Why is it still sitting low on the passeneger side

[72Z/28]

Ok guys I am having the same problem I used to have before with the old sagging leaf spirngs and stuff.. The front and rear passenger sides were sitting lower than the driver sides.

I have put new front Hotchkis springs along with Hotchkis leaf springs. I did ask the guy to tighten the leaf springs eye bolts after letting the car being fully supported by its weight.

Yet, after doing all that, I am having the same problem, the passenger sides sit lower than the driver sides.

I have not put a lot of miles on the springs yet.
I noticed long time ago when the car was on the lift that the passenger front wheel has more negative camber than the driver side, very noticeable difference.

Could this difference in camber cause the car sits lower on one side than the other?

Here are specs:from the ground to the fender lip
Front passenger: 26"
Rear passenger: 26"
Front Driver: between 26.5-26.75"(roughly)
Rear Driver: between 26.5-26.75"(roughly)
I really don't know what is going on..
Is this normal with those cars because I have seen even new cars sitting lower on one side than the other.
Your help is really appreciated.

[Project69]

I had the same problem, only it wasnt suspension related. Turns out that the driver side leaf spring perch thats welded to the rear end had more weld, causing the body to hang lower on that side which made the car seem like the suspension was sagging.

That was my problem. Also i have The same set-up from hotchkis as you but for a 69' camaro

[kp.touring]

What side of the car do you sit on when driving the car? The driver's side, that is why alot of car sit higher on the the driver's side. Engineers know that when the is being driven that it will "always" have a driver but may not have passengers. So they build in a little pre-load for the driver. Alot of the time they build the "pre-load" into the chassis, so changing spring will not remove the height difference.

Kevin

[Tom 72RS/SS]

It may also be the body bushings are getting old. I think that is the case with mine, it sits about an inch lower on the right side. Will probably change them one day when I feel like fighting rusty bolts.

[jonnyc]

almost every car/truck sits lower on the passanger side.i think kp.touring is right in saying it makes up for the weight of the driver.however the trucks that i've lowered are normally 1/4"-3/8" differance in height.not 3/4".
i would get an alignment done to make sure.to much camber can effect the ride height.
if you have access to some scales,i would have the car weighed on the four coners to see what your balance is.maybe you can shift some weight around or add a little to the drivers side to equal it out.

[brn agn]

I have similar issues with my Nova. I measured the bushings between the subframe and the body. Some had "collapsed" worse than others. After replacing the bushings, it has helped, but there is still a noticeable difference. I think I am going to get an alingment next. The idea with the scales is also good.

[72Z/28]

I have heard that too, the driver side is made to be higher than the passenger side.

As for the bushings, I have replaced all the bushings and body mounts recently.

I guess this is something I have to live with...

Thanks guys

[Gary Wells]

Imho, I don't think that the preset/preload weighted theory holds water because of the variation between the average weight of a man versus a woman driver, & some cars are family cars right out the gate & will have both front seats filled. I think a more logical reason would be worn and / or eroded body bushings, which is what it turns out to be in a lot of turboBuick Gn/GNX/T-Type "G" cars. Mine turned out to be the big 1 3/8" aftermarket rear sway bar was twisted, & caused my passanger side to lean about 3/4"-1". Some spring sets, regardless of manufacturer, are not exactly the same spring rate nor height under compression. I feel confident that if you keep looking, you will find the reason. Incorrect spring indexing on cars that have coil springs & springs not seated in their seats properly sometimes causes this problem. HTH.

[Magntik]

My 67 had always had this problem too.
When I recently put DSE leafs in I noticed that when I put the old multi leafs along the garage wall, arch was higher on one than the other.
By old I mean less than 4 yr old.
Don't know why 1 would settle more then another, but have you tried swapping side to side?

[72Z/28]

My 67 had always had this problem too.
When I recently put DSE leafs in I noticed that when I put the old multi leafs along the garage wall, arch was higher on one than the other.
By old I mean less than 4 yr old.
Don't know why 1 would settle more then another, but have you tried swapping side to side?

Well, my old springs did the same thing, lower on the passenger side. Therefore, I thought replacing the front springs and rear leaf springs with Hotchkis would take care of that, but it did not.

I have to live with it. Besides, most people have the same problem of one side sitting lower than the other. Swapping springs from side to side is a pain in the A$$..

[Texas Hotrod]

Get someone to sit in the car and then measure and see what the difference is.

I remember reading an article on alignments (Car Craft). It's best to put 200lbs of weight in the driver's seat while the adjustments are made. It may make only a minimal difference, but when perfection is needed, it does make a difference.

I think 1/2 to 3/4" is excessive. I just don't see how a performance spring set will load even close to that, just by getting in the car (unless they are soft springs). Make sure the sway bar links are ok and one isn't loaded more than the others.

When I do a street set-up, I allow 1/4" for the driver's weight and set the front 1/2" lower than the rear (with 1/2 tank of fuel). Extra gas in the tank and an extra person in the rear seat will make it squat that much, or more. I'll go as far as jacking the front of a car up 1 to 2" when setting toe-in for a drag set up (+ other little tricks).
I set my Corvette dead level with 3/4 tank. The firm springs and stiff sway bars hardly budge when getting in. There is a big difference in the stance between an empty tank and 1/2 tank (very seldom it's a full tank).