Rear Is Lower At One Side

[lordvader 0]

I just noticed it today (after someone pointed it out to me) !

The driver side rear (right hand side) is about 1-2 cm lower than the passenger side ! I never really noticed, as I only ever approach my car from the drivers side ... guess it was something that never occurred to me.

I always knew that the rear was quite low, but I never bothered to check if it was equal all over

 

So what could it be ? Handling doesn't seem compromised, the rear end doesn't seem skittish at all.

[Ren 0]

If it's been lowered it could have been put back together a spline different.

[Anthony 1,003]

Either it's been rebuilt at different height each side, or more likely, the beam is partly siezed and is sitting oddly as a result - jack up the rear and see how it looks

 

Check that it sits oddly without the handbrake applied as well, as if the handbrake only works on one side then it can cause the car to pull up more on one side than the other...

[lordvader 0]

How does the rear beam seize ? What sort of motions does it go under ?

 

When one thinks of a beam, I tend to think of it literally, a solid beam that just sits there with no motion, but I think I've got that wrong ...

[Simes 248 2 Cars]

How does the rear beam seize ? What sort of motions does it go under ?

 

The trailing arms won't move.

[Anthony 1,003]

How does the rear beam seize ? What sort of motions does it go under ?

 

When one thinks of a beam, I tend to think of it literally, a solid beam that just sits there with no motion, but I think I've got that wrong ...

The beam consists of a tube that is rigidly mounted to the car, and trailing arms at either end that each have a wheel on the end, and these move up and down (pivoting at the tube) to give you rear suspension.

 

What happens however is that where the trailing arms are connected to the tube it pivots on a shaft with some bearings between that shaft and the tube. These bearings are the weak point of the design, and collapse/disintegrate/sieze/corrode. This then leaves the shaft grinding against the tube, and can either sieze solid (no movement) or becomes very stiff and reluctant to move (partly siezed).

 

If it partly siezes, then you'll have some suspension, but the car will often sit oddly and will normally not drive very well - although alot of people don't realise as the degradation is fairly slow and gradual.

[lordvader 0]

Are the bearings easy to replace ?

Being between the shaft and the tube, I'll assume the beam needs to come off to get to them. Are there uprated bearings available that would be less prone to seizing ?

There seems to be heaps of talk in regards to uprated mounts, but being a pivot point (ie: movement), I'd figure that'll be a more important upgrade.

[Anthony 1,003]

Are the bearings easy to replace ?

Being between the shaft and the tube, I'll assume the beam needs to come off to get to them. Are there uprated bearings available that would be less prone to seizing ?

There seems to be heaps of talk in regards to uprated mounts, but being a pivot point (ie: movement), I'd figure that'll be a more important upgrade.

Do a search on "rear beam rebuild" as there's loads of information on the forum about it, and certainly lots of posts by myself and Nick (Wurzel) on the subject. There's also a rebuild guide on the main site.

 

What I will say is that if the beam is partly siezed, then the beamtube and shaft on that side will almost certainly be scrap - making the beam rebuild much more costly.

 

As for uprated bearings, it's not really needed - just need to overhall the beam once every 5-10 years and they'll be no problem. People just don't bother and instead neglect them until they've failed and then it costs lots of money...

[KRISKARRERA 2 1 Cars]

Crazy design really init?

Hey Speccy is there any way to oil the bearings?

[Anthony 1,003]

Hey Speccy is there any way to oil the bearings?

 

To GREASE the bearings, you need to partly strip the beam down - remove the trailing arms, grease everything up and replace (or atleast check) the seal and reassemble. It's rarely lack of grease that is the primary cause of failure though - either the seal fails and lets water in (washing away the grease and corroding everything) or the bearings collapse (and the shaft grinds through the bearing remains and starts on the beamtube)