Car leans to driver side.

Suspension related stuff goes in here.
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RobertwFiat124
Posts: 9
Joined: Wed Jun 10, 2020 10:42 am
Your car is a: 1977 Spider

Car leans to driver side.

Post by RobertwFiat124 »

My car has been leaning to the driver's side for a while. I replaced all the springs with the lowering kit from autoricambi, and used koni shocks on all 4 corners. The car leans massively less, but it's still got a visible lean. What could be wrong with it? It looks like it leans down the most in the left rear tire.
18Fiatsandcounting
Posts: 3780
Joined: Fri Mar 15, 2019 11:23 pm
Your car is a: 1969 and 1971 124 spiders
Location: San Francisco Bay Area

Re: Car leans to driver side.

Post by 18Fiatsandcounting »

Are your tires all the same size? If so, it's hard to imagine much of a lean in the left rear if you have new springs and shocks.

How much of a lean are we talking about here? Half inch? More? Do you have your spare tire in place? Perhaps put some weight on the right rear trunk to compensate? A 50 lb bag of sand, some Fiat parts that you'll inevitably need someday, or perhaps a dead body. I leave the choice up to you.

-Bryan
DieselSpider
Posts: 2130
Joined: Wed Dec 24, 2014 10:21 pm
Your car is a: 1978 124 Spider with Isuzu Turbo Diesel

Re: Car leans to driver side.

Post by DieselSpider »

First is the ground actually flat and level where you are parking to check the lean? Yes be sure the tires are all the same size, are inflated to the same pressure and have the same amount of tread wear. Also be sure that they are not going through belt failure which could cause one to gain an inch or so in diameter over the rest even if they are technically the same size.

Other thoughts would be one of the rear spring pads being compressed or missing or potentially one of the new springs being a bit weak.

If there is a rear sway bar it could be bent or one of the links tightened to a different length than the other or even an issue with the front sway bar. New shocks can be a little stiff too so the car may not rebound to level when you get out of the drivers seat after a drive so bouncing the car a few times from the middle of the bumpers to see if it settles evenly could reveal that there is no real problem.

Other than that one would need to consider body rot causing one of the spring perches to have sagged or frame/body twist possibly from a collision.
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geospider
Patron 2020
Patron 2020
Posts: 585
Joined: Mon Mar 20, 2017 9:07 pm
Your car is a: 1979 Spider 2000
Location: concord, ca

Re: Car leans to driver side.

Post by geospider »

I have heard conflicting ideas about lowering the car and the panhard rod.
I havent looked under mine to think about whether could cause this particular lean.
Have the AR lowering springs and Koni's and hsven't noticed an issue
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