sicivic89

iTrader: (58)

Experiencing a weird suspension issue. So I recently bought an 02 6-speed with stock suspension and the car had severely warped front rotors. So the end of last week, I went ahead and did the front brakes, new pads and rotors. I jack the car up on the left side and replace the brakes, lower the car down and then do the other side. Everything is good and I go for a drive. Break in the brakes. But I notice the suspension feels different. It almost feels like the car has cut front springs on it with an overly firm front end and feels real bouncy. Bumps are very harsh and upon further investigation, it seems like its the left front corner that causing the issue. A visual inspection appeared normal. Spring was seated fine on top and bottom. The ride height is normal. What could be causing the issue? The car does feel overly firm when you push down on the left front fender vs. the right front fender.

I searched as best as I could be didn't find anything related

djfrestyl

iTrader: (89)

You didn't disconnect anything but the caliper bolts?

Check your control arms and their bushings - might have tweaked something while lifted on just one side.

sicivic89

iTrader: (58)

All I did was jack up the car, take off the wheel, remove the caliper bolts and then removed the old rotor, install new rotor and put everything back with new pads. Didn't touch any of the suspension. Its almost like the left front corner got reloaded or something

Marc2theMax

You know something similar happened to me. It might not be your issue but its worth a look. What happened to me while i was messing with the front suspension one day is that the sway bar actually shifted a bit to one side because the sway bar bushings were old n shot so it moved easily. At the time i didnt notice so after putting back everything together and going for a drive the car handled waay differently. Every bump was very harsh and it was hopping and bouncy more on one side of the car. After further inspection thats when i found the sway bar had shifted more to the other side. After buying and installing new bushings and making sure the sway bar was aligned evenly it was back to normal. Also a good time to check out the sway bar endlinks. Well that was my experience. Hope that helps. Goodluck

djfrestyl

iTrader: (89)

^^ This is rare, but doesn't hurt to check nevertheless.

sicivic89

iTrader: (58)

That could make sense. I will double check the front sway bar. The car is definitely not right. This morning I drove over several speed humps and the car acted like it had ricer cut springs on it. Very bouncy and stiff.

sicivic89

iTrader: (58)

Well, I just went and visually checked the front sway bar and it looks normal, it doesn't look shifted or anything. I guess I could unbolt one side and go drive the car to see if anything changes.

Marc2theMax

Ya im sure my issue was very rare but thats what happened to me lol. Kind of sounded similar though so just throwing it out there. Goodluck

Marc2theMax

I had to lift the front and take both tires off to really check the sway bar was even. Theres like notches on the sway bar on each side. I made sure there was an even amount of distance between that notch and the bushing. I checked on both sides.

sicivic89

iTrader: (58)

Ok, so I'm still having this issue. Its definitely the left front suspension thats causing the problem. If I bounce up and down on the left front fender, the suspension feels very firm, like it will hardly depress. If I bounce up and down on the right front fender, the suspension feels like it should. Its really odd. So, this past weekend, I jack up the car again and took the left front wheel off. The suspension/wheel will drop down as the car is being jacked up like normal. I re-examined everything and nothing looks out of place. I tried to disconnect the sway bar from the left front corner and the issue still persists so its not related to the sway bar. Its almost like the regular ride height of the left front corner is basically at a bottomed out point and will not depress any further. The only thing I can think of is that last time I jacked up the car, something internally inside the strut broke or dislodged and is preventing it from having full suspension travel.

I was curious if anyone has any ideas before I just replace the strut.

nestorlugo

iTrader: (11)

you should have someone replace the strut after you knew you broke it.

sicivic89

iTrader: (58)

NO, I didn't break anything. All I did was jack up the car, remove the wheel, replace the front pads and rotors and then put it back together. The next time I drove it, I noticed the suspension seemed off. What I am trying to say is my only idea of what could be causing the issue is that something internally in the strut went bad, but I've never heard of something like that before. Usually a strut will blow and gets soft with no dampening. I never heard of a strut get very very stiff and firm

djfrestyl

iTrader: (89)

Do you know how to test for a blown strut? It could have been on its last breath and when you lifted/lowered the car it killed it.

nestorlugo

iTrader: (11)

Tucking! jkjk
when my strut blew out it gave me an amazing drop ,but what it made in looks it sacrificed in comfort.