smoothsailing

Have a 79 Coupe, 4spd L48, frame seems straight. New rear spring, front coil springs, shocks. The body sits high (several inches) passenger side rear. Trying to use local "experts" to find out why so far no luck. Any suggestions on cause or corrections?


[Modified by smoothsailing, 6:27 PM 8/22/2003]

AGVI

My car is crooked in rear also.
I initially thought it was all the beer I've had to drink over the past five years, but I now realize I have no clue....this also might be attributed to the amount of beer consumption!!!(the fact that I have no clue-just in case YOU didn't get it!!!)

Sorry I couldn't help, but don't worry MANY people will!!!
Welcome to the forum!!! :jester


[Modified by AGVI, 1:54 PM 8/22/2003]

SnoDrgn

:lurk:
Been there done that. Haven't found an answer yet either.

WashingtonRacer

Have you checked the body mounts? is there an equal amount of spacers? are you positive the frame is straight? Check at both the wheels and body mount locations. all the correct bushings are used in the rear suspension?
I had this same problem honestly, I ended up pulling the body off, then seperated the front from the rear, put it all back together and measured it out, now it sits perfect.

smoothsailing

Thanks for all the input. I'm a first time Vette owner. Learning as I go. Will be measuring and checking the things you listed. Have not had the frame on a machine but two shops one body the other high performance car shop looked at it and think the frame is ok. Thanks again, will let you know if I find an answer.

Chuck Harmon

I posted about this over a year ago. When I measured from the frame reference points to the ground, the frame was level, but the highest point of each of the wheel arches didn't come out level. The body of my car was high on the passengers side. The polling of the forum that I requested showed the vast majority of all the respondents had the passenger side high too. Mine was not a spring issue. I rotated the spring and found the problem had not changed. The fact that the frame is level also shows the suspension is ok.

It is my opinion that the jigs Chevy used to form up the body were crooked. I added close to 1/2 of shims to ALL the drivers side mounting points to help bring things into alignment. It is almost perfect now. If you shim only part of one side, you will twist the body and very likely crack it.

Chuck

WashingtonRacer

By the way, Smoothsailing, Welcome to the Forum, As you may be finding out, there is a wealth of knowlege here that you just cannot find anywhere else. Or in the case of your question, you may quickly find that everyone has the same darn issue, and no simple answer.

smoothsailing

Well going to take this three days and put to use this guidence you've all been provided, just wanted to say thanks again.Have a nice holiday.

smoothsailing

PS Don't grade my grammar please!

Rubyred

Now that you mention it--is smoothsailing one or two words ;)

Welcome to Vettdom :cheers:

A C

Chuck, the body on my 69 sits perfectly. As a matter of fact, given it's present state, that is the only thing that still makes the car look good. :D All of the tape is still on the body shims. Maybe it depends on who shimmed you car on a certain day or something? :confused:

The stance makes a bigger visual impact than you think. Great looking cars that sit cockeyed just don't look right. Primered cars that sit level look great.

7T9Shark

Smoothsailing,

You are definitely not alone. Mine sat 3/4" high on the rear pass. side, too. Everything on the frame checked out, so I put a 1" longer spring bolt on the right side and now it's level. Yes, I know it's a "bubba" fix, but it doesn't seem to affect anything.

Buy the bolt and enjoy your new stance.

1979toy

My '79 also sat low on the left side. I just figured it was from all of the driving without a passenger over the years and adjusted the rear spring bolts to level the car. I have not measured the frame to see if it is level (some things you just don't want to know).

Chuck Harmon

AC,

I am glad to hear yours does sit level. Mine was high on the passenger side with the original masking type tape on them too. Your thought that maybe they were better on some days than others is probably true. But do you see that even in this thread the majority of the cars sit high on the passenger side? Reminds me of Alpine sheep that always have to stand with their left side toward the hill to stand level! :jester Perhaps the shim guy had a short leg too making it look level to him?

More Corvette assembly trivia is definately needed!

Chuck

A C

You're right. I sure wish some St. Louis plant guys would come on the forum and give us some insight. :yesnod:

7T9Shark

Yes, I see a definite pattern here. What's the deal with the shims? Were they something the factory used to level the body? Where can they be found? (not that I'm going to drop everything and try to install them, just curious - those body mount bolts look pretty well determined to stay where they are)

smoothsailing

Thanks for all the feed back. Next weekend the tapemeasure and level are coming out to check the frame. Then I'll inspect all the contact points on the frame. One thing I did pickup on was the rear leaf spring(new) end bolts are not sitting level.One side is lower that the other. Not sure if it's related but at this point I'm looking at everything. This forum is really helpful. When a talk to one "expert" shop telling me the body will effect the alignment of the car and another one telling me they are not related it makes me realize I'm going to have to figure this out myself(and with all your help). PS Smoothsailing is one word! Thanks again.

smoothsailing

The rear spring bolts that you are refering to I assume are the bolts on either end of the rear leaf spring?

WashingtonRacer

The bolts you are refering to are the end ones I assume. "the ones that the spring attaches to. Now your saying they are not the same length? are the bolts the same length? or does one have more thread showing below the bushing than the other? Either way that would play a direct role in ride height. the higher the spring is up on the bolt, the higher the car will sit. make sure you have cotter pins in both bolts, and loosen the nuts all the way down. then you will know you are at the same setting on both side. Take it for a spin around the block "important cause the spring kinda needs to reset it's self" Then check to see how level it is.

smoothsailing

The bolts are the same length, they came with the spring. I have to reinspect them to answer your other question as to if more thread is showing on one side vs the other. What I did notice when under the car was that the spring end was lower on the passenger side of the car. That is the side which is sitting higher.