71 lt1 bent rear camber rods.

[woodhouse]

hello, i have a 71 lt1 vert that has bent reat camber rods, and they are both bent at the exact same degree. is this from an oil change gone wrong?(bent by mistake) or is it from some previous owner racing the vehicle?(bent on purpose). what degree of danger is it? how much and how involved to fix?

thanks in advance, w.

 

[Ken Anderson]

That's the quickie way to set the camber! Probably done by a tire dealer of the local Chevy dealer who didn't want to attack those camber bolts. No danger and a fairly easy fix.

 

[Jack]

That's the quickie way to set the camber! Probably done by a tire dealer of the local Chevy dealer who didn't want to attack those camber bolts. No danger and a fairly easy fix.

Ditto. And if the camber bolts are badly-seized/ruined, you can get a new set of camber bolts & nuts through your local parts house. MOOG/Federal Mogul Cam Bolt Set P/N K8243A ... $10 or less per complete rear set. If the strut rod rubber bushings are shot ... Energy Suspension Black Polyurethane Rear Strut Rod Bushing Set P/N 3.7101G will refurbish both ends of both rods if Outside Diameter of Eyes are 1 1/2" ... local parts house just got em for mine at $26 per complete rear set. Measure the rods' eyes ... later rods' eyes are larger 1 3/4" OD ... an older car could have been retrofitted with either. ES black poly set for later 1 3/4" OD eyes is P/N 3.7102G.
JACK:gap

 

[Koop]

hello, i have a 71 lt1 vert that has bent reat camber rods, and they are both bent at the exact same degree. is this from an oil change gone wrong?(bent by mistake) or is it from some previous owner racing the vehicle?(bent on purpose). what degree of danger is it? how much and how involved to fix?

thanks in advance, w.

Mine were bent on my '69 by the dealer when the car was new, they are still bent. Every once in while a tire store tries to sell me new ones. It was a fix for the rear camber long ago...

 

[80convertible]

Mine were bent and the bushings shot. I'm in the process of restoring the rear suspension and switched to heim jointed camber rods. On the other hands, I know of someone who was able to have a machine shop straighten out his bent factory rods for about $20.00/pair.

 

[Vettehead Mikey]

Usually a shop will bend them to get alignment if the adjustment cams have run out of travel. You'll probably find that the bushings are just plain worn out. I can't agree that poly replacements are the right thing to go with, but it's your car.

 

[motorman]

hello, i have a 71 lt1 vert that has bent reat camber rods, and they are both bent at the exact same degree. is this from an oil change gone wrong?(bent by mistake) or is it from some previous owner racing the vehicle?(bent on purpose). what degree of danger is it? how much and how involved to fix?

thanks in advance, w.

cause by someone using them as the place to put the lift pickup on a 2 post type lift

 

[woodhouse]

is it safe to drive with them bent? seems to handle great.

cause by someone using them as the place to put the lift pickup on a 2 post type lift

 

[80convertible]

is it safe to drive with them bent? seems to handle great.

I've been driving with bent rods for 6 years with no problems. I don't think its unsafe, but your rear alignments is probably not correct which will wear your tires quicker.

 

[Koop]

is it safe to drive with them bent? seems to handle great.

My car has hundreds and hundreds of thousands of hard and fast miles on it, the Rods have always been bent. My rear tires do not wear unevenly, but they do seem to wear from to many hard launches!

 

[Vettehead Mikey]

is it safe to drive with them bent? seems to handle great.

If the alignment is within spec, nothing to get excited about. More of a cosmetic issue than anything