just a few rear end problems + spring q's
 

for starters, i forgot to resize the pictures.

what you need to know:
-just installed lowering springs in my car
-fronts and drivers' rear sit within 1/4in of 27 in on level surface
-pass rear sits at about 26 1/4in
-i can fit 3 fingers comfortably between tire and wheel well besides the rear pass side
-rear end springs' pig-tails both point towards drivers side
-i already know i spelled "axle" wrong on all of the images

pictures: (large pictures)

i couldn't really tell if the spot where it looks like the spring hit the axle was a bump i hit or if when the car is lowered, it's resting on the axle a little. not pictured is a little scratch on the spring where the red arrow is pointing. maybe that's why it's making the other side lower?

drivers' side spring

passengers' side spring

something else i noticed when installing my springs, some black shit all on the inside of my drivers side rim:

driver's side rim

nice spray line from wheel rotation:

rear drivers' side wheel well

found out what's leaking/dripping. smells like grease and it's coming from in between my rotor and the dust shield:

my car needs a diaper

now it's only been two days and everyone's telling me to wait a week or so for it to "settle" but they're off now so if they settle, they'll still be uneven, right?

next question is, wtf is wrong with my rear axle?

Whats leaking is brake fluid, check the connection from the line to the caliper.

Also check under the hood at your brake fluid level.

I cant help ya with the springs tho!

it smells like grease and the brake fluid in the reservoir is just below the plastic "+" shaped thing on the inside (when you pop off cap and look down), which is about 1/8 in from the max line.

seems like there's too much "stuff" caked on my rim to be that little bit of fluid (+ some brake dust).

Did you recently fill the rear end? It looks like it's pushing a little fluid out of the relief valve on the axle tube as well...

BTW, if I had to guess I'd say your axle seal has bit the dust on that side, doesn't look like brake fluid to me.

It's not brake fluid. The axle seal is shot, just like WNR said. Replace the seals, buy new Iso's. As far as the car not sitting level, there are a couple of things you can check. Obviously, if the car is on a level surface, an abnormal amount of weight on one corner, the front A-arm bushings being pre-loaded, the rear control arms being pre-loaded, not bolting everything in evenly from side to side, spring orientation (although yours seem fine), siezed shock (your shit is rusted).

i didn't even know you could fill it.

level surface (check)
abnormal weight (nothing but a 1/2 full tank of gas different from the stock springs)
a-arm pre-loaded (not sure) X
rear control pre-loaded (not sure) X
bolt torque (we used a torque wrench)
seized shock (it still moves up and down when i hop on the back of my car)

i don't know what you mean by "pre-loaded." as in, weight being on the a-arm/rear control arms before we tightened them up?

i'm pretty sure that the fronts were all tightened with jack off of the a-arms and we tightened the rear with the jack taking the slack off of the axle from the differential.

Pre-loading the bushings would be tightening the bolt down to the correct ft-lbs without having the a-arm or the axle at ride height. You should use a jack and lift the A-arm to ride height or lift the axle and then tighten the control arm bolts. It is fairly unlikely that this would cause a lot of difference in ride height from one corner to another but it's something.

If it wern't for me having an adjustable suspension my car wouldn't sit the same on all of the corners. I even purposefully have my driver's side front about an 1/8" higher to compensate for when I get in. On the rear one side is adjusted to be nearly 1/2 and inch lower (or higher?) than the other side. I've have the suspension apart a dozen times and it is consistent.

that might be our problem. i had the axle at the height of the shocks so we could slide the bolts in. once in, he got on them with the torque wrench.

how are you supposed to get under there to tighten them when the axle is at ride height? i had a hard time getting my fat head under there when it was on the ground. (coming from the rear bumper towards the front)

I can't imagine the preload would throw it off much, I've never had any issue with this at all.. My immediate guess would be a worn out shock, plus the stock shocks aren't really mean for lowering springs anyway. How many miles are on your shocks/struts? You've probably got a combo of worn out isolators and a weak rear shock. The only thing that I can think as far as the drivers side spring rubbing would be the control arm (upper or lower) bushings, if they're shot you could be getting some play out of the rear end letting it move back and forth slightly.

How does the car track? When you go into a corner does it feel a little wishy-washy or is it planted and rotating well? You really need to take a minute and look over all of you bushings carefully and make sure that they're not torn or just getting spongy. If they are wearing out the rear end will definitely move around a little and that can be a serious problem eventually if one decided to give up entirely.