Can lowering springs be improperly installed? - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

bleachigo · 03-21-2009, 01:14 PM

Hey guys just wanted to know if lowering springs can be installed improperly?My car has been out of alignment for a while now.The car was lowered at a local sportshop then later i went to the dealers and told them that my car was out of alignment and they recommended me to get camber bolts.The labor costs was a bit pricey so i went to get the camber bolts and alignment done at an outside shop.Outside shop aligned it twice and they said that they don't know why the car is still drifting to the left and all the numbers are in spec.So i went back to the dealership,they tried aligning it twice also and it still drifts to the left.So i went to measure my fender gaps and the front driver side of the car has a 2 finger gap while the passenger side has 3 finger gap with no load on the car whatsoever and on a level road.The rear on the driver's side is a little harder to tell but it's about maybe half a finger lower then the passenger side.I'm going back to the shop where i lowered my car and talk to him about this.So what do you guys think?Is it possible to install it wrong?Or could it be something else like a bad strut and shock?

gdanaher · 03-21-2009, 01:33 PM

There is one way to do it right and dozens of ways to screw up. What are the odds?

***toyomoho*** · 03-21-2009, 02:55 PM

The cars chassis should sit level. If not take it back to the spring installer and have them fix it.

Dna_splice · 03-21-2009, 03:01 PM

yeh its possible.
but hard to say wht it is w/out seeing it

omairtheman1 · 03-22-2009, 07:45 AM

go see the guys that installed the springs man...

stories like this make it hard to trust shops

njerald · 03-22-2009, 11:16 AM

I love these adventures.......

money042 · 03-22-2009, 12:19 PM

I just installed my springs myself this past week. I really can't see anyways to mess it up (at least what you’re describing). I can only imagine the shop missed one (or two) springs, hence one side of the car being higher than the other. Get a flash light and take a look into your wheel well to see if all 4 springs are indeed H&R springs (H&R springs are dark metallic blue). Maybe the shop only swapped out one side... sounds ridiculous, but who knows...

you got any pictures?

Redline_Me · 03-22-2009, 12:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by money042

I just installed my springs myself this past week. I really can't see anyways to mess it up (at least what you’re describing). I can only imagine the shop missed one (or two) springs, hence one side of the car being higher than the other. Get a flash light and take a look into your wheel well to see if all 4 springs are indeed H&R springs (H&R springs are dark metallic blue). Maybe the shop only swapped out one side... sounds ridiculous, but who knows...

you got any pictures?

Was it hard to instal them yourself? I'm thinking about doing mine. I have seen the DIY, but im just a little scared about messing something up.

thrawnis · 03-22-2009, 12:58 PM

Are the springs for the front and rear different types? If so, maybe they put one front and one rear spring both on the front, and same on the back?

Redline_Me · 03-22-2009, 01:04 PM

It says it right on the spring, next to the part number if they are for the front or rear.

money042 · 03-22-2009, 01:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Redline_Me

Was it hard to instal them yourself? I'm thinking about doing mine. I have seen the DIY, but im just a little scared about messing something up.

I did springs then switched to coils for my Altima a couple years back. I messed up pretty bad doing the springs (first time attempting anything like that). The CV joint on the passenger side got dislocated, I had to pull the boot off and put the joint back togther and then put the boot back on. It was a big mess, those things are filled with grease. Where I messed up was I took out all three bolts on top of the strut (accessed from under the hood) before taking out the bolts that attach the strut to the whatchamacallit (wheel/caliper/rotor/etc) part. So the strut just fell out and pulled the whatchamacallit further than it was supposed to go, dislocating the CV joint. Took me 3 days to get the car working again. I've got pictures on my storage harddrive somewhere if you're interested, just PM your email. To make a long story shorter, Altima has shocks in the back, so those were easy. But gen6 Camry has struts on all four corners AND the rear top mounts can only be accessed via taking the rear seats out (a pain in the a$$ on the SE). So it's a little more work. Overall, took me 5 hours by myself (if you have a buddy to hold stuff and help, that would be ideal) but I have some experience with the Altima. I also changed a buddy's shocks and struts. So I did similar projects three times. Oh, maybe four time, if you want to count removing the coils and going back to factory before selling the Altima. If you do try
this yourself, make sure you have a backup car (or a mountain bike, like me

) if you need a tool from the store or it takes longer than you plan and you have to go to work the next day. But bottom line, there's nothing like the satisfaction of finishing a project like this. I love doing it. Maybe I'll open a shop one day

bleachigo, sorry for hijacking your thread.

Redline_Me · 03-22-2009, 01:30 PM

Well spending $900 on some parts that i hadn't really planned on has set me back on my instal and paint budget so i'm thinking about saving myself the $200 and doing it myself. Plus as you said there is nothing better than doing it with your own hands. Thanks for all the info.

sorry bleachigo.