911T front end not level

[intheshop]

The last year my 1971 911T has been feeling less stable on the road (wandering, steering less responsive). I finally got around to replacing the poor tires with new Michelins. Yesterday, I measured the height from ground to the top of the wheel arch and found that the driver's side is 25.5" high but that the passenger side is 26.5" Hmmm... could it be a broken wheel bearing or shock? Just wonder where to start -- I would love to spend $5,000 and rebuild the entire suspension, but funds are limited. Thanks for the advice
SCOTT

[E Sully]

Of course you know you should save up a few thousand and replace all the bushings, ball joints, tie rod ends, struts, corner ballance, allignment, etc.
Till then, you can adjust at the back of the a arm. When you push down on the front end do you feel the struts damping the motion or does it bounce freely. Jack the front of the car up onto jack stands. Check the front suspension pan for rust at the front a arm mounts. Push and pull on the wheel top and bottom, and sides to check for play.

[Porboynz]

Originally Posted by intheshop

The last year my 1971 911T has been feeling less stable on the road (wandering, steering less responsive). I finally got around to replacing the poor tires with new Michelins. Yesterday, I measured the height from ground to the top of the wheel arch and found that the driver's side is 25.5" high but that the passenger side is 26.5" Hmmm... could it be a broken wheel bearing or shock? Just wonder where to start -- I would love to spend $5,000 and rebuild the entire suspension, but funds are limited. Thanks for the advice
SCOTT

After checking everything is structurally sound as Scott suggests then consider the problem. Is the passenger side too high or is the drivers side too low? Then realise that if you decide the passenger side is in fact too high, it might be because the drivers side rear is too low, allowing the front passenger side to lift because the rear torsion bar is not pushing enough weight diagonally onto that front wheel. And visa versa. If you want to avoid the whole corner balance rigmarole and adjusting of the rear torsion bars then I suggest you slightly raise the low side and slightly lower the high side, drive and then measure again. Adjust to suit and drive and measure again. If you take careful note of how many turns you make to each allen bolt adjuster you can always return everything back to where it was and start again or take it to and expert.

IMO a difference of 1" is unlikely to cause such drastic symptoms, not that it will help. I would suspect wheel alignment and toe in as the most likely cause of uncertain driveability.

I have a simple patented corner balance check process where I jack the front of the car at the very centre of the front tank support then measure the rear wheel fender heights. If they are about the same then I am happy to then move on to set the front fender heights about 15mm higher than the rear, equal left and right using just the front adjusters. Just make sure you take it for a short drive to settle everything after jacking or adjusting. The proper way involves having each wheel on an industrial scale and checking corner weights and heights, been there done that.

Oh and by the way, the shocks do not influence the ride height they restrict the rebound of the suspension. If the wheel bearings had collapsed then you would know about it.

[ClickClickBoom]

First,
Do not touch any adjustments, period. Find out the reason for the change in ride height, the fenders are a rough approximation, at best. Without a manual to outline the process of corner balancing and alignment, you will risk making it worse. These cars are not that complex, but compared to a Chevy or Dodge they have more adjustability.
Find the why, then apply the proper fix, cars and other mechanical things go out of adjustment specs for a multitude of reasons, one is user misadjustment.
I will state the difference between a hundred pounds of corner balance affects handling to a large degree and was not perceptible at the fender measurement. Plenty of ways to shade tree the cornerbalance process, but the FSM only lists one way, actual wheel weights, how you achieve them is your choice.
I will add, if you only drive at mini van speeds you can get away with just about anything, but the crisp, delightful handling qualities will not be present, and that is the essence of these cars.