A little low on the driver side.

Speedfreak

Active Member
Every now and then when looking at my car I have sometimes thought she seems a little low on the driver side at the rear. Took out the trusty tape measure today finally and I measure from the middle of the rear wheel arch down to the ground. She is sitting approximately 2 cm lower on the driver-side. Therefore two questions. One, is this something to be concerned about, or do the older cars often sit
lopsided with age, and two, am I right in thinking it’s the rear springs & associated shims that dictate ride height?
 
Check for broken spring. I have a bunch of factory shims, thick and thin, if you require them send me a PM and we can work something out.
 
Hi Cobraboy, many thanks for that, I will get it round to a friend of mine who has a ramp at some point so we can have a good look, I tried to have a look on my drive at home and couldn’t see anything. Need to get on with it quickly as the council will be gritting the roads round here soon and then the car can’t go anywhere. Thanks again.
 
Try measuring from the wheel arch to the centre of the hub as this removes the tyres and road surface from the equation and may be more accurate.

I remember some manufacturers had slightly different spring lengths on opposite sides of the car to compensate for road camber and ensure the car would run level. Don't know if our Rovers had this but someone on here will know.
 
On the P6 Rover never speced different springs for right & left sides, something they did do with the Land Rover. Instead, they used spring shims to level the car. I discovered this when I noticed that an extra LH front shim was called for if a series 1 2000 had air conditioning.

For the case here, it is likely the spring isn't broken but has fatigued and taken a set. I'm facing the same situation on my 69 TC.

Yours
Vern
 
I have a similar problem but at the front. Near side is 20mm higher than drivers side even with the a/c compressor fitted - the near side top link that's inside the spring is pointing down whilst the drivers side top link points horizontally. Any thought how to fix? Do you add or remove shims to lower the car ? Whilst doing the car all appears good with handling & ride comfort.
 
They aren't all shimmed. There were however varying springs fitted (but in sets of two). measure the back as well as the front and ensure only the factory stuff is in the boot (like spare wheel etc). Check ALL the rubber connections, particularly the top link mounting rubbers. Also check the shock absorbers are working and not stiff. Check if they are gas filled type as a leak will cause one side to ride high if they are. See if you can see a paint stripe on the springs. if so it should be the same colour on both sides of car. If not, count the coils, they should be the same. You won't notice bad ride and handling till things are really bad or you fix it up because the Normal ride is very good and the car is very tolerant of worn or damaged bushes.
 
They aren't all shimmed. There were however varying springs fitted (but in sets of two). measure the back as well as the front and ensure only the factory stuff is in the boot (like spare wheel etc). Check ALL the rubber connections, particularly the top link mounting rubbers. Also check the shock absorbers are working and not stiff. Check if they are gas filled type as a leak will cause one side to ride high if they are. See if you can see a paint stripe on the springs. if so it should be the same colour on both sides of car. If not, count the coils, they should be the same. You won't notice bad ride and handling till things are really bad or you fix it up because the Normal ride is very good and the car is very tolerant of worn or damaged bushes.
Thanks for that info - will do the checks over the next few weeks. Thanks again
 
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