My Ford Endeavour is sagging & tilting to the left

You will notice that the left side is 10 to 20 mm lower than the right, at both front and rear wheels.

BHPian ruzbehxyz recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

After one year of ownership, I realised that the Ford Endeavour tilts / sags to the left.

A typical way to figure this out is to measure the height from the wheels to the top of the wheel arches. You will notice that the left side is 10 to 20 mm lower than the right, at both front and rear wheels. On my vehicle it is about 10 mm.

Front left side - 28 cm. from body to top of alloy.

Rear left - 28 cm. from body to top of alloy.

Front right / Driver side - 29 cm. from body to top of alloy.

Rear right - 29 cm. from body to top of alloy.

The approximate difference is about 10 mm, which becomes quite apparent on slopes and when a heavy adult sits in the passenger side. On some Endeavours, it is higher.

A crude way to figure this out is to drive at moderate speeds on a highway and take sharp right turn, the vehicle will tilt to the left. On the other hand, if you turn to the left, the vehicle straightens out, or tilts to the left only, depending on the speed.

Effects of this:

• Uneven tyre wear. (My threads on the sides have gone, while the centre has good depth remaining. One can easily see this).
• Uneven brake pad wear. (My rear brake right pad was totally worn out while rear left had 50% life).
• Uneven weight distribution.
• Pulling to the left, increases after the wheel alignment is gone. Proper alignment makes the vehicle drive straight, but eventually leads to uneven tyre wear.
• Car feels wonky to drive, if any tyre has lesser pressure.

Even when the vehicle is parked on a flat even surface, you can notice that the vehicle is tilting on the left.

While many roads in India are sloped to the left*, this aggravates the issue more and the Endeavour tilts more due to the weight.

*so that water does not collect in the centre of the road and towards the divider, and drains away from the road. If this slop is not good enough, there is a huge chance of aquaplaning.

One of the arguments is that the fuel tank is located on the left rear side of the vehicle. However on an empty tank or full tank, there is hardly any difference on the tilt.

Some owners in Australia have installed high capacity fuel tanks (125 litres, 140 litres). They initially thought this was one of the reasons, but it was proven otherwise.

This issue is widely discussed on Australian forums, but the Everest and Ranger owners have not come to a conclusive solution. Many owners have tried various solutions like:

• Tyre alignment. (Most basic thing – does not work).
• Shocks adjustments.
• Replacement of shocks to performance shocks like ARB, Ironman etc.
• Replacement of front bearings, bushing, tie rods, upper and lower ball joints.

The issue has also been taken up with Ford Australia, but they have concluded that the tilt within +- 20 mm. is normal.

On one thread, it was noted that this tilt was deliberate to compensate for single man driving. However this is incorrect. Being 95 kg, I tried it, but it hardly makes any difference. Even if it makes a difference it will only be in the front. What about the rear? So the vehicle will still run uneven.

In the USA, the Rangers have this problem, but on the driver's side, as in US, it is left-hand-drive. The Everest is not sold in US, but the Ranger is and the issue exists there as well.

Will discuss this with my service station and update. I am trying to figure this out and solve it. I would be happy to see feedback from existing Endeavour owners.

Here's what BHPian Jeroen had to say on the matter:

If there is no play in the suspension components as such, this is most likely to a problem with the springs and or the mounting of the springs.

I am not familiar with this vehicle but on many cars the springs rest against some sort of bushing or ring.

Either the spring or that bushing wears out, crumples etc. In some cases the springs need to installed in a particular orientation. Over time they might rotate somewhat and cause difference in height as well.

Forget about all those other components. Ride height when standing still is determined by the springs and the way they are mounted, nothing else.

I don’t buy that up to 20mm would be normal. Ask them for where that is stated in the official work shop documentation.

Good luck.

Here's what BHPian 1.2TSI7DSG had to say on the matter:

Measuring the centre itself is a variation so can you take this to a wheel alignment person and repeat the measurement on the stand? It will give you all 4 tyres on a flat plane to measure on. Do bounce the car a bit to release any braking compression stresses in the suspension.

• Ground to fender both sides
• Ground to the centre of front bolt of the lower control arm

These two measurements will help sort out whether the ride height setting itself has changed or there is an issue with the spring/spring mounts.

On other note do check for the following:

• Damage to bushings
• Damage to top/bottom mounts damper/spring assembly
• Anti-roll bar links and bushes

Usually this difference is within acceptable limits. But as you also observed tyre wear, brake wear and the "wonky" feeling which I think would point towards a drop in stiffness of the anti-roll bar mechanism.

Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.