Issue with frame after being on a lift

[HWG09]

This past friday I did an oil change on my '87 Carrera.

I have a mid-rise lift in my garage with two long metal platforms covered in heavy rubber on the corners.

My car has an aftermarket body kit on the sides so I can't lift it without those being bent so I did some measuring and cut up some think wooden blocks to fit under the four corner jack points for the car.

Friday I slid the blocks in perfectly and car rose up no sweat. Probably sat on the lift for 1.5 hours and I did the oil change.

Saturday I noticed the left side on the body appears higher than the right side. Most noticeably in the rear.

I attempted to jack the car up again to do some exhaust work and my blocks would not fit in certain spots.

Now I'm worried I've messed up the suspension or frame somehow even though I used the four corners where a normal shop would lift the car.

Any thoughts or suggestions?

The car drives fine but I have a DE coming up in a few weeks and I want it to be set up properly.

[Dr J]

After lifting the body the suspension needs some time to settle back. After lifting my car to work on it and dropping it to the ground the body is always high until it settles. Drive it a bit and check it.

[porschenut]

There is no frame on a 911. It's a unit body construction. Ditto what Dr J said. Drive it about 100 feet and the suspension should settle back to where it was.

[HWG09]

Thanks guys.

This was on Friday and Saturday I drove it probably 20 miles and it's still cockeyed.

[Cairo94507]

It's not possible to bend the car by lifting it the way you have described, (assuming it is not a rusted out, rotted chassis).

[T77911S]

check the front struts and make sure one is not stuck.
I have seen them not drop down. maybe you have one in the down position.
look for something binding in the suspension.
try removing the rear lower shock bolts. perhaps a bad shock in the rear.

I doubt you twisted it.

where did you support the car

[911 Rod]

Can you push the car down on all 4 corners?

[HWG09]

Originally Posted by T77911S

check the front struts and make sure one is not stuck.
I have seen them not drop down. maybe you have one in the down position.
look for something binding in the suspension.
try removing the rear lower shock bolts. perhaps a bad shock in the rear.

I doubt you twisted it.

where did you support the car

Supported the car on the corner pads where any shop would do it. Simple oil change, nothing else.

Stuck strut maybe?

I can't quite tell if the left side is too high or the right side is too low. Leaning (pun intended) to the latter.

[HWG09]

Originally Posted by 911 Rod

Can you push the car down on all 4 corners?

Def could push down on the rear, didn't try on the front but I will when I get home.

When I went to place the blocks on the lift again on Saturday normally could just slide the block in behind the wheel to the corner point but noticed I couldn't fit it behind the wheel in the front so maybe that strut is down.

I have to flush the breaks for an upcoming DE so maybe can examine it further but not sure what all I can do to fix.

Thoughts?

[Trackrash]

If the doors still open and close correctly, there probably isn't any body/frame problem.

[HWG09]

Originally Posted by Trackrash

If the doors still open and close correctly, there probably isn't any body/frame problem.

Interestingly, when the car was on the lift I noticed the drivers door was not shutting correctly.

No issue when the car was down except now my window appears to have been dislodged a bit so going down is not smooth, like it came out of place but goes up fine. Motor is working just maybe slipped out of place.

[Driven97]

Originally Posted by HWG09

Interestingly, when the car was on the lift I noticed the drivers door was not shutting correctly.

No issue when the car was down except now my window appears to have been dislodged a bit so going down is not smooth, like it came out of place but goes up fine. Motor is working just maybe slipped out of place.

Just out of curiosity, coupe, cab, or targa?

[HWG09]

Originally Posted by Driven97

Just out of curiosity, coupe, cab, or targa?

Sorry, should've clarified that. It's a coupe.

[911 Rod]

Originally Posted by HWG09

Interestingly, when the car was on the lift I noticed the drivers door was not shutting correctly.

I've seen this before with my coupe. Not much wiggle room on the doors to begin with.

[HWG09]

I did some more inspecting tonight.

I measured the fender from the ground to the lip above the center of the wheel. Virtually all within 25 1/8 inches however when I measured the rear bumper the drivers side was one inch higher than the passenger side.

All four corners bounced fine. The car does have a previous salvage title and a body kit but this bumper issue is newer and mysterious.

Will post visual evidence when I have a chance.

[boosted79]

What caused the salvage title? Was it totaled and had to be cut apart and pieced back together or just a theft and strip but tub was ok?

[HWG09]

Originally Posted by boosted79

What caused the salvage title? Was it totaled and had to be cut apart and pieced back together or just a theft and strip but tub was ok?

Wreck on the front right two owners ago.

Was completely serviced by Dumont's of Oklahoma City for years. Have had zero issues with ride height until I got it off the lift.

Did even more measuring from center of wheel cap to ground is about 298.5mm. Manual says it should be 308mm and the center of the torsion bar should be 16mm higher +/- 5mm so I'm a bit low but it was consistent on both sides.

Here's a picture for evidence of the left side higher than the right side.

[sugarwood]

What are the odds the issue was there before you put it on the lift, and you just didn't notice?

[HWG09]

Originally Posted by sugarwood

What are the odds the issue was there before you put it on the lift, and you just didn't notice?

I mean it's definitely possible but how I'm ruling that out mostly is when I put the car on the lift I measured out the lift points on all four corners at about 3 inches apiece so I cut wood blocks to 2.75 just in case.

Friday slid the blocks in and lifted no problem.

Saturday noticed one side looked off and went to jack up car and the same blocks didn't fit.

[Neilnaz]

I had these symptoms one day. I had noticed that the car was not behaving/handling as normal especially over bumps. The car was skittish. When parked up the car had a lean to the front left (driver's side in NZ). The issue was that the driver's side shock absorber had seized.

This doesn't quite look like your issue as you state that your car springs at each corner as usual. However it is more likely that the suspension has not settled back to its normal position than any twisting of the car as you lifted the car squarely and carefully. This further supported by the fact that the car is a Coupe.

Can you investigate further whether the issue is at the front or the rear by lifting at the front - centrally then lifting at the rear centrally? If the car settles level in one instance and not in the other then you have identified the end that is askew...

Hope that helps, Neil