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Rear suspension sag?

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by adamace1, Jul 25, 2012.

  1. adamace1

    adamace1 Senior Member

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    I looked over at my car and noticed the drivers rear side of the car sits lower than the other. I tried turning the car around to see if it was the driveway. It was not. I parked the car flat and took a tape measure and measured from the ground to the uper most part of the wheel well and the rear drivers side is 2 foot 2 inches, the rear passanger side is 2 foot 4 inches. So the one side is sitting 2 inches lower than the other. Could it just be sag from the roads/ only having one person in the car, I'm not light either. have 56k on the car. Is this normal? Thanks ahead if anyone can help me.
     
  2. Jonny Zero

    Jonny Zero Giggidy

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    Tire pressure normal? My friend's IS300 had this and turned out one side's pressure was low.
     
  3. adamace1

    adamace1 Senior Member

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    Tire pressure is the same in both rear tires.
     
  4. Jonny Zero

    Jonny Zero Giggidy

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    Could be a shock going bad. Kind of early for a car of this age / milage. Do you drive on rough roads often?
    My 2002 Camry was driven on pot hole filled 2 lane country roads with tires set to 40 PSI (Toyota rec 29PSI) and the original suspection was still in good shape at 160K miles. It was totalled in June by an uninsured driver. RIP.
     
  5. Ct. Ken V

    Ct. Ken V Active Member

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    This is really nothing new. There have been a few threads about this condition even as far back as the early 2G Priuses. I never bothered to check if mine had the same condition because I didn't want to obsess about it, but many others reported the same thing (some even with new cars) after reading about it in some of the threads. Some speculated the condition maybe was designed into the suspension to make the car feel level on some of our highly crowned roads (at least in the USA where the driver's side seems to be the side sitting lower). Some also speculated that how tight the lashing down of the Prius for shipment may have caused the condition (more so with the independently owned auto transport trucks that bring the cars from the port to the dealers, rather than the lashing down to the decks of the cargo ships that brought the cars across the ocean). The lashing down is probably what has caused some of the new cars being delivered to the new owners with out of spec alignments. That is also probably why Toyota will give you a free alignment within one year & the first 20,000 miles, but only if you claim handling problems or unusual tire wear (not just anybody who wants a free alignment).

    Ken (in Bolton,Ct)
     
  6. adamace1

    adamace1 Senior Member

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    Thanks Ken. I got all the way under the rear of the car to make sure one of the springs wasn't broke, everything looked fine. Maybe this is normal, maybe others will measure and see?

    I don't drive on rough roads, maybe bumpy but always paved.
     
  7. Hoosier1

    Hoosier1 Member

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    I've noticed that the left side seems lower when viewing the rear of the car on a level surface. However, when measured from the floor to the top of the wheel well, the left side is only 1/8" lower. It's assumed that this condition is normal.

    Since you have a 2" difference, that condition should be evaluated by your Toyota dealer. I would contact your SA or saleperson before tire or suspension damage is experienced. Also, it would seem logical that your fuel mileage would be reduced.
     
  8. adamace1

    adamace1 Senior Member

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    My mpg is normal. I am driving very short trips now so i do see a lower number but it's normal i can't get over 50mpg with trips less than 3-5 miles. I'm not going to bring it to a Toyota dealer, don't feel like paying them unless i have too. I layed under the car there is no damage to anything, both spring have no cracks, are both mounted the same, everything else on the rear end looks good too. Tire wear is even, i only rotate every 10,000 miles. No noises or ride difference from when the car was new.