Removing Rear Springs. Wonky Car.

[Pabby1980]

I need to replace the upper spring pads on the rear of my E85.

I've removed the rear springs before, which wasn't a big job at all but left the car wonky. By this i mean one side was higher than the other by about 15mm. This (from what i've read) is because i did them by jacking the car up one side at a time, whereas the correct way is to remove and replace both sides at the same time so the bushes are both reset to the same level.

Does this make sense, and if so once i get the car up on jack stands at the back, is there any particular method to making sure the car doesn't end up higher on one side than the other or should it just correct itself?

I've got 19s and lowering springs so i simply don't have the margin of error for one side to be even 5/10mm higher than the other.

If it's going to be a ball ache to get it perfect i might just take it to the garage but thought i'd ask on here first.

Thanks.

Paul.

 

[ph001]

Doesn’t make much sense to me, bushes don’t really reset, well not in any kind of permanent way anyway. A lot of people do them one side at a time just like you did without much issues. Are you sure the spring is seated correctly?

 

[Pabby1980]

Doesn’t make much sense to me, bushes don’t really reset, well not in any kind of permanent way anyway. A lot of people do them one side at a time just like you did without much issues. Are you sure the spring is seated correctly?

I'm starting to think the information i read was guff to be honest. I can't find the thread but it definitely talked about resetting the bushes, but when i said that to my mechanic he didn't know what i was on about either.

The car is fine now as he has the springs off as part of a major service and it's the same distance between tyre and arch both sides but it was definitely on the piss after i changed them

I'll try it again and just be really really careful with getting everything seated correctly and hope it was just my crappy mechanical skills that were to blame!

Cheers.

Paul

 

[parabolica]

I replaced my rear springs a month ago - one side at a time - and no issues. Just have to make sure you a) get the springs the right way up and b) get the mounts back onto their mountings squarely.

Maybe point b was your issue last time? Possible there was something small like a pebble or something in between the rubber top mount and the mounting?

 

[Pabby1980]

I replaced my rear springs a month ago - one side at a time - and no issues. Just have to make sure you a) get the springs the right way up and b) get the mounts back onto their mountings squarely.

Maybe point b was your issue last time? Possible there was something small like a pebble or something in between the rubber top mount and the mounting?

I think you're probably right mate. The more I talk to people about the problem the more I think it's human error rather than mechanical.

I think I just need to be a bit more careful next time and triple check everything.

Thanks for the comment.

Paul.

 

[dhobbs]

Maybe spray the bushes with silicon spray then take the car for a drive. That's what I did when I changed the anti roll bushes, and that was fine afterwards.