If my ride height is significantly lower on the front wheel drivers side to the passenger side (3-5cm?), is this a sign of suspension needs? ie springs or shocks?
Not likley to be shocks they only absrob sudden uneveness in the road surface.
The springs will dicatate the ride height more than the shocks.
There was a similar thread on here a few weeks ago, lots of people seem to have uneven (‘lopsided’ maybe sounds too insulting) cars, after reading it last time I found myself going around the car with a tape measure; 310 all round +/- a couple off mm after putting on AGXs and Spax springs…god knows what the neighbour thought I was doing!!!
That said, if a spring has lost a bit of it’s ‘bounce’ could this lead to a drop on one side? I know you can have springs heat treated to regain their springiness so that would suggest they can loose it somehow???
Regarding ride height… of course the springs may be the problem but its worth checking that the body is straight to begin with! Is the difference beween ride left and right the same at the front and the back? If not, there may be a twist in the body.
I thought that my car (2000 MX5 Mark 2) was listing slightly to the left but on measuring it carefully I found that the shell is in fact slightly twisted, by about 15mm. I have read a spec which says that the tolerance is 10mm. I have had the car from new and it has never been in any kind of incident and the doors, boot and bonnet all fit perfectly. I have checked new cars in the local showroom and found that several had a list to one side or the other. I asked the dealer if he could check the body using a jig and he said he would charge £800 for this, but I subseqently found that all you need is a flat floor and a tape measure.
Is this parked on a smooth flat floor? If the ground isn’t perfectly flat your wheels won’t be either. I’ve used 4 post ramps with a bit of twist in them too. Your 3-5cm tolerance is big - how did you measure the ride height?