another lowered rear question (long)
 

Some may remember a post earlier about why would someone lower the rear.
Well I finally get around to doing the eccentric bolt turn to raise the rear and I ran into a wierd scenario. The driver side had been lowered so I merely turned the eccentric all the way.(raising the body) This solved the problem. Car now sits like it came from the factory. Moving on to the passenger side and the eccentric bolt is already at the high side with no more adjustment yet the body is still too low. So running out of daylight I tighten it all up and put tires back on, then take it for a spin. Results: drivers side is perfect, pass side is 3/4 - 1" too low, not to mention car sits way out of level. Questions:
What would cause this? (bent torsion bar?)
Is the eccentric bolt procedure used for leveling the car also or should be moved in same side increments?
If I modify the pass side bolt or brkt. to get more adj. do you see any problem doing this?

Oh, while under there found the source of my rear bearing noise.
The axle to trans. boots are shot and you can actually see the balls of the bearings in the trans. housing. Lots of fun happening here.


Thanks in advance.
Machinist

My first guess would be a bad shock on your drivers side - the torsion bars RARELY break or bend - though it is possible that the PO was mucking with them and have them out of whack.

By bearings in your trans, do you mean your drive axles?

AFJuvat

Sorry, but I'm shock ignorant. (was never into the whole air shock, mag wheel scene in high school). You mean that a bad shock could actually cause the car to sit improperly? I thought they just eased the ride and the car would sit the same if the shocks were even removed.( aside fom air shocks).
I may need to study up on shock principles.


Yeah, the driveaxle bearings.( the first one you see when looking at where the axle goes into the transmission.

Thanks for your help.
Machinist

I would say at a minimum you need new CV boots, and chances are, new CV's as well. Do you have a Haynes manual? It isn't the best, but it does provide some useful information about a lot of the common things you canfix yourself.

Yes, a very worn/damaged shock can make the car sit oddly.

AFJuvat

Thanks.
I've got the Haynes as well as the CD manuals.
Plan on doing pretty much all but major engine work myself.
I actually like working on this car.(German engineering)
I don't need to get in a hurry because it is a 2nd vehicle, toy.

One more question:
Should I go ahead and replace rear wheel bearings while in that area? (137000 miles)

These people here are great.
Machinist

Seeing how someone tried to fudge it with the eccentric bolt i would guess that the torsion bars are indexed incorrectly.

I would not advise doing this job yourself as it is a PITA.

Sounds like you are in dier need of a corner-balancing. This is where you put a scale under each wheel and level the car out correctly. Without this and a proper alignment it is all guess work and is pretty much guaranteed to hinder the handling of the car.