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Am trying to diagnose a problem before having a dealer try to rip me off. I have an '04 EX Coupe, still under warranty, however I don't want the dealer to just tell I have an alignment problem that I have to pay for.

The car sits lower on the left side than it does the right. My first question, how is the most accurate way to determine ride height. I measured the wheel well gap between the fender/wheel well and the actual tire, and the left side gap is almost .5" lower than the right side. You can almost see the car tilting over while sitting on flat ground.

What is strange, is that the car actually pulls to the right a little bit while driving.

Has anyone had experience with this? Do I have a bad shock or spring in the left front? Not sure it is anything major, as the car really doesn't drive that bad, but shouldn't the car be sitting straight?

I had a service man tell me that certain differences in height between the right and left can be within tolerance and shouldn't affect anything. But that doesn't make too much sense to me, how can that not affect how a car steers?

 
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Yes, I've checked the tire pressures and they are right on spec. I'll try to measure it again from the center of the wheel though.

On a side note, are there situations where something is only "slightly" wrong with a spring or shock? It seems like if there is a problem with one of those parts, you definately would know it (such as a fluid leaking, a strange noise, a severe pull, etc.).

 
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http://www.7thgencivic.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=231292

Sides are normally different. If it is only .5" there is no problem. As far as the pulling, get an alignment.

 
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The left side weighs more than the right because of the gas tank and the motor. Its normal. Align the car.

 
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Thanks for the info. I still wish it sat straight though - although a very logical explanation (car weighs more on that side with driver and engine), wouldn't you think Honda would have accounted for this? To me, it is noticeable, it damn near looks lowered on the left side.

I called a dealer and they were willing to look at it. Wonder if they would replace front struts for me under warranty?

Oh, and Boilermaker1...did you go to Purdue (IN) at some point? That is where I graduated from. I knew a lot of people there that worked on their Hondas, in particular a few brothers from Valparaiso. The older brother had a '95 vic that had everything, haven't talked to him in awhile but I've seen his name online, he was really into suspension performance too, races autocross, and wins frequently in the league he's in. I hung out mostly with his younger brother, he had a '95 GSR with turbo and just about everything else. Have never been in a Honda of any kind that pulled as hard as that car did. I would love to drop the 1.8 DOHC in my 04 EX, ever heard of anyone doing that (would it fit)? It seems like you'd be able to find one of those motors cheap these days, they're getting kind of old now.

 
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The left side front sits lower even without the driver in the car due to the difference in weight on each side.I noticed it on mine a long time ago.I parked on level concrete and measured from the edge of the fender to the lip of the wheel sure enough it was lower on the left side.I never knew why until someone covered the weight issue in a thread a while back.

 
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Yes, BSME 05, thank god I got out of that hell hole and back to civilization.

Anyways, the B18 swap into an 04 is illegal
and you can level the car with a set of coilovers.

 
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would it be bad if i have coilovers and just lowered the right side to match the left side? does that affect any type of handling or something?

 
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This is a joke right?

 
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no seriously...is it a dumb question? sorry i mean only like a few threads lower. Like if i lower the left side 2 threads, i'll lower the right side 3-4 threads. but no this is a SERIOUS question

 
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i'm just wondering, so if you feel as if this is a stupid question then you do'nt have to asnwer it

 
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Well what are you intending to do? It reads like you're trying to install coils on the left side and not the right. Which would quite possibly be the most idiotic thing in the history of rice rockets.
Now on the other hand, a fully installed set of coilovers can be installed to any level, and setting the car level side to side is part of the adjustment process.
Honda's screw up is it appears they didn't account for the left/right weight bias considering that it would show up so significantly due to the soft stock springs.
This was on a TSB that the left side sag was normal.

 
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no, i already have tein coilover installed on my car for over a year. I just wanted to know if i can just lower the left side by 2-3 threads lower than the right side just to make all of the SIDES even. My car is already lowered and i just hate that it sits uneven. I jsut want to know if i were to lower the right side a LITTLE lower than the right side, jsut enough to match up the height, is that going to affect anything...