Car sits lower on left side

[johnvan8]

Hi all,
I just realized yesterday my '74 sits about 1 inch lower on the left front and 1/2 inch lower on left rear. It supposedly sat for 4-5 years before I bought it. Would this be from springs or shocks? (I'm kind of clueless here). I don't want to replace the wrong parts.
Thanks

[Joe Bob]

Body sag can be a LOT of things. Have you checked for rust? That would be the worst. The longitudinal that runs under the door is suseptible to the rust demons. Pull the rocker panel off and look....clean out all the accumulated crud in there and poke around with a ice pick or screw driver.

Look at the alignment of doors....IF no rust and the doors are OK....take it to an alignment shop and have the front end adjusted....depending on the shocks, they may also be the adjustable type. If not new rear springs and shocks may be needed.....

Good luck.

[murph914]

bilsteins are adjustable for ride height if you have a body twist it is one way to McGiver it to work

[Xerxez]

Hey John,
Maybe the sagging on the driver's side means that you may have to eat less at your favorite food places. (Just Kidding...)
Good to see that you are working on your 914... My car is still at the shop getting it's final-touches. Keep in touch and I'll see you when I get back from my vacation.
Xerxez

[toman]

My car is sagging a little on the right side, because I have a bad shock. The car bounces around and makes odd clunking noises when I drive it, too. Try swapping your shocks and springs from side to side and see what happens.

[retro74]

We should mate our cars becuse mine is lower on the right by 3/4" (we could raise little 914's).

So far the advice to me (from here and elsewhere) has been to:
- Swap Shocks left to right to see if it is the shock
- Go to at least 100# springs
- Check wheel camber / alignment
- Look for a twisted trailing arm
- Look for rust at the suspension mount
- Look to see if bushings are frozen
- Get adjustable shocks
- Check front torsion bar adjustment (factory spec is 90mm a-b measurement per Clymer manual). Mine was dead-on

Try this experimet:
On Level ground, jack the car from the jack pad (I use a 2x4 under it) until you can slide a piece of paper under the tire and then measure from the ground--across the center cap-- to the fender lip. Set the car down and roll it forward and backward to let the camber settle back in. Now jack the opposite side and measure the distance the same way. Mine were dead-on identical.

This indicates that the suspension points are probably OK. Go with new/used shocks and heavier springs.

Could try to jack in the middle until one tire lifts (slide paper under the tire) and then measure the exact distance of lift at the center. Repeat on opposite side after you resettle the suspension (drive forward and backward) and repeat onthe opposite side. Any difference could be sagging longitudinals from rust.

I have tried a few things on mine (1975 springs with 25,000 miles on them didn't work) and I'm going to go to 110# springs as my next step.

Joe