drooping on one side
Discussion
I've had my 1986 350i for just over a year and it's always been riding low on the drivers side, by about 1 1/2 inches. I've replaced all the springs, shocks, and front bushes (rears look OK), plus checked all the body mounts, all to no avail. Following a search on here I saw some wedges had/have a couple of 1/4 inch thick rubber sheets installed between the spring mount and the spring on the offside rear - in desperation I tried that today and now it's nice and level!
Now I'm confused on two counts; firstly why does 1/2 inch of rubber on one side at the rear seem to translate to 1 1/2 inches at the wheels on the front; secondly what's the reason for this in the first place?
And what do I do now? Leave it with the rubber or go for adjustable platform rear shocks?
Martin
Now I'm confused on two counts; firstly why does 1/2 inch of rubber on one side at the rear seem to translate to 1 1/2 inches at the wheels on the front; secondly what's the reason for this in the first place?
And what do I do now? Leave it with the rubber or go for adjustable platform rear shocks?
Martin
The reason for it could be 2 fold, 1st one being to damp the spring from banging on the mount. The 2nd is to do exactly what you have just done, to level up the corners, diagonally.
No doubt you had tried equalling the front corners by jacking up the low corner and the high corner goes up with it.
Now it needs to stay in there, it is doing its job of leveling the car. TiVs are not the squarest of chassis (what is the plural of chassis) and its not unknown to find packing in the strangest of places that no one else has, or someone has and you don't.
No doubt you had tried equalling the front corners by jacking up the low corner and the high corner goes up with it.
Now it needs to stay in there, it is doing its job of leveling the car. TiVs are not the squarest of chassis (what is the plural of chassis) and its not unknown to find packing in the strangest of places that no one else has, or someone has and you don't.
Adjustable platforms shocks won't help, at least not if you want equal springing on each side. If you jack up one corner to level the car using the spring platform, you'll have more preload on that spring than on the other side so the cornering will be interesting, let alone the straight-line ride.
My Esprit had rear AVOs with adjustable platforms; some previous owner had wound the preload up so far that the damn car looked like a dragster, had the worst ride imaginable.
My Esprit had rear AVOs with adjustable platforms; some previous owner had wound the preload up so far that the damn car looked like a dragster, had the worst ride imaginable.
I think you're right Henry, having thought about it I think that both the body and chassis must be out of line somehow giving the strange geometry and response. It's ride/handling's never been satisfactory so far, particularly a strange corkscrewing motion over motorway irregularities; so it'll be interesting to see what it's like when I've done all the other little jobs and got it back on the road!
The reason why the difference is amplified is because:
a) some of the sheets are nearer the centre line (e.g. the boot ones)
b) when one side squashes, the other side gets unloaded
c) you are sitting on the drivers side but mostly don't have a passenger (sorry to be blunt!)
Sorry to hear you wasted all that money on suspension parts when it turned out to be something so simple though...
a) some of the sheets are nearer the centre line (e.g. the boot ones)
b) when one side squashes, the other side gets unloaded
c) you are sitting on the drivers side but mostly don't have a passenger (sorry to be blunt!)
Sorry to hear you wasted all that money on suspension parts when it turned out to be something so simple though...
The Hatter said:
particularly a strange corkscrewing motion over motorway irregularities
A while back mine was doing exactly that, quite alarmingly! It turned out that it needed new rear bushes and outer bolts (they had worn thin!), and driveshaft u.j.s plus a rear wheel bearing on one side.It goes in a straight line now, but it's heights are also wonky and the boot lid panel gap uneven, so reading this thread with interest!
wild rover said:
Spoke to the fellow who built the wedges at the BNG he told me that most chasis were out of line at the factory.This was addressed by placing a thicker rubber mount under one of the front springs.
There was a magazine article a good few years back about the building of Lamborghinis. Their space-frame chassis all come out twisted or bent to some degree; the solution was a 12-foot scaffold bar and six burly Italians (complete with flat caps and fags) jumping on it 
Thought I'd update this topic. I've now been driving the car for quite a while with the 1/2" of rubber on the offside rear spring mount and the car is transformed. It tracks beautifully on the motorway, sits nice and level and handles the same on left and right hand bends. Seems like simple solutions are sometimes the best.
It feels underdamped at the front on speed humps but fine on normal roads (it has new std armstrong shocks); I guess there weren't many speed humps around in 1986...
It feels underdamped at the front on speed humps but fine on normal roads (it has new std armstrong shocks); I guess there weren't many speed humps around in 1986...
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