourself, but it would be good to bring this to the attention of the dealer since they messed up big time. This is a potential safety issue as it will affect the handling of the car. Spacers are only meant to be there for low speed transport.
 

Turbro

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jun 6, 2018
Threads
3
Messages
311
Reaction score
605
Location
Somewhere USA
Car(s)
24 Strat 3.0 MT, 94 Supra TT 6Spd
I bet the dealer forgot to remove the shipping spacers on one side of the car. Happens all the time. Look at the spring/strut and see if there is a plastic-rubber bushing jammed in there. You can jack up the car and remove the spacer yourself, but it would be good to bring this to the attention of the dealer since they messed up big time. This is a potential safety issue as it will affect the handling of the car. Spacers are only meant to be there for low speed transport.
i did PDIs back in the day and always removed these but people do forget and I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s his issue
 
OP
OP

TWiTCHY

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 28, 2019
Threads
6
Messages
54
Reaction score
26
Location
WA
Car(s)
2020 Toyota Supra Premium
Checked for spacers and didn’t see any. Only thing I can think of is the car spends a good amount of time in my garage parked on top of stall mats that are 0.75” thick, but only the passenger side gets to park on top of this and the driver’s side then sits 0.75” lower on the concrete. For a car that is new and probably hasn’t had a chance to settle into its springs, this uneven ride height during storage probably doesn’t help it to settle in evenly. Before anyone asks, yes, I measured the ride height when all four corners were on even ground . I’m going to get rid of the stall mats for now and check back in another week or so and see if anything has changed.
 

A70TTR

Well-Known Member
Joined
Sep 9, 2017
Threads
8
Messages
2,727
Reaction score
10,052
Location
Japan/EU/USA
Car(s)
ST205 GT4, JZA70, JZA70 TT-R, S210 Athlete
swap the passenger side suspension to the drivers side, and you will have right about what I set my cars to do with coilovers (ride flat with driver in car)

jokes aside, that does seem a bit odd being that its side to side difference vs just small variances at all four corners.
 

Turbro

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jun 6, 2018
Threads
3
Messages
311
Reaction score
605
Location
Somewhere USA
Car(s)
24 Strat 3.0 MT, 94 Supra TT 6Spd
swap the passenger side suspension to the drivers side, and you will have right about what I set my cars to do with coilovers (ride flat with driver in car)

jokes aside, that does seem a bit odd being that its side to side difference vs just small variances at all four corners.
lol that’s funny!

Maybe a spring didn’t get seated right on the car.
 

SupraFiend

Well-Known Member
Joined
Nov 2, 2017
Threads
1
Messages
574
Reaction score
850
Location
Vancouver
Car(s)
5 Supras currently
Just a FYI, but the distance from the ground to your fender line is an inaccurate way to measure whether your suspension is sitting correctly. The engineers don't care about the distance of the fender to the ground, they care about what angle your control arms are sitting at. I don't know if there is a FSRM for the mk5 yet, but the mk2 is mac strut as well and this is how you check your ride height on it...

FA_003.gif

Measurement A is what you want to compare, to the other side. I'm not sure what B would be on your car for the rear, probably the inner bolt on the lower A-arm or lowest link depending what style of arm it uses. You can't compare B to A, you would need the correct numbers for your car. These are the distances the engineers care about, and any variance in them from stock (not including from tire height differences) will affect your alignment and how good your suspension geometry is. The front end is particularly susceptible to bump steer and camber loss\mid corner grip from height changes due to the mac struts.

Keep in mind you need to put the car on perfectly level ground for the measurements to be accurate, and the amount of gas in the car will affect the results. When I align my race car, I actually do it with the amount of gas I typically run (about 1/4 tank, the mk2 has wicked baffling), and I throw a bunch of weight into the driver seat to approximate myself sitting there.

I know, the distance to the fender is what your eye sees and effects its look in pictures the most, but it doesn't actually matter. I would be suspect of the mk5s poorly fitting hood too affecting those numbers. Besides the fitment issues, a clam shell hood's alignment can effect the number you are coming up with as the hood stoppers at the front are adjustable, another reason not to measure that way.
 

phm14

Well-Known Member
First Name
Peter
Joined
Dec 26, 2017
Threads
3
Messages
105
Reaction score
55
Location
Houston, TX
Car(s)
Hakone 86, '18 Tundra 4x4, '15 4Runner Trail
Vehicle Showcase
1
Vehicle suspensions are set up to compensate for road crown. That keeps the car tracking straighter, and feeling level, since the road is typically higher on the the left than on the right, so that water drains off. I recall one internet genius coined the "The Tacoma Lean" on a forum.....simple cluelessness.
 

SupraFiend

Well-Known Member
Joined
Nov 2, 2017
Threads
1
Messages
574
Reaction score
850
Location
Vancouver
Car(s)
5 Supras currently
That's not generally, if ever, done with spring heights though.

Not all cars are speced to compensate for crown, but if you try to adjust for it, you do it with the steering wheel center position, Toe or Castor...
http://www.nissantechnicianinfo.mobi/htmlversions/Winter_2013-14/Wheel_Alignment.html

Since a chassis will always drift to the side that has the least caster, you would think that caster, whatever the specified range, should always be set at exactly the same specification on both sides of the chassis, right? Not necessarily so! Cross caster can be used to offset the effect of road crown. Road crown is the normal slope of the road toward the outer edge of the road surface. Most road surfaces angle downward from the center of the road to divert rainwater (sometimes to the right, depending on the area, and some areas more than others do). A chassis set at zero cross caster may drive straight down a flat road but tend to drift down a road crown. However, kick in a slight amount of extra negative caster on the opposite side of the drift and the drift is canceled out.
 

phm14

Well-Known Member
First Name
Peter
Joined
Dec 26, 2017
Threads
3
Messages
105
Reaction score
55
Location
Houston, TX
Car(s)
Hakone 86, '18 Tundra 4x4, '15 4Runner Trail
Vehicle Showcase
1
That's not generally, if ever, done with spring heights though.

Not all cars are speced to compensate for crown, but if you try to adjust for it, you do it with the steering wheel center position, Toe or Castor...
http://www.nissantechnicianinfo.mobi/htmlversions/Winter_2013-14/Wheel_Alignment.html

Since a chassis will always drift to the side that has the least caster, you would think that caster, whatever the specified range, should always be set at exactly the same specification on both sides of the chassis, right? Not necessarily so! Cross caster can be used to offset the effect of road crown. Road crown is the normal slope of the road toward the outer edge of the road surface. Most road surfaces angle downward from the center of the road to divert rainwater (sometimes to the right, depending on the area, and some areas more than others do). A chassis set at zero cross caster may drive straight down a flat road but tend to drift down a road crown. However, kick in a slight amount of extra negative caster on the opposite side of the drift and the drift is canceled out.
Castor doesn't solve the the problem of the feeling the occupants have of being canted at an angle. That, and the fact that having your seat tilted down to one side for extended drive times would get uncomfortable, is why raising the ride height slightly on the right side of the car is the prevalent way the issue is addressed. Whether it's spring length, rate, a spacer or whatever, can vary maker to maker, and really doesn't matter-the end result is the same: one side is slightly higher than the other, by design.
Sponsored

 
 




Top