suspension height & tyre wear question.

Hi people, not familiar with a C3 so does anyone know whether or not it is bad news for the right hand front wheel arch of a 2003 HDi to be 3/4" closer to the ground than the left, with same tyres fitted, at the same pressures & no springs are broken?

Only had car a few weeks, so don't know it's history, but something's happened to it.. it has been resprayed but only on it's right hand side, at front, rear and above & between doors (highest point, as if been rolled?), and windscreen is a replacement one. No record of accident on insurance database, but dvla shows last year failed MOT with both front tyres running bald on inner edges, dunno if that's red herring or no.. are these car's prone to doing that to their tyres?

Cheers.

Hello nobeard

I know the early C3 diesels can be very low at the front, but I don't know what causes it.

My suggestion is that the side thats been fixed has new parts and gets the ride height back to normal and the other side has been untouched. The tyre wear is due to a suspension/steering geomerty problem, but its usually just tracking as the C3s turning circle is not as tight as some expect it to be. OK, so its not as bad as a fiat 500, but its no London taxi.

Someone knows (not me) which bush or bit to change to fix the front droop, thats probably the bit you need to change on one side to even things up. Then check the tracking.

I doubt if its been rolled, more likely someones pulled out of a junction (at low speed) without looking (hence no airbag activation).

Hi I found the handling of the c3 was very poor I had the tracking check by a friend who owned a garrage he has retired and get I'll . The handling is now very good at 90 +not in this country or I would not admitt. It corning is not so at that speed nor is mpg take care Pete

nobeard wrote: ↑Thu Jun 14, 2012 1:11 am Hi people, not familiar with a C3 so does anyone know whether or not it is bad news for the right hand front wheel arch of a 2003 HDi to be 3/4" closer to the ground than the left, with same tyres fitted, at the same pressures & no springs are broken?

Probably a worn shock absorber or the wrong spring. Unfortunately with second hand cars it's difficult to know it's history and what the previous owner(s) have done.

nobeard wrote: ↑Thu Jun 14, 2012 1:11 am Only had car a few weeks, so don't know it's history, but something's happened to it.. it has been resprayed but only on it's right hand side, at front, rear and above & between doors (highest point, as if been rolled?),

When exposed to harsh sunlight the clear coat can craze. That tends to be on the upper surfaces of the paint work and random spots. I don't know, it's just a guess.

nobeard wrote: ↑Thu Jun 14, 2012 1:11 am and windscreen is a replacement one.

Um, you have problems with water leaking into the passenger compartment and specifically onto the fan blower resistor. Have they installed the windscreen correctly?

nobeard wrote: ↑Thu Jun 14, 2012 1:11 am No record of accident on insurance database, but dvla shows last year failed MOT with both front tyres running bald on inner edges, dunno if that's red herring or no.. are these car's prone to doing that to their tyres?

This can happen to any car with poor maintenance. Broken upper shock mounts, worn bushes and unserviceable shock absorbers may do that. You said in a later post that you have had the suspension looked at, lets hope that has fixed it.