I recently serviced the suspension on my 2003 xterra that i've owned for about 6 months.

Parts replaced:

- All 4 shocks (OEM replacement)
- Front sway bar end link bushings
- Passengers side complete upper and lower control arms (biggest pain in the ass ever).


After replacing the upper/lower control arms on the passengers side (keep in mind there's a new shock in there as well), my truck now sits about 1 to 1-1/2 inches lower on the side with the new UCA/LCA.

I replaced said parts because there was a huge crack around the lower strut perch/mount on my LCA which finally gave out and left my strut rattling around freely mounted to nothing essentially (super dangerous).

Before the LCA broke, the ride height was normal on both sides. I actually didn't discover the damage until I went to replace my sway bar end link bushings (which were also completely shot).

I'm just wondering if anyone can chime in about something I may have done wrong during the installation to cause the ride height difference. Keep in mind, all 4 struts are new as well as all of the end link bushings. Only the control arms on the passengers side have been replaced.

Could an improperly set torsion bar change the ride height by over 1"? I'm referring to the bar attached from the rear of the LCA (via a 3-bolt bracket and that damned spline headed bolt) that runs front to back attaching again to the middle of the frame where the adjustment anchor is located.

I also noticed some bent metal (dent in oil pan, bent sway bar mount, bent LCA mount area) as i was working on my truck, so the previous owner was clearly not too kind to this vehicle.

Part of me is wondering if there is frame damage causing this issue, but that doesn't make much sense as the ride height was fine before i replaced the passengers side control arms.

I've compared the suspension on both sides of my truck, and it honestly looks like I installed everything properly. This is my first time working on 4WD truck suspension though, so I'm hoping there's an adjustment i've missed somewhere.


Thanks for the help!