My recently "partially restored" 914-4 seems to have a noticeable lean. I checked the distance from the ground to the wheel-well all around and this is what I got:

Front Passenger/Right: 26"
Rear Passenger/Right: 23.5"

Front Driver's Side/Left: 25"
Rear Driver's Side/Left: 22.5"

I don't know what's "normal" for 914's but I'm wondering if I should be worried? I want to do more work to the car (electrical, shifting) but I feel like this needs to get sorted out first. I checked some pics from 2024 to compare and it looks like it might have been like this for a while so not sure why it seems much more noticeable now.

Any advice/thoughts/suggestions?


Quick History:
My late dad was the original owner. It was his daily driver for many years and then garaged for many years after he retired. At some point he passed it along to me. I'm not aware of any major body damage. I've heard stories of it being involved in an accident in the early 70's but I don't have any details.

I like to tinker but I'm no mechanic and I don't know much about 914's. In early 2020's I started a restoration project with a local shop - body (remove rust and dents), fresh paint, rebuilt engine, new exhaust, refresh interior ... spent more than I should have but got it looking pretty and back on the road. Brought it home summer of 2024. I've driven it maybe 100 miles in 2 years.

Aug 2026 .... sorry about the orientation
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Aug 2024 ... for comparison
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1 inch lean is significant. First thing i would check is if a rear suspension console is cracked or any issue with the trailing arm. May be difficult to see without a lift.
I would measure the ride height from the bottom of the rocker panels to the ground, front and rear.

Did you just notice the lean ?
What kind of rear shocks and springs? Could be a rear spring sagging. But they usually gag equally.
Maybe a local experienced member can help you check it out.

I've been into old cars most of my adult life. After many years of driving, especially if it was a large person driving the car everyday, most I went to see the suspension saged on the drivers side. When you had this work done did they do any suspension work?




@unclemoki

Just get a fat girlfriend

Old suspension. Worn out springs, worn out bushings, worn out inserts. It’s really common on these cars. Just like replacing the soft brake lines. If you don’t know the last time it was done, it’s probably time to do it.

There’s probably a 914world member near by to you who could take a look and give you an opinion.

the easy button

The front height is easily adjustable with the torsion bar adjusters.

When you bring the driver side up or the passenger side down (or combination of both) you will simultaneously get cross car weight jacking effects that will help even things out.

Whether you can get it perfect will depend on the state of the rest of the suspension and integrity of the body as others have mentioned.

Nice looking car!
Welcome to the menagerie!

I've got a silver 75 myself.

The rear springs are terrible about sagging. They were SOFT from the factory and prone to sagging early.

They are easy to change. Normal upgrade 100lb springs are what you want.

The front torsion bars don't sag nearly as much and are easily adjustable.

Only problem is they need to be visually inspected for surface damage.

You get to take those puppies out.

Aged front bushings can allow the torsion bars to contact metal, create stress risers in the OD of the bar, and in a worst-case scenario the bar can snap.
If it does this when stopped -no big deal.
If it does this at 80mph- BIG DEAL.

So, as long as you have good mounting points (rust is the enemy) I'd buy new rear springs and new front control arm bushings.
If the torsion bars have wear on the OD replace them as well.

If the partial restoration did not include suspension and brake work you have more "restoration" type work left to do.

I appreciate all of the feedback, THANKS!

My worry was that I might be discovering some kind of warp in the unibody. When I looked at the 2024 pictures, I noticed that the driver's side tail light is closer to the bumper than the passenger's side which is what got me wondering. If that WAS the case, I was thinking I should halt any more work until that gets worked out. But if this is just a "suspension" issue, that's a relief and something I can deal with. And maybe that difference in gap between the tail light and the bumper between the right and left side is nothing to worry about.

Yeah, I'm a big-ish guy ... 250+. I typically drive solo although my wife (she's definitely lighter than me) has threatened to steal the keys a few times.

Looking at the numbers I posted earlier, and ignoring the lean, the difference in height between the front and back is consistently 3". Is that typical?

As for the entire length of Driver's side being 1" lower than the entire length of the Passenger's side - I'll put it up on the QuickJacks to see what I can find ... not exactly sure what I'm looking for but maybe something will be obvious.

@bdstone914 ; @Shivers
The shop I've been using specializes in classic Porsche and the owner has a couple of really nice 914's and 911's. He reassured me that his bodywork sub was top notch. They took care of the rust on the "hell hole", added a new battery tray, and said they gave the body a full once over and that there was a little rust but not much and it was all taken care of. Not sure about "wear" though. I'll have to re-check the receipts to see what else was done (if itemized). I know all "soft" stuff was replaced so I would assume any rubber bushings. Not sure why I'm just noticing this lean. My wife said she recalls thinking it leaned a little bit when I brought it home but reassures me that it now seems much more noticeable. Not sure about the specs on the springs or shocks but I'll try to document what I see when I get under it, for ref.


@Ninja - Thanks! it has been a labor/effort of love/nostalgia. I was hoping to have it done before my dad passed so I could take him out for a ride, but the restoration opportunity came too late. Still, I felt the need to finish what I started, if only as a nod to my dad's work ethic. Although he was from the depression era and probably would have told me to keep the money and sell the car ... lol!

Seeing that it’s a family car, the idea that it took a really big hit and bent the chassis is about a 1000-1 compared to the chance that the typical wear points on the suspension are wearing out. Every 914 I’ve purchased , probably 20+, had worn out rear springs and worn out shocks and inserts. Granted, I’m not buying restored cars but those items are the go-to for replacement on a 914. The good thing for you is they are a minor cost in the overall scheme of things and easy to do either at home or by any mechanic.
Check over your restoration receipts and see if the suspension was touched. You can’t just assume the bushings have been replaced. They don’t just drop in so it’s not a general maintenance item like say brake pads.

, probably a combination of the above

Oh, and thank you all for the warm welcome! I'll check the member directory to see if I locate members local to me.

@mepstein - Thanks, I'll check that out when I have the car up.

It was mentioned already, but I would start with the passenger suspension console.
Springs sag over time, but I think weight in the driver’s seat would lessen the load on the right rear spring, so I doubt that’s the issue.

After making sure there’s nothing structurally wrong, when you do get to the point of setting the right height on all four corners, make sure you are parked on fully level ground. Don’t just adjust it on the street. And I’m betting that many (most?) residential garage floors aren’t truly level.
Mine looked level but I found that there was a 1/2” change in height from the front left corner to the right rear corner.

I would start by measuring to the chassis not the fenderwells. Flat/level garage floor to the corner doughnuts on the floor pan. Factory correct should be uniformly ~6 in.

I keep seeing mention of bushings and inserts (ie dampers / shock absorbers) but let’s be clear here. The only thing that sets ride height is rear springs & front torsion bars.

That looks and sounds like a really nice car. I saw you mentioned you have a 3" difference front to back. That is a pretty big difference. Most 914's sit with a slightly lower front. I think mine is 1/2" to 3/4" difference off the top of my head.

One of the things to watch out for is when the front is height adjusted with the adjustment screws, (easy to do- make sure you have the weight off the wheels when adjusting them) is that you bottom them out. If that is the case, the torsion bars need to be re-indexed so ideally the adjuster is sitting in the middle of the adjustment travel.

Cheers, Michael

I agree with all of the above

I’d put new bushings and rear springs in
Freshen any other components that need it at the same time (shocks/balljoints/etc as needed)


Then ride height and corner balance

Finally
You really need to do a 4 wheel alignment when you finished
Changing ride height also changes alignment

I wouldn't count on donuts being factory spec height!

Not that it would make that much of a level difference, but check your tire wear and pressures and make sure they're the same.

I found the invoice/receipt and right at the top it says, "Recommendations: front and rear shocks. Car sits lower on right rear and cannot be properly 100 aligned perfect. tie rods"

So yeah, I think I found my next steps. Although it notes that the right rear sits low ... which is different than what I found, unless "right" means driver's side.

Still learning about this car and reading/watching stuff online. Looks like the rear shocks are straight forward but not so sure about the front struts, based on the videos below. Also, not sure if I can/should try and get away with doing only the rear for now, driving it around, and then leaving the front for a later date.

Front Strut Replacement on a Porsche 914
Porsche 914 Steering, Front Suspension and Brakes Install [Project Bumblebee Ep. 26]
Porsche 914 Rear Shock and Coilover Install DIY ... the "coilover" idea looks pretty nifty!

Good call. Tires look good. They are new and <100miles.

I'd like to think the donuts would provide a datum, but perhaps not

I’ll post one more time.

Shock absorbers have nothing to do with ride height.

You will be better served to spend your time focusing on adjusting the front torsion bars and replacing the rear springs if need be.

Do the front torsion bar adjustment first - it costs you nothing but time to do it.

CV - 27 years as automotive engineer with most of that focused on chassis systems.

Exactly, adjusting the front torsion bars is straightforward and easy. Can the bars (either one or the other) lose some of their ability to spring and return?

Actually, if this is all I need (replacing the strut insert), this looks a little less complicated (assuming I'm careful with the brake lines):

Porsche 914 front strut insert

Remove the top nut with an impact. Pull the strut under the fender lip. Remove the gland nut on the strut with a pipe wrench. Use a jack to raise the a-arm and strut up into the wheel well to reinstall. Can take 15 minutes if all goes well.

For what it's worth, when I got my 914, it was low on the driver's side. I replaced both of the rear shocks and springs, and it made the car level. No need to mess around with the front torsion bars. I would recommend just changing one thing at a time to see if the specific item you change makes the car level.

Thanks @Superhawk996 & @930cabman . I appreciate your insight. I've been trying to educate myself on what the Torsion Bars are and how they work. I didn't try adjusting them but I took a pic of their current positions. The Driver's side is about in the middle. But looks like the passenger's side is almost bottomed out which, if I'm understanding correctly, means it is almost adjusted as low as it can go (without reindexing as @Cairo94507 mentioned)?

Passenger's Side
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Driver's Side
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That's what it looked like, thanks. As @Superhawk996 mentioned, this might not impact ride height but since it was listed as "recommended" by the shop, I'll probably do it anyway. Esp if it's that easy.

Yeah. Since the shop recommended rear shocks, I'll just do them and the rear springs too. I might as well do the front strut inserts too since front shocks were recommended as well. Once those are done, I'll re-assess. As @Superhawk996 mentioned, the front struts shouldn't have anything to do with ride height (that's the torsion bars) but again ... it needs it so might as well.

You have plenty of torsion bar adjustment to play with and to get a feel for if you’re going to have to reindex anything.

Your passenger side is near max height so you’ll be loosening that one to lower that side. Driver side is low so you’ll be tightening (bolt clockwise).

Spray a day in advance with penetrating oil to make life easier.

Tightening raises.
Loosening lowers.

Take weight off the wheel when adjusting and never get under car without jackstands in place. (You said you don’t wrench much so forgive me if I’m reinforcing safety)

Yes but it’s pretty minor on torsion bars due to their size. Even if they do - you have the adjusters to compensate. @930cabman

Thanks for the suggestion. I was thinking that might be a good idea since I wasn't sure if the wheel wells were supposed to be the same height all the way around. Considering what @Jamie and @930cabman said, here is what I got measuring to the bottom edge of the 4 "donuts" (which all seem to jut out from the bottom about the same distance):

Front Passenger/Right: 8"
Rear Passenger/Right: 7.5"

Front Driver's Side/Left: 7"
Rear Driver's Side/Left: 6.5"

Which suggests only .5" difference front to back and 1" difference between the right and left.

BTW - Found this image at the site below ... does that say 4.7" (120mm) from the chassis (car loaded)? Wow.

https://www.p914.org/p914_dimensions.htm

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