Recently I came across a topic from another forum website: http://www.mitsubishi-forums.com/t52...utlander33.htm
and since I am of curious nature I took my time and took some measurements of my 2009 Outlander ES 4WD and astonishingly I came with similar observation. All my tires have same tire pressure on a level ground and yet (see attached photo) the rear driver side has a different measurement than rear passenger side (by about 0.5in). I have tried several parking spots and there always seems to be a discrepancy of about half an inch in the rear. The front driver/passenger side has the same measurements so there is no issue in the front. Its just the rear. Can someone please verify it? Might this be a design flaw? Bad batch of cars? Or there is a reason for such a design?

EDIT: When driving, car doesn't vibrate or pull to the left or right, doesn't make any noises, basically it looks to be working without any noticeable problems.

 

Maybe the gas tank? The fill tube is on driver's side and while I haven't crawled underneath my Outlander to confirm I would suspect the tank is more on the driver's side. Also the spare tire is slightly offset to the driver's side.

 

Hey azjake, thanks for the reply, but here is the issue, I went on to measure my Lancer, my friends Montero and Galant and all of them are rather even from left to right side, so far my Outlander (and it is the only Outlander that I have measured) is the only car with this phenomenon. Anyway, when you get a chance and some free time, can you please measure both of the rear sides to see if you have similar discrepancy between rear sides? Thanks.

 

I measured and there does appear to be a difference of about 3/8 of an inch. This is with about a half a tank of gas.

Like you there are no problems with alignment or pulling to one side or another. In fact after 20,000 miles my Outlander handles as straight as it did when I drove it off the lot, and this is with the OEM tires and without having any alignment or wheel balancing done.

 

My 2007 LS also sits slightly lower on one side but it does not always do this. I suspect this is due to a combination of factors. The rear springs are soft on these vehicles. As the rubber suspension bushings wear and get dirty, they probably have variable amounts of resistance to suspension movement. A failed bushing will offer little or no resistance. I believe the asymmetrical height is a combination of tolerance stack ups between the springs and the rubber bushings and is not a consistent thing.

I have air bags installed on my Outlander and I notice that when I pump them up to about 30-40 psi for heavy loads, the vehicle does not sit lower on one side any more. The higher spring rate seems to make a difference. I don't drive at those elevated pressures unless the cargo area is full. My Outie displayed the uneven ride height before installation of the air bladders so I do not believe they cause the problem when the pressure is lower. My vehicle does track straight and handle properly so I don't worry much about the ride height.

 

Has anyone tried measuring with a driver in the driver's seat. Might even things out. Just a thought.

 

Glad you started this thread BLITZ, I do also have a problem with it. And yes its .5inch higher on the right rear. On the other end, my front is also uneven, and when I do the math it evens everything out.

At first I didn't notice the difference before I put rubber lifters on my rear. (my rear end sags a little bit maybe because of my towbar)

 

Thanks for all the replies. Funny thing is that I have measured like 5 other cars from sedans to SUVs and all of them had rather even front left/right, rear left/right ride heights, and my Outlander in the front is also even but the rear seems to show discrepancy, and again, the car sits lower on the rear left (driver) side so if I would sit as a driver the height on the rear driver side would drop even more (wouldn't even out). I know that BMW does a similar thing, on the new models usually the driver side sits a little lower than the passenger side (handling reasons), but they do this to both, front and rear. My Outie only shows difference on the rear. On the other hand, BMW cars usually have a 50/50 (front/rear) weight distribution where Outlander is more front heavy (60/40). So maybe it has something to do with driving dynamics/handling setup but it is a bit weird, I just hope it is not some engineering/spring installation flop. Anyway, for now I am not worried about it to much, again, my car seems to drive straight , without any noises, without uneven tire wear, I just wanted to see if my car was special, I guess not.