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Rear End One Side Sagging More Than Other

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Buddur

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Discussion starter · #1 ·
When on vacation this past week I noticed my passenger side rear wheel well sat lower than the driver's side...at least an inch or enough to easily notice the difference. While on the road I wrote it off as simply having more vacation stuff loaded on that side. Now that I'm home and nothing is in the car the difference is still obvious (pics below).

Off the top of my head I'm thinking spring seat (hate to think a spring is going bad). I put on new shocks 2 years ago about this time of year. Just replaced rotors and pads all around last month but didn't notice the sag, of course I wasn't looking.

Before I get in there, and in order to concentrate on known issues, can I get some idea(s) on what could be the cause and what to look for? Thanks.

163568


163569
 
#3 ·
Budder, would a missing or broken seat be that much of a difference?
 
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Discussion starter · #4 ·
DNK said:
Budder, would a missing or broken seat be that much of a difference?
Click to expand...
Not sure what difference until I get in there...may not be for a day or two till I have time to pull the tires and inspect. I've read where the seats can become destroyed, and that is why I mentioned it. Really not sure what else it could be other than the seat or spring. I'll be checking the bump stops for sure.
 
#5 ·
was the van ever severely loaded down?

There is a rubber seat mount up top for the spring, wonder if it got super compressed and never recovered.

it also fits a specific way to the top of the spring IIRC, so if the spring was out previously, maybe its that.

the flimsy recycled plastic seat that sits at the bottom would not cause a height issue.
 
Discussion starter · #8 ·
Without pulling the wheels tonight I got under to inspect. Top and bottom spring seats looked intact, and both bump stops looked in decent shape with relatively the same distance between the stop and the control arm. What gets me is that I would expect relatively the same gap difference between the bump stops as the respective gap between top of tire and fender well. Really need to pull the wheels now to inspect further.

Thinking of simply replacing both springs and all seats and go with that. Couldn't find any aftermarket springs. HondaPartsOnline.Net has both springs and all seats for $227, including S&H. If the bump stops were all beat up I'd consider Timbrens, but they looked in decent shape.
 
#10 ·
Step 1 is to go park on a 100% flat surface to see if it is just an uneven driveway... (if the opposite front is also lower than the same side front, that would be a hint - but there is no rear swaybar so the L/R difference would be 'worse' in the rear)

-Charlie
 
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#11 ·
It’s common for vehicles to have slightly different ride heights on different sides. As other have said, the spring seat alone shouldn’t cause all that. Both of my rear spring seats were completely shot (our ‘17 has 200k), but the top mounts were perfect, so I’d be surprised it it’s that. Could be that a spring wasn’t put back correctly in the spring seat, that might cause a slight difference in height.
 
Discussion starter · #14 ·
No real updates...car still sits like that...actually maybe only 1/2" difference between the two at this point in time. Can't tell from inside the car, rear shocks and springs in good shape. All things considered...I just accepted it and left it as is.

About to take kids on 2023's vacation. Woohoo!
 
#15 ·
Did you inspect the rear trailing arm bushings?

just changed both of my rear ones... the bushings were separated from the trailing arms and partly disintegrating.
100 bux for a pair of mevotech supremes.

a pain in the arse to change without removing the shock... but if you have a hoist and some prybar leverage you line up the bolt holes without removing the shock.

the ride on the rear is much tighter now.
 
#16 ·
Reverse direction of the van, placing it back in the same spot. Show us the drivers tire where the passenger tire is pictured.

You're on a dirt surface. I see irregular measurements on my own concrete driveway that looks flat.
 
#19 ·
2011.2017.odyssey said:
Did you inspect the rear trailing arm bushings?

just changed both of my rear ones... the bushings were separated from the trailing arms and partly disintegrating.
100 bux for a pair of mevotech supremes.

a pain in the arse to change without removing the shock... but if you have a hoist and some prybar leverage you line up the bolt holes without removing the shock.

the ride on the rear is much tighter now.
Click to expand...
Any pics of what those bushings looked like? What were the symptoms?
 
#20 ·
2013EX-L said:
Any pics of what those bushings looked like? What were the symptoms?
Click to expand...
I rarely record my repair adventures.

didn't notice any symptoms really, except maybe a gradual noisier rear end over the bumps and more sloppy feel.

had it on the hoist for the drivers lower control arm (second change under warranty) used a prybar checking the rest of the vehicle suspension for play, and they were slopping around, cracks splits and pieces of the bushing missing.

once I had them off compared to the new ones it was obvious.
 
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