mas

I had an accident in June and the car just got out of the body shop after new front left suspension components and a complete repaint, etc. Now the problem is that the right side of the car is lower than the left. The right rear is about 3 to 4 inches lower than the left rear and the right front is about 1-2 inches lower than the left front. The body shop has acknowledged the the problem but they are clueless as to why it is so since nothing is bent (they've checked twice). They think it might be the shocks and are talking to honda about what they think could be wrong. The accident happened at about 30MPH and the right side (center) of the car first hit a tree and then the left hit a tree and finally the front hit a tree coming to a stop. I'm pretty sure the hight on the left is ok since I remember I could stick 3 fingers between the tire and the fender before the accident and I can still do that. I cannot stick a finger between the rear right tire and the fender now :-(

Any one has any ideas?

cdelena

The spring perches are interference fit on the shocks and control the ride height. If they were damaged it might result in the list you describe..

mas

Thanks! So how can I (or someone) verify that they are damaged? Can the damage visually be seen?

cdelena

Measure the perch height on each and compare to an undamaged car.

mas

The shop just called, they say they have ordered new rear right "shocks". Now, I don't know if the "shock" comes with a new perch or not? If it's not a part of the shock then I think they're just wasting my time and the insurance company's money. I'll try your suggestion to check the perch. Thanks!

Pappy

https://www.s2ki.com/forums/showthread.php?...?threadid=86785

I had the same exact problem, and they still can't fix it. When I originally got it back, the difference in height from left to right was about 2 3/4 inches. After replacing a lot of parts, from springs, shocks, upper and lower control arms, etc, they got the ride height to about an 1 inch difference.

They still cannot fix the problem, so I will monitor your thread to see if your shop finds any luck

Nick

mas

Damn! I'm so sorry to read about your situation. I must say that the collision repair shop I'm dealing with has done a great job other than this one problem - which they are trying their best to fix ASAP. My car had about $18,000 to $20,000 of damages and when it came out of the shop it only smelled different. The entire car has been repainted and you cannot tell the difference (I've compared with other spa yellows). The only other complaint I had was that some pieces of broken glass came out the vents when I turned the AC on, they cleared up the vents right away. I'll keep you posted, If you get yours fixed let me know.

BTW, did they replace all 4 shocks for you or one or two? If they did not replace them all, I'd think there'd be some difference in ride hight considering that the old shock have settled down by now. I'm no expert but if this is possible, it might be ok after a while. I know from pre-accident "finger tests" how much space there used to be between tires and fenders on my car so it's easy for me to compare with that.

Good luck!