I noticed recently that my Xterra has developed a lean toward the driver's side. It can be seen from both the front end and back end. I did some measurements and found out that I've lost around 1" on that side of the vehicle.

The dealership alignment guy, who I've used before and does great work, told me that the torsion bars are slipping and that they would have to get under there and inspect everything to figure out why. I did have a very large alignment job done (bolts unfrozen, etc) around the first part of February but he said this is in no way related.

Is this a common problem on the Xterra, a normal problem, or a sign of something bad? It may have been getting worse for awhile but it is in the past week that I have really noticed it starting to lean. It is bad enough you can tell it from inside the vehicle as well.

Thanks for any advice anyone can give.

crank your driver's side t-bar until it raises that side back up to height.

t-bars are springs. springs wear out over time. As they start to wear, they lose some of their strength and will allow it to sag. This is no big deal, and is nothing to worry about. It's an inherent property of torsion bar springs. Just be lucky you can fix this problem by cranking the t-bar tighter. If it were a coil spring, you'd have to replace the whole spring.

If it is just normal sagging then you're right... but it would be good to take it apart and make sure the splines aren't slipping or anything.

This is a pretty simple do-it-yourself check/fix if you're mechanically inclined... search around here and in the Backyard Mechanic forum for "torsion bar crank" and "PML" (poor man's lift... where you crank up the torsion bars and add shackles in the rear for an inch or so of lift for very little $)

I PM'd him the excellent guide that Bobby B. sent me, which made simple work of it.

Thanks for the PM and for everyone's advice. The PM is VERY good instructions!

I'm going to look at it at first chance and see if it's something I can do. It's just good to hear it's not something serious.