Car leans to the driver side

[DelTASteve]

Yes, I know that it is supposed to a little bit according the the 1000 Already Asked and Answered Questions. However, the lean on mine seems to be worse then it did a few days ago, and I am wondering if I have done any sort of damage.

What happened a few days ago was that I was going down a road at about 55 MPH, when I hit a bump. The entire car shook, and the change flew out of the ash tray. Yes, I know, why did you hit the bump? Well, I did, and now I want to know if this could have caused the car to lean. I am running on coilovers, so could I have knocked them loose, or possibly bent something?

The car makes no new noises, vibrations, and there is no change in the turning. I am completely clueless here, any help is GREATLY appreciated.


Thanks Alot,
Steve

 

[justin0469]

Could have just knocked your alignment off.

Do you mean your car is tilted or pulls to one side if you let go of the wheel

 

[turbo2g111]

Well, you wouldn't have bent your coilovers. They're built to handle a lot, more than just hitting a bump at 55 mph. If you screwed up your suspension too much, you would be able to feel it in your car's handling. Also, if you knocked something loose you would probably be able to hear it knocking around if as you went over other (though less severe) bumps in the road. As justin said, go for a test drive to see if your alignment is off. Find a nice straight road and go straight down it and take your hands off the wheel to see if your car pulls. It could also just be in your head, knowing that you could have done something and you notice it more now. Tell us more about your handling.

 

[MyBeatGSX]

Maybe you should just loose weight.


What kind of coilovers are you running? Something good or just ebay crap? You could have blown out the damper on that side (interally or externally). And yes its just as likely you could have bent the mounting bracket or body.

However this all depends what you're running. First off, are these "coilovers" or actual coilovers. By that I mean are they just that RActive adjustable spring crap or are they real coilovers that include a shock body etc. The second important thing is the brand. Are these Ebay flee bag coilovers or are they Teins, Koni's, etc?

Obviously its very likely you broke something if you're running cheap junk. If you have expensive real coilovers then you should probably start looking at other things.

 

[DelTASteve]

Yea, I am a little big, and by big, I mean 6'3" at 198 LBS.

Anywho, I do believe they are AGP, but I could be mistaken. It does appear to be leaning a LOT less now that I don't have it parked where it was last night. I am going to check the alignment when I take it out today, and probally take a picture of it on flat ground to see if it is just me.

Thanks Alot,
Steve

 

[MyBeatGSX]

You had it parked on a 60* hill with the drivers door on the low side didn't you? I think that right there explains your problem.

Don't feel bad. I've parked facing up a steep hill and wondered why my car was getting such bad gas mileage.

 

[DelTASteve]

Well, if you really must know, I reinflated the tires, and the lean was CONSIDERABLY less. I would love to take pictures for you guys, but my DSM is currently in the shop.

It started two nights ago, when I went to go rent some movies. My car got stuck in reverse, I had my foot all the way down on the clutch, and the shift would not budge. I turned off the car, and then realized that the clutch pedal was all the way on the floor, and was not coming back up. Ok, I pulled the clutch pedal off the floor, started her back up, and everything seemed normal. I spent the night at a friends house, since we had a really bad storm, just in case something was wrong with my car, I wouldn't be stuck in the middle of nowhere. We went to work the next day, and the clutch seemed REALLY light. I put almost no effort into putting the pedal on the floor. Ok, I still have to get to work, gas isn't free, ya'know? Came out, and it had begun to rain again. We ran to my car, hopped in, I started it up, and it made some hellish squealing noises, all the way back to his house. Again, I did not want to try and make it home, espically since it actually got stuck in gear, and I had to turn the car on/off 3 times to get it to come back out of gear. Alright, after work tommrow I will take it to the shop, see what's wrong with the clutch. Got up the next morning, and the drive to work was only about 100 yards. So I got almost all the way to work, and put it in Neutral to sit at a stop sign. Uh-oh. I went to put it back into gear, and no gots. I wound up pusing it into a parking spot, and waiting for the tow-truck. Now it is in the shop (how plans always seem to come together one way or another), and I am awaiting a call to see what is wrong. I was lead to believe by one mechanic that I did something to the clutch, while the other said that is was one of the rods or something, probally due to age and how much I drive it. Any ideas?

Thanks Alot,
Steve

 

[andymoraitis]

It could be a leaking clutch master or clutch slave or something as bad as a completely toasted clutch. The fact that you had to pull the pedal off the floor leads me to believe that it's a hydraulic issue.

Keep us posted,

Andy

 

[DelTASteve]

Wow, these guys work fast. They have traced it down to the clutch slave, and it is going to cost me $75 installed. Should I make a seperate post with the second set of information for searching purposes, or is just one fine? When I get it back I am going to take a more serious look at the lean, and take some pictures to see what you guys think.

Thanks Again,
Steve

 

[talon212]

Look under the car to see if anything shows any signs of being moved. Anything that was moved you would see fresh metal. If that does not do it then go to the dealer and get a front end spec sheet. This sheet tells and shows you reference points to measure off of to see why is the car leaning.

 

[jdhutchin]

If you can find a working clutch release cylinder (clutch slave), I'd do it myself- it's not really much labor. I don't know how much the clutch slave costs, but if you can find a working one cheap, I'd do it myself.