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Uneven Rear Ride Height

Suspension/Stiffening 
12K views 23 replies 10 participants last post by  earth0 
#1 ·
Apparently this has been an issue for STi's for maybe a decade, and somehow I never saw a mention of it when I was researching the Racecomp Yellow Springs before purchase.

I purchased the springs and went to Cobb Tuning in Plano, TX for the install and alignment. After the springs were installed the alignment guy told me my right rear was sitting at -2.8 camber and the left rear was -2.1, and there's no adjustment from factory. :(

My first thought was maybe there was a glitch in the spring for the right rear and called Racecomp. They didn't answer, but noticed the missed call and called me back! How often do you hear of a company doing that? :tup: Long story short, it appeared everything was fine with the springs and install, and I simply was an unlucky soul that got an STi from the factory that was set up this way (but not as extreme with factory springs). The solution was Cusco rear adjustable lower control arms...another $500! :mad: While on the phone Racecomp suggested a camber of -1.3 to -1.5 in the front (daily driver) and -1.5 to -1.8 in the rear. I went with -1.3 in the front not sure where to put the rear in the given range when I get the Cusco LCA's installed (-1.5 or -1.8 or something in between?)

Now I drive back home through Dallas traffic and give the car a good walk-around in the driveway and immediately notice the left rear is lower than the right rear by 0.5". I didn't notice this at Cobb because they parked it in a parking spot and I couldn't get a good visual, although I did notice the left rear seemed lower than I expected when I walked to get in the car. Apparently this is not very noticeable at factory ride height, and it can obviously be adjusted with a good set of coil-overs.

Another call to Racecomp and I learn this is totally normal, and has been for many years, and the difference "may" not be as extreme when I get the camber corrected on the right rear.

Now this brings me to the main reason for this post - can/should I use a 0.5" washer/spacer on the left rear to make it visually match the right rear? Do they even make such a thing? Does it mess up the geometry on the suspension and not recommended?

Any other suggestions (other than several thousand dollars for coil-overs) is appreciated.

Oh, and I LOVE the performance of the springs! I thought the car handled amazingly before, but now it's like a surgical scalpel, and the quality of the ride on bumpy roads seemed to stay about the same as factory. Not sure if the springs get all the credit, or the aggressive alignment - probably both.
 
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#2 ·
I installed RCE yellow springs on my 15 STI this summer and noticed the same thing! I thought that I put the rear struts back together wrong, or that I put them in backwards (180 reversed) when mounting back up to the control arm and body. I stared at it for a long time, to me the rear struts looked symmetric, so i figured orientation shouldn't really matter (I may be wrong though). I also though my driveway was slanted, so I put a level in my trunk and it was in fact a bit off, so I can confirm that my car is uneven as well. Hard to notice from afar, but if you look close the wheel gaps have a noticeable difference (about a finger?)
 
#4 ·
RCE said a washer (I'm sure it has a more technical name) won't mess up the geometry, but didn't recommend it because it was extra hardware that's not needed and "could" fail.

I get that, just like many people say they don't recommend wheel spacers, but I'm happy with my Perrin spacers and think I'd be happy with my left rear looking like my right rear.

So, is there such a 'washer' made for this purpose? I guess it would need to be about 0.5" thick.
 
#5 ·
BTW, I put some more miles on the car today and I'm thinking the RCE Yellow's actually offer a more compliant ride on 30-45 MPH crappy roads than OEM.

That's impressive that they didn't make the ride harsher AND made the car handle MUCH better!
 
#6 ·
Yeah I agree the rate of these springs is really nice. I'm probably just going to live with the imbalance for now, lol. Let me know if you decide to try adding a washer. I can't see where it would be a good idea to add this washer? Sandwiched between the strut and body? Probably not a good idea, the washer would have to be the shape of the upper strut cap to ensure it mates properly to the body. Or are you thinking to add it underneath the spring coil? Either way doesn't sound like a good idea.
 
#10 ·
Still waiting on Subispeed to ship them, but it appears to be a simple installation (they even have a video, but with a different brand).

Nothing against the young guy at Cobb that did the alignment after the spring install (he was super nice), but I'll go to my regular alignment guy in town that's been doing it most of his middle age life. He even said he'll install the LCA's if I want.
 
#9 ·
Some one makes a product called "saggy butt spacers" they install at the top of the strut and are meant to lift the clearance in the wheel well.

I have a 2011 with rce yellows. Same height side to side, but the rear tires tuck further than the front.

Edit: just looked them up, fastwrx.com carries them. You can select the width of the spacer to meet your desired lift.
 
#19 ·
I got the Cusco adjustable rear lateral links installed and the alignment done and everything looks much better now (just like RCE said it would :tup:) with the rear camber set to -1.4 and the front camber at -1.3.

The right side of the car looks pretty close from front to back, and the left side looks pretty close front to back. Yes, the left side is a little lower than the right (as has been for about a decade), but now it's not so obvious like it was before the springs settled and everything got aligned. Actually, it looks so good I don't think I'll even mess with the Saggy Butt spacers.
 
#20 ·
I just experienced it myself this past weekend after installed ISC Coilovers. Both Front Right and Front Left were same set up and both are even. The Rear Left and Rear Right also same set up but the rear right was sit a little higher than the left side. How can i fix this ?
 
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