Miata rear ride height....

mrvette

Phantom of the Opera
Joined
Mar 24, 2008
Messages
15,207
Location
NE Florida
Got a weird problem I have more or less put to bed on the wife's Miata....it's a used '91 I picked up for her last Feb....silly car is clean in and out except for the left front fender, but that's just cosmetic....all the seams and welds and panels are straight and NOT RUSTED, NO evidence of the car being in any severe accident....here is the weird part....

the thing has good ride height in front...side to side...fine...shocks good, suspension/steering tight....the rear is a IRS with struts, and upper/lower A arms....diffy couples to the tranny with that C channel like a C4 uses....

very straightforward design, simple as can BE.....except one thing....

the PASS/right rear side rides about 1.5 inches higher than the driver's side...

I fucked with it last spring, and even switched struts, and nothing, still high in the right.....looks like the car taking a piss or something, really stupid....keep in mind, the front rides equal height.....tells me the body is racked somehow...but I find NO DAMAGE signs anywhere....so??

doors and panels line up ok, convertible top on driver's window don't fit for shit, but I call that a canvas problem not a DOOR problem

I even tried another set of struts, and still nothing....so I have cut almost TWO COILS out of the pass side strut to get the thing to ride even...which is does NOW....

anyone any clues???

:crap::bonkers:
 
just my opinion but simply cutting coils is not fixing the problem, there must be a reason why the rear is not level.... strange that the front is level and the rear is 1.5" different. Lowering the right rear by that much should lift the front left ... not ?
 
just my opinion but simply cutting coils is not fixing the problem, there must be a reason why the rear is not level.... strange that the front is level and the rear is 1.5" different. Lowering the right rear by that much should lift the front left ... not ?

NOPE, in fact it seems to lower the pass front maybe 1/4 inch, which makes some sense....Miata folks suggested the sway bar at fault....can't see it...seems fine....no twist or other influences to it...side to side....



thing that amazes ME, is that this is obviously a Florida inland car, for some ~18 years now, and obviously garage kept...been repainted, I know...overspray...the fender is toast, but having trouble finding a cheep replacement in junkyards here....shit, I can buy a NEW one of the net for 120 bux....truth be known...if I was 6" shorter, I B driving a Miata...damn thing is FUN to drive....even Linda get a grin, and she is NOT a car person....

:bonkers:

makes me think someone went over a berm and racked the structure, but then the doors and welds would not appear straight...it IS unibody after all....

:sweat:
 
I would measure floor to frame height on both sides with wheels on ground. Lift car remove wheels and then use blocks to shim up rear hub from gound until you get same frame height (similates car with wheels on it). You can then measure each side to the bump stops, fender height and look for something differentside to side.
 
I would measure floor to frame height on both sides with wheels on ground. Lift car remove wheels and then use blocks to shim up rear hub from gound until you get same frame height (similates car with wheels on it). You can then measure each side to the bump stops, fender height and look for something differentside to side.

Got another project right now....going to do that with jackstands and see what is home...but from what I can see with stand in the typical positions...i'ts nothing...all the suspension looks normal...

I going to get another pair of eyes to look....also....

:D:friends:
 
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