adyw

adyw

Member
Gents, so I've got a 1986 defender 90, chassis and suspension all new a few years ago, I've suddenly notices the rear passenger side body, ( roof to ground) is approximately 35mm lower than the drivers side, making it look a little off.
Rear passenger roof to floor 178cm, Drivers roof to floor 181.5cm

I fitted a new pair of rear springs which cured it for about a day. ( and yes i fitted them in the correct sides)
I can't see any fluid leak from the rear shocks.
Nothing heavy on the inside of the car to cause this.
Fuel tank is half full ( drivers side) so this would help if nothing else.
The front is level, no difference

But before I go down the expensive change the rear shocks out, just wondering if there is another obvious reason for this.
 
Why do you think it is the shocks? Are they gas shocks? Do they expand on their own or are they oil filled and stay static? If the latter they won’t impact ride height.
 
Have you measured the bodywork between top of arch and roof...and chassis spring mounts to level ground with correct tyre pressures all round?
 
I had the same issue on my 110 around 18 years ago, all new stuff too. I fitted 2 drivers side springs on the rear and job jobbed.
Might have been 2 passenger I forget but they all need replacing again now and I'll do the same again for the rear. I remember paddocks ringing me up to question my order as they thought I'd made a mistake online.
 
I would measure centre of the wheel to the wheel arch moulding. Tyres would need to be all the same if measured from the floor.
 
adyw said:
So I,ve got standard height terrafirams,
Click to expand...
Tbh I don’t know what type of shock they are. You could just undo the bottom mount on each shock and move them out from the axle. That will tell you if the shocks are causing the lean or not.
 
So I've just got the tape measure out.

Passenger side drivers side
tyre height 78.0cm 78.5cm
tyre to bodywork 17.0cm 18.5cm
floor to arch 85.0cm 87.5cm
floor to mid body work join 124.0cm 127.0cm
floor to top of roof guttering 178.5cm 181.5cm

so it must be in the suspension somewhere as the body is an inch higher to start with.

any thoughts anyone.
 
As @300bhp/ton says disconnect the shocks. I have known damaged one jam in the middle of its movement.
If still different it has to be a spring issue, a bit broken off or just gone weak.
 
Obviously also check that the springs are seated correctly in both mounts and that the axle end one hasn’t rotted away.
 
So got under the car with a tape measure. Straight away found what I think is the issue. Passenger shock is compressed 30mm more than the drivers. Now this could be the fact the drivers spring is longer. But surely the extra weight on the drivers side would even them out.
 
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