Left rear tire sitting high

[samiam2013]

I've only had my 97 corolla for about a month now, and just noticed that it seems to be leaning on the suspension. The rear driver's side tire is much closer to the frame than the passenger side and I wanted to know if this is a big issue, or just something small. It seems that when it's parked on a flat surface you can tell by looking at both sides that the one sits about 1 to 1 1/2 in. lower. Looking from the rear of the vehicle you can tell that it seems to lean left, and when you press down on either side the car drops about the same distance on both sides, so it would seem the sway bar is working properly. you can just barely tell when you're driving the car that it leans, and not as much when you have someone on the passenger side of the vehicle, but mind you I weigh ~300 lbs. The vehicle also has absolutely no issues turning, and doesn't seem to pull to either side. And if I do need to consider fixing this issue, would I need to buy the whole strut and coil assembly or just one or the other? If you can give an opinion, or need to know more information, I would ask you take time to comment, the more people who do the better.

[Bitter]

honestly being that it's a 97 with I'm sure over 100k miles I'd recommend replacing both sides with complete strut/spring assemblies along with two new sway bar links and a pair of sway bar bushings.

[speedy25]

Any noticeable difference typically means something is BROKEN. By all means start checking things out of take it to someone to inspect the car. Your safety would depend on it. Bitters list includes many of the wear items for most vehicles.

-SP

[samiam2013]

I'm on a tight budget, and I can't afford the whole assembly right now, do you think it would be safe driving the car now until I get the money? I might be waiting for a couple weeks at the least.

[Piloter]

Check prices via rockauto.com , that's about the cheapest you're going to get and still wind up with quality parts. From the point of view of keeping the alignment sane, you might be able to do the two rears and then the two fronts later. End links and bushings are dependent on what trim level of Corolla you have...this came up a while ago but I think only the DX and LE had front and rear swaybars stock, other trim levels may have had a front bar as an option, not sure right now and don't have the time to chase it down.

Have you done the rebound test? Put your foot on the bumper at one corner at a time, press down hard, let go, see how long the car takes to stop moving? Generally it should stop after the first bounce back up, maybe another wiggle. If it keeps pogoing noticably, yeah, your suspension's shot.

Another possibility, if the rears have the rubber-like upper mount that the fronts do (look on your strut towers), is that that could be shot/inverted/torn back there and causing the issues.

A note regarding shop rate for replacing the rear shocks and struts...there is a book out there that has an insane labor rate for the rear job, something like $900. This book is hilariously wrong and if anybody quotes you that much for it, especially if you're bringing in your own parts, laugh in their face and find another shop.