My left sidepod is 3.3cm off the ground, vs 4.8cm on the right.
At first i thought it was because i'd reinstalled it incorrectly after removing, but after double checking photos of the car before delivery - it has always been like this. The left side skirts hang lower than the front splitter. Pictures below show how it is now VS how it left the team workshop when it was delivered.
Having removed and reinstalled the sidepod about 4x since, i cannot see what could be causing it, and i've no reference to how it should be on other cars.
To reduce any doubt, the 3 bolts at the bottom which bolt into the chassis are all in place. The latches are all connected. The 4 guiding 'bubbles' or recesses in the top of the sidepod all slot into the upper body. The arm at the rear is hooked up. Everything is in place.
I'm also aware that the sidepod is in 2 parts, and the inner bit is rivetted to the 'outer'. I can't see any obvious breaks or tears. Pulling the sidepod up, lightly bending the upper bodywork gives me maybe another 1cm, but not the 1.5cm difference to the other side.
I checked the tyre pressures, and height from the wheel hub to floor - they are all the same. Maybe the ride height has been set to be slightly lower on 1 side - i counted the number of threads from the setting collar to the bottom, and the front left has about 3-4 more threads...but would that make 1.5cm of difference?
It can't be to compensate for driver weight, putting in a 70kg driver makes barely any difference to the ride height.
The left sidepod is worse for wear, the front has all been taped up. Moreover, it is rubbing with the sidepod at full lock left. With the wheel rotated just over 180 degrees, it is touching the top of the sidepod.
Full lock right is fine, and there's no rubbing with the right wheel/right sidepod at all, with the steering wheel rotated well over 180 to its maximum lock.
The teams response was...well if its all bolted back in then should be ok. And that the sidepod rubbing at full lock was normal..
i'm not convinced. And to have one side lower to the ground than the other doesn't make much sense to me.
Any thoughts?
My side skirts are about 52mm from the ground, both sides, so 33mm does sound quite low. I would start by establishing the actual chassis height (not ride height or drop height), measured from the steel tube chassis in four locations near each tire. Ideally, you want to do this on a flat and level surface. If that is not possible, then mark the exact tire locations, measure, then turn the car around 180 degrees and measure to confirm the measurement skews due to uneven ground.
If you find that the chassis height is even, then you can be certain that the side pod is mounted lower for some reason, and you can invest time determining what the difference is between the two side pods. If the chassis is lower on the left, then you should spend your time there to determine why.
My thoughts mirror David’s. I would start by checking the chassis height to determine if this is due to suspension alignment or if the side pod is mounted differently for some reason.
