Was changing the rear struts/springs in my 02 KJ Verada and noticed without the struts in the car that one wheel hub is hanging 40mm lower than the other. With new struts/springs installed, the corner that was hanging lower also has a higher ride height than the opposite side by about 20mm. I measured from both guard to hub and ground to hub with the same result.

Since this difference in ride height remained even though brand new struts and springs were installed, I'm guessing it must be some other suspension components.

Does anyone know what might cause this? Rear driver's side is the higher side if that matters (20mm higher when on the ground, 40mm higher on jack stands without struts). Front is even between sides.

You need new springs as well, springs are metal and will go "soft" after lots of abuse, eg: a "country" car will have the passengers side spring more soft than the drivers as it hits all the edge of road bumps and breakups, ie: the Drivers side will droop lower on jacks and sit higher on the ground because the metal isn't as fatigued.

Thanks for the reply, but I changed both the springs and the struts with brand new parts and the ride height difference between rear sides is still the same as it was with the old springs and struts (20mm). There is also a difference in heights between the hubs with no springs or struts in the car so I don't think it can be the springs or struts.

Don't know about rear springs....but aren't front springs longer (ie taller) on drivers side, to level it out.....given the driver is always in the car when it drives, but passengers may not be?
If the same is true at the rear, this maybe normal.

On a side note American made Kenworth frames for example, (even though made as RHD for Aus in the 70s and 80s) were actually 1/4 inch longer on LHS to make it accommodate driving on the RHS of the road crown in USA (ie built skewiff to drive straight on the right hand side of the crown)....ask anyone who has driven one in Aus (RHD) you were constantly pulling the wheel to the right to stop it going into the dirt off the shoulder, and RHS steer tyres lastest half the time of the left..... M113 APCs are built the same also.....again constantly pulling the RH lever to crab it when driving in Aus..... Manufacturers do some weird stuff sometimes !

Inspected the side with less movement and found a crack in the rubber "stopper" on the trailing arm. Could this indicate a damaged bushing or restrict movement of the suspension arms?

http://i.imgur.com/TWjz8OZ.png

Take a photo looking head on to the bolt to see if the knuckle on the arm is centered?

Thanks for the reply, but I changed both the springs and the struts

Yeah Doh! helps if I read your post properly... only other thing I can thing of is that if one of the springs hasn't seated properly it may explain a higher height/droop as the width of a spring as 10mm or so if right out of the seat.

how are the strut tops?
Where are they from? were they off your old struts? or were they on the struts you put in? Are they new? Were they installed in the same way they came out? (I think there is an alignment mark?)
The droop is limited mechanically, eg, the shock absorber will only travel out to its maximum and then no more. This is where the wheel will hang when its off the ground.
If both shocks are the same brand its probably a safe bet they both have the same height maximum travel.
However, you say it also sits higher on that one side, like the whole strut assembly is 20mm lower than its partner on the other side, that leads me to think that its not the shock or spring, so your only components left that attach it to the body are the control arms that move through a huge arc (wont be them) or the strut top that if incorrect would push it down away from the chassis (leading to the problem you have)

Oldf4g, the metal mounting brackets (or plates) are from the old struts. Those and the rubber spring pads were the only things carried over. There are new rubber strut mounts. I inspected the pair of struts/springs and they seem identical. The ends of the springs were mounted in their respective "seats" correctly and the struts were aligned properly.

If the control arms were bent or the bushes damaged on one side could that affect ride height? Bushes are original as far as I know. The car has been resprayed on one rear side so there could have been an accident before I owned it.

Struts were assembled according to this:

http://i.imgur.com/pxCOeqz.png

I'm struggling to think of any suspension component that could cause this. Ride height will be governed by spring tension/length, a bent control arm won't change this (but could affect alignment). The uneven 'hang height' with struts removed can't have anything to do with the springs, self-evidently. The only common factor I can think of is the guard itself, if one side has been resprayed is it possible one guard is sitting 40mm higher than the other? Try checking ride/hang height from a different reference point than the guard arch, such as a chassis member or strut top.

Just measured from about 5 different reference points on the chassis/crossmember on each side and they were all near identical. Ground to guard heights are also identical. Still no springs or shocks in the rear.

I assume the weights of each hub are similar so I can't see a reason for them to hang 30 or 40mm apart. There must be something restricting the movement of the suspension arms. Will have to undo a few bolts tomorrow. :confused: