Adjusting rear sway bar

[bnam]

I'm trying to figure out what's causing my ar to sit 1/2" lower on the drivers side left and consequently 1/2" higher on front right.

One thing I had noticed that I'd like to eliminate is the rear sway bar setting.

The left side is adjusted higher than the right. Are these meant to be adjusted evenly?

Left rear (see 3 of threads below the lock nuts)

Right rear (fewer threads)

Thx!

Byas

[c.d.iesel]

anti sway bar does not adjust ride height -

look to your coil springs - sagged or different length

from cutting

look to the top rubber cushion - 3 different thickness

look to your control arms being bent or rusted and bending

look to body work done in the area of the top spring housing

in the wheel well

[bnam]

Thx. But, should the adjustment be even?

The spacers are both 2-dot. Springs don't appear to be cut. Control arms look clean - though the left side one was replaced with a non-tii so something did happen in the past. The subframe strap on the left is slightly kinked (but just the lip rather than the entire strap).

The shocks were replaced with Bilstein HDs at some point -- don't know if all the parts were reinstalled.

Byas

[Mike87]

The adjustment might be uneven because the sway bar is bent. Those sway bar end links should be tightened with the car sitting on the tires. (i.e. with the full weight on the ground). But like CD said, a sway bar does not effect ride height.

[nbcbird]

Back to basics--are the sway bar mounting bolts and spacer sleeves the same length? Can't tell exactly but the bar looks different (bent) from R and L sides. For ride height, what about the subframe bushings?

[c.d.iesel]

so maybe the uneven ride height between corners

is a result of something wrong/uneven in the front springs, strut

tubes - - - kinda hard to see from here

[allbim]

While it is true that you cannot adjust the ride height with a sway bar, you can raise one corner (and thereby lower the diagonally opposite) by twisting the bar.

Sway bars should be installed with the car on level ground and adjusted so there is no load at the bar after installation. Failing to do that will mess up the corner-weights and can cause strange handling.

[TobyB]

yes, your rear sway links should be the same.

yes, you CAN adjust corner height with sways. But they'd have to be a LOT bigger than 2002 sways.

no, you shouldn't. Unless you REALLY know what you're doing. It can negatively AFFECT your handling.

no, the rear sway won't EFFECT a 1/2" ride height change without about

a 3" difference side- to- side.

I'd look at the springs- the rears sag over time, and it's pretty normal for

them to sag more on the driver's side. But anything's possible.

I'd start with the springs, and also look at bushings and stuff while I was at it.

hth

t

[M3M3]

allbim and toby covered it nicely. +2

[bnam]

I may have been mistaken or something has changed...

The last time I had measured the stance had been about 4-5 weeks ago - a few weeks after I got the car. That was when I noticed it was slightly off.

Today I measured again, this time with pics..

Back right

Back left

Front left

Front right

It sits all square. I bounced it around and remeasured but it was pretty much the same -- rears @ 23.5 and fronts at 24.25.

The only thing I had done in the interim wrt to suspension was replace the 10yr old tires, clean out the suspension and underbody and put 5-600 miles on the car.

Perhaps some bushings or shocks that were a bit sticky got freed up with the cleaning and/or usage?

One more item off the snag list.

B