AZSE

ok, I've asked about this problem before. my Gsl-se is leaning on the drivers side and I've put in new springs and two of the strut spacers and I still have a problem. Any help would be great and no I'm not a heavy guy.

Thanks

bizarro

iTrader: (1)

don't know much about suspension but did you change out your struts and shocks? if they are the stock they may sag due to age...

RotaryAXer

iTrader: (4)

Struts/Shocks will have no effect on ride height.

If you have swapped the springs and strut spacers it is time to start looking for bent pieces. Alot of things could be bent or deformed to give a lower ride height on the one side. I really wouldn't know where to start though.

How much lower is it on the drivers side? Is it just an eyeball estimate or have you measured from the wheel centers to the fender lip to confirm the difference.

DAVID GRIMES

Have you thought of making it a circle track racer ?

DAVID GRIMES

Have you thoughr of making it a circle track racer ?

You could convert it to RHD ?

NewRXr

ANY HELP? Ok, put the battery in the passenger side storage bin. It will take a bunch of wieght of the left front. LOL.

Hey it worked for me, but new springs fixed it first. I just didn't want to have it happen again.

Seriously look hard at your D/S strut tower (the inner fender) it is a supporting part of the chassis and could be folding in with age, wear, corrosion. Look at the joints of the tower with the rest of the body, look for cracks and or creases. Have a collision repair body shop put it on a good frame machine and check it out. You might have to get it bent back out, welded, and then throw a strut tower brace on it to help hold it there.

Vernon

AZSE

Thanks, for all the info it is about and inch off from the pass side and yes all new struts and shocks. can a rear watt link cause this problem?

RotaryAXer

iTrader: (4)

Yes, that could cause an issue. If a link is bent it could very easily pose an issue.

Kentetsu

Any chance that the suspension is binding somewhere? Also, are the springs on the passenger side properly seated?

diabolical1

iTrader: (3)

i am holding my breath right now because i came home this weekend to find my car doing the same thing now and considering that it was not that way when i left it here, and it hasn't been driven in months, i'm very afraid!

i miss driving my car life truly sucks ...

pimpncuba

mine is doing the same thing. post any updates if someone finds what is causing the problem with their car

peejay

All RX-7s lean to the left a bit...

The problem is twofold. First, the left side of the car has the battery, the steering mechanism, and the fuel tank. The right side has... the heater box and the exhaust system. Aftermarket exhaust systems tend to eb a lot lighter than the nuclear-grade overkill that Mazda used, so the right side sits higher.

Also, I noticed something else on my '85. I was measuring spring installed height. Left side has a noticeable lean. Spring height on both sides was *the same*. The body itself, therefore, is "twisted", or asymmetrical. Probably someone goofed up down in Hiroshima when spec'ing panel shapes or welding points. This actually is not uncommon. Further insight is that every FB I've seen has a bit of a lean, while every SA I've seen did not. Mazda did some somewhat significant bodyshell changes between Series 1 and the Series 2/3, so the error probably crept in there. These sorts of things occur when you mass-produce on a budget.

rxseven07

maybe you just need to lose weight

rotor vs. piston

I would check your control arms first. They may be a little tweaked, though I can't imagine you not noticing when you did your struts. Also check that the torsean bars are adjusted properly-that will affect your hight as well.

peejay

Control arms won't affect ride height - they're not supporting the weight of the car.

Torsion bars??? Hmm, maybe I stumbled into the Mopar forum by mistake.

- Pete (or maybe the aircooled VW forum?)

85rotarypower

I call BS on this comment. Shocks and struts DO have a small effect on ride height. I know from experience. When I changed out my rear shocks on my car, i first took the shocks out and let the car down to seen what would happen, just for ***** and giggles. The car was noticeably lower in the back end. I even measured the before and after and there was a deffinate difference. Shocks do have a certain amount of push to them. Why do you think they extend when you take them off the car? It doesn't take a whole lot of pressure to raise the car up a 1/2 inch. Just lift up on the back end and see how much it takes to raise it a little. Its not much.

Feds

Yeah, shocks/struts will affect ride height.

as for the lean, go over your suspension, corner weight the car, and try and see if the suspension pickup points are tweaked. To do this, find the flattest surface you can, and measure from the ground to the pickup points (where susp. attaches to body). This will help you find the root of the problem.

diabolical1

iTrader: (3)

you're absolutey right. all of my Rx-7s have leaned a bit to the left. i never gave it much thought before. reading your post, i guess it makes sense.

however, my car was NOT leaning before as much as it was when i saw it this past weekend. i know my rear shocks were shot (since i bought the car 4 years ago ) so i immediately started to wonder if the left one just completely depressurized in the heat here. that was what prompted me to come and search a bit on this topic.

i saw the rust comment and freaked! i'll check for rust the next time i get to go home.

diabolical1

iTrader: (3)

now that's just plain, ol' funny ****!

RotaryAXer

iTrader: (4)

A damper by definition should not exert any force unless it is in motion. The intent is that they are a transient spring and only exert a force if they are in motion. A gas charged damper will more than likely exert some force while static. This should be a very negligable contributor to ride height though.

On a strut I guess it is very possible that it will effect ride height. Not the shock/damper part of the stut though. The strut body supports the spring. If one strut has a spring perch that is slighlty higher or lower than the other it is quite possible that you will notice a difference in ride height. However, on the RX-7 you replace only the shock/damper part and not the entire strut.

Kentetsu

Umm, you know when you get a new shock, and it has that big plastic strap on it holding the "piston" in? When you cut that strap, have you ever tried to compress the shock again by hand? Takes quite a bit of effort.

So, based on that I would have to say that if you had one good shock and one bad one, you would probably see a difference in ride height...


Another possible cause could be a bent swaybar.....

Feds

You're right and wrong and right at the same time.

In theory, a damper should have no effect on ride height, but, like you said, the gas-charged-ness of modern dampers means that they do exert a vertical force which contributes to static load, and therefore ride height.

stilettoman

iTrader: (1)

I have not read any posts here suggesting any intellingent approach to your problem.

To determine what is going on, put the car on level, flat surface, and using a floor jack under the differential, raise the rear tires off the floor. Now you can see what the front suspension is doing to the lean angle. Measure it carefully, then lower the jack.

Next measure a center point on the front crossmember, put the floor jack there and raise the front tires off the ground. This will reveal what the rear suspension is doing to the lean angle.

With the information you now have, it should be just a process of elimination. You can disconnect the front and/or rear sway bars and quickly determine if they are causing any effect - very unlikely. If you think the Watts link is suspect, disconnect one of its links.

An alignment shop can quickly tell you if the chassis has any twist from a previous accident. I have rebuilt a lot of first gen RX-7 wrecks over the years, and I can tell you that if you get the chassis within 1/8 inch of being straight (no twist), it will drive just fine. The comment about the guys in Hiroshima not building the car straight is absurd.

www.cardomain.com/ride/646433

RotaryAXer

iTrader: (4)

So this all really boils down to the fact that you guys are refering to gas charged shocks and I am not.

The shocks I play with are Tokico Illuminas and Rancho adjustables for my truck. These are quite easy to compress by hand and niether come shipped with a plastic strap holding the piston in.

Gas charged shocks exert a force in their static position. This is not ideal and in all reality is a cheap way for shock manufacturers to give the customer what they want...a stiffer ride. It is not the shocks job to give the car a stiffer ride. It has become a common misconception that to have a car that handles well you need the stiffest shock possible. This really couldn't be further from the truth. As your get higher in damping coefficient you really get to point where the car can become unpredictable. It may do one thing a steady state sweeper and completely different things in transitions. An underdamped car is just that. It will wallow and bounce around but it is at least predictable. An overdamped car will be brutal to drive on anything but the smoothest surfacaes. So how is that a problem. Well, say you are in some pretty quick transitions. You will be able to load and unload the tires a lot faster than on an underdamped car. This means that you will more than likely be able to lift tires off the ground in these quick transitions. Once a tire is off the ground it is contributing nothing and you can't accelerate at the peak pontential. (keep in mind acceleration is a change in velocity and velocity is a speed in a given direction...a change in either direction or speed is an acceleration)

I have never and don't plan to ever buy gas shocks. If I need a higher spring rate I will get a different spring with a higher rate that is predictable and consistant for the life of the spring. My shocks will be tuned according to the spring rate to give a comfortable, controlled and predictable ride and handling.

stilettoman

iTrader: (1)

Some of us buy gas filled shocks because the best quality shocks for a reasonable price seem to be gas shocks. I am not an expert on shock design, but it has always been my understanding that the main purpose of the pressure is to minimize foaming of the oil under hard use.

And yes, it can definitely affect ride height, especially if you lose the pressure on one side.