try and figure this out

[dick_landy]

ok, dont give me too much of a hard time but i figured if any place would know more about these trucks it here.

I bought a 90 suburban for my wife, the only thing is its 2wd
Now I just finished putting in a set of bell tech #3100 dropped spindles and now the passenger side is 1" higher than the drivers side.

On to the confusing part.

-I double checked to make sure the spindles were the same and that the spindle shafts were in the same location and they are.
-I measured both sides from the floor of my garage to the bottom of the lower control arms and the measurements are the same.
-I measured the distance between the lower control arms and the spring cup/bucket on the frame and they are the same.
-The coils are sitting in thier place like they should,plus i never removed them. The jack stands never left the lower control arm the entire install.

If it had to do anything with the suspension then one of those measurements would have to be conflicting.
When I measure from the floor to the fender lips in line with the hubs its an inch out, same with the bumpers. Even the space between the tire and fender lip is different between the two. I don't think its the floor because it doesnt matter where the truck is, it looks uneven.

I checked the rear leafs to make sure none of them were broken and they are fine. It does seem to me that the front passenger side seems stiffer when I bounce it up and down compared to the drivers side, but again, why are all the suspension measurements checking out ok?

I am clued out, am I missing something?

 

[balterbuilt]

take the tires off and post up some pics. I would be suspect to the fac that one spring might be saging. I think the main problem is that the suburnban is unhappy that you are building a pavement pounder and not a prerunner out of it and now you are showing everyone on the off-road forum it's unhappiness :-P

 

[loafer]

Did you measure before you installed the spindles to see if the truck sat level?

 

[Mudstud]

Look at where the spring sits inside the buckets. Make sure the ends of the springs are sitting where they are supposed to. The buckets have a 'place' (for lack of a better term) for the end of the spring to sit.

 

[Blue85]

Well how did these measurements compare before you started?

It is not unusual for these old vehicles to sit crooked. The normal culprits are bad body mounts and sagging/broken springs. You didn't say if it was also crooked by 1" in the rear. Also, if it has ever been in a collision that can make anything crooked.

It's also possible that during your spindle swap the sway bar got wound up and is stuck in place.

 

[balterbuilt]

didn't think about that but as blue85 mentioned it could be body mounts as well.

 

[79k20350]

Im betting sagging body mounts. if the suspension is all the same then its the body thats not level. measure to the top of the frame and that will tell you where your problem lies.

 

[dick_landy]

it was too pretty to make into a pre runner! but if it makes all yall happy, my plan was when it starts to look its age in a few years i would transfer the body to my other burb seeing as how the rocks and mud have really taken its toll on it. at least then it will die happily!


i never measured before hand but it never was noticable before,now it is.
i checked out all the body mounts and they all look pretty darn good except for the passenger side near the rear wheel. the springs look like they are in thier "place" but i will check again. I will keep checkin stuff out. who knows maybe the springs and sway bar need to settle for some reason.

 

[balterbuilt]

pictures speak a 1000 words....

 

[dick_landy]

just curious, what are you looking for in a picture? what do you want to see? do you want to see the suspension drooping or the weight on the control arm?

 

[enginenine]

Agree with mudstud. Sounds like the spring is twisted and not sitting in the control arm right.

 

[BGKYK5]

Have you driven it around the block yet? IFS suspensions have a noticable track change with travel. If you dropped it down off the jackstands one side at a time, it may be that one side isn't able to settle to its normal ride height due to the friction between the tire and ground. I hope that makes sense. Its worth a shot and its and easy "fix".

 

[4X4HIGH]

I'll bet that it sagged before you started but you did not notice it because of the distance from the ground. The closer the body gets to the ground the easier it is to see such things that weren't apparent beforehand.

 

[dick_landy]

i checked the coils and they are sitting in the right spot. i have probably put 40-50 miles on it since. im thinkin it was like that before and just never noticed it. also it seems that the shock on the drivers side(the side thats lower) doesnt have the same damping as the other side. its not horribly bad but if its worn out would that cause that side settle a bit lower than the other? they are sensitracs.

 

[4X4HIGH]

A bad shock could definately affect ride height.

 

[Mudstud]

To check the shocks in the front stand over the front fender and push down with your body weight and relsease. Watch what it does. Does it bounce forever or stabilze in a couple rebounds? Do this again on the other side and see if there's a dif.

Take a measurment on the shocks- How much chrome rod is showning and compare sides. Oh yea this is 2wd so measure the bottom of the shock to the middle part where it separates (one slides inside the other)

 

[dick_landy]

i was thinkin of just unbolting them and seeing if it sits level then.