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ZS 180 sits lower on drivers side

960 views 14 replies 5 participants last post by  LFrosty  
#1 ·
My 180 is about 10-15mm lower on the driver's side than the passengers side. I've had a look over the components and everything looks in good order.

Top mounts look fine, bushes look fine, and control arms look fine. The only thing I can think is that the coil spring has worn out and compressed a little, but I have never heard of this before. Is it likely?

The only other thing worth mentioning is that I loosened and tightened the lower control arm bushes a while back. I pinched them up with the front on axle stands, jacked the drivers side wheel until it took the weight, and then torqued the bolts.

Is this correct, or should I have jacked both wheels to take strain off the anti roll bar?

Thanks for any assistance or guidance.
 
#4 ·
Is only normal for this to happen if the car is driven with no passengers regularly. ZS's are becoming old cars nowadays. Is only natural for the drivers side shock absorber, the side that carries the most weight, to wear out more quickly than the passenger side. My 45 had almost an inch of lean on the drive side before I fitted coilovers
 
#5 ·
Yes most of the time it was driven with just the driver. Couple this to the fact it was parked on a gentle slope and I guess these are the causes.

I'll order up some new springs and then get the alignment checked.

Cheers for your help.
 
#7 ·
From a breakers you mean, or somewhere else?

The shock has no signs of bouncing or leaking so I think it's in good health. I always worry a bit with stuff from the breakers as it could be in worse condition than the one you took off :)
 
#10 ·
This is not unheard of. My 180 has the passenger rear wheel arch about an inch higher than all the others and there is nothing wrong.

I fitted some coil overs and it didn't make any difference. sometimes its down to how they were built
 
#11 ·
This is not unheard of. My 180 has the passenger rear wheel arch about an inch higher than all the others and there is nothing wrong.

I fitted some coil overs and it didn't make any difference. sometimes its down to how they were built
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coilovers are adjustable, so you can lower/raise the ride height accordingly... so if your car was still not sitting flat then you probably didn't adjust your coilovers correctly, or adjust them at all?

:facepalm:

after hours of tweaking mine sits flat, just not quite low enough yet...
 
#12 ·
So yesterday I changed the spring on the lower side, checked everything over thoroughly, reset the suspension bushes, and the ride height is still the same. It has now got me wondering if the other side is too high instead of the driver's side being too low. Perhaps a previous owner had something done and the bushes were torqued up with it in the air?

Could someone with a ZS 180 mk1 please measure their front ride height on both the driver and passenger side and post them up?

Ideally the measurements should be taken from the bottom of the wheel arch to the centre of the wheel to take wheel and tyre size out of the equation.