Corner balancing - appearance issue

Deschodt · 08-21-2006, 06:23 AM

Guys,

I recently got my car new shocks, bushing, lowered and corner balanced... The handling is pretty good, but I can't help but noticing the rear left corner looks lower than the rear right...

Can that be a consequence of getting the weights right ? It's pretty noticeable, about 3/4 of an inch difference from rear fender lip to ground, side to side.

Now, if this is an either-or situation, I'll take good handling vs. a square look, but I was wondering if there is something that can be done to have your cake and eat it too - balanced and more or less level !

I suppose I'll take it back to get it rechecked next week, but I'd like to get some opinions on the subject before I show up clueless and get bull****ted by the shop !
Thanks !

bkreigsr · 08-21-2006, 06:35 AM

Its not unusual for the ride heights to be off while the corner weights are within spec.
Has your chassis ever been in a shunt?
And yes, there is probably a middle ground that will bring the car close to acceptable, appearance-wise.
Remember, that every adjustment done to one corner will effect the other three.
Bill K

Dueller · 08-21-2006, 06:48 AM

Not that unusual when you consider that most often the left rear carries the most weight with the driver seated. Thus to lighten that wheel you take the weight off of it by lowering that corner.

I guess I'd start by asking the shop for a copy of the corner weights...or to scale it again with you sitting in the car. Keep in mind that it likely will not be the same from side to side (i.e., RR=LR weights and RF=LF wieghts). The critical measurement are cross weights; i.e. RR + LF weight= LR + RF weight.

stlrj · 08-21-2006, 07:05 AM

The 3/4" difference in rear fender lip height is most likely due to insufficient care while indexing the rear trailing arms. There could be as much as 1 degree difference between the left and right which is the reason corner balancing is so critical although unnecessary if indexing is carried out with extreme care.

Cheers,

Joe

Deschodt · 08-21-2006, 07:33 AM

I don't think the chassis has been in a shunt but I remember the mechanic asking the same question because he said something about having trouble adjusting one corner, I bet that's the one !

I asked him later if he did see any trace of an accident, he said "nah, one corner was was just a pain for some reason but I got it". I'll take it back and see what we can do, it's not a huge deal, I just wanted to hear from you guys if agood corner weight job could lead to lelvel issues, and why... Thanks for that !

RaceProEngineer · 08-21-2006, 07:34 AM

Hi Greg,

The first thing we would do is get the car on a perfectly level surface. Then jounce the suspension on all 4 corners to make certain nothing is binding. Then check the ride height in the rear by measuring from the (perfectly level) ground surface to the bottom of each torsion bar cover. This is a much more accurate indicator of ride height than referencing the body.

Still 3/4 inch difference?

We know nothing about the shop which did this work for you, but it has become popular for average alignment shops to say " We also corner balanced your car " without having the slightest idea what that might mean! So here Dueller's advice is golden: ask them for a print-out of the corner weights as they are right now. Ask also if they ballasted the driver area for your weight. Many of us on this board can tell quite a bit from that. Post the results.

Ed LoPresti