Car leans to the left..............

[citruspilot]

:confused I have owned my car for over a month now and just noticed that the car leans to the left on level ground. Not much but enough that it caught my attention the other day sitting in the garage. I have checked the tire pressures and nothing wrong there. In fact you can take two fingers and insert them between the top of the tire and the fender on the left side of the car and three fingers or more between the top of tires and fender on the right side. Really strange if you ask me............

I have had the car inspected by a Corvette specialist here and he didnt notice it either and said that I had a very, very original and nice car. (PS, my car even has an original AM/FM/CB Delco radio installed from the factory that works just fine. He said that option is rare and may mean that the car was special ordered.....is that correct?) Anyway, he noticed nothing wrong with the suspension while he had it in the air and said the frame was good. Just needed some cleaning up.........which I plan on doing soon.

Anybody have any ideas as to why it leans and what I can do about it?? Is it spring related?? If so he mentioned that he could re-arch the rear spring and put new spacers in between the springs for about $150.00 complete R & R. Not because of a problem but to replace the "spacers" and put new spring response back in the car as I drive it. He did that to my other 1979 Vette years ago and it helped out tremendously, even made the rear sit up and look better.....

Other than that I really enjoy this car. I plan on taking it to the Lowes Motor Speedway in April and put it on display just for fun during the car show. I am looking forward to that........

Thanks for your help in advance on the leaning thing too........

Jeff

 

[brusso]

You may want to get under the car and take some measurements. I mean, you said you had a one finger difference from one side to the other from the tire to the fender. So I would measure from say the trailing arm to the frame(length of shock), on both sides. Then from the trailing arm to the same point on the body. This way you could isolate the problem to suspension or improper body mounting? If from trailing arm to frame, on both sides, are about equal and the measurements from the trailing arms to the body are different. Then I would suspect body mounting to frame. If the trailing arm to frame are off. Then God knows.

 

[citruspilot]

I thought about measuring the frame and that is a good idea as you suggested. Is this a common problem or is it somewhat rare? I mean if the problem is a body mounting thing what do you do then? In my case the body mounts look pretty good and no major dry rote is noted.....

If its a spring thing I guess thats pretty easy to figure out how to fix, just replace the coils and or have the rear spring re-arched as I mentioned above. However, which would you do first? Front or rear? And how do you tell which end, front or rear, is the culprit?

Jeff

 

[brusso]

I edited my post to say to measure length of shock(trailing arm to frame) and had an idea. Could it be that you have gas shocks and one has failed?

 

[Tom73]

Most all C3 that I see seem to lean to the left. Think about it, the springs are 30 or so years old. When there is weight in the car it is always on the left side, the driver. Never have a passanger and no driver, but you do have a driver and no passanger a lot. So the springs have saged some on the left.

Measure from the frame to the ground on the left then compare with the same spots on the right.

tom...

 

[citruspilot]

Brusso, good suggestion but I dont have gas shocks.

Tom, this particular Corvette has been in storage for awhile. It only has 28,000 miles total. I have only put 500 on it since I have owned it in the past 45 days and the previous owner never drove it. So I guess your suggestion could be true if it were a higher mile vehicle and used as a daily driver by a loner. Anyway, I'll do the suggested measuring and see what that tells me. I still dont know how to tell if its the rear or front springs though! :confused The car leans the same amount from the nose cone to the tail cone. Doesnt sag in the front or the rear.......just leans!

Jeff

 

[brusso]

Yah I thought that bad gas shock angle was pretty weak too. It does sound like a good place to measure though. If it winds up to not be suspension then I really don't know what or how to accurately inspect body mounts.

 

[brusso]

As far as is it the front or the rear. You could jack up the car and put it on matching jackstands on the frame in the same spot. This way letting only one set of wheels on the ground and take your measurements. Put it back on the ground and jack up the other end, in the same manner, and take more measurements.

 

[drags1998]

Measure twice ,then make a choice,A. if its the spring ,chance it. B. if you dont want to change it, try rsplacing the bolts at the end of the spring with the ajustable type. some of the time, the ajustable bolts will take care of it!!!! Good luck!!!! Paul

 

[brusso]

Drags ! I like it! Talk about keeping it simple. Bottom line fix it cheaply.

 

[Robin7TFour]

Don't forget most of our roads have a crown in the center to aid drainage. when driving we are constantly driving against the crown...on our left side. maybe another reason cars tend to sag on the left



ouch my brain hurts now


ROBIN

 

[citruspilot]

Robin, good point! And the earth turns to the left so that might have something to do with the sag too!

Good grief! I'll just take measurements and see what happens. I'll try to keep you guys posted.

Jeff

 

[Vettehead Mikey]

Robin, good point! And the earth turn to the left so that might have something to do with the sag too!

Good grief! I'll just take measurements and see what happens. I'll try to keep you guys posted.

Jeff

If you do confirm the lean, try swapping the rear spring end for end. Tom is correct that most of them lean, and most of them lean to the left.

 

[Robin7TFour]

JEFF, don't forget to factor in that the earth spins at 10,000 mph. hope that helps your calculations..



bubba.... the disney rocket scientist

 

[Willis76]

Robin, good point! And the earth turns to the left so that might have something to do with the sag too!

Jeff

Don't forget to factor in the distance from the equator. GM does recognize that their cars sit best at the equator. The farther north you go the more they tend to lean to the left and ........ the farther south you go...... etc.

You may need to move farther south or get that special suspension from the UP of Michigan or go with the Canadian type.

 

[Vettehead Mikey]

You may need to move farther south or get that special suspension from the UP of Michigan or go with the Canadian type.

Don't forget that your lean will have to be recalibrated into metric if you bring the car into Canada!

 

[citruspilot]

Actually there must be some logical explanation as to why some Vettes lean one way or the other, more so to the left it seems. Its strange if you ask me.

I measured my wheel openings "top dead center" above the center cap from the ground to the fiberglass and there is only about an inch difference from one side to the other ie, 27 1/2 inches on the left side and 28 1/2 inches on the right side. But it looks like so much more than that when you stand back and look at it. Maybe I am just too critical about it and because I know it leans it looks that much worse.

Well, I am going to have the spring be-bowed as stated earlier and see what happens. Either way it will make the car ride better thats for sure! And if it solves the leaning problem so much the better.

PS: If the world is spinning so fast why dont we land in a slightly different spot when we jump up into the air? :confused :eyerole

Jeff

 

[JrdnsEdu]

Mine leaned too before i put on the longer spring bolts....Tightened the left puppy up .... Looks darn level now...
Just my 2 pennies.

 

[citruspilot]

Longer spring bolts?? Where do you get those and how does that help the lean? Are those replaced when you re-bow the spring in the rear?

Thanks,

Jeff

 

[Vettehead Mikey]

Longer spring bolts?? Where do you get those and how does that help the lean? Are those replaced when you re-bow the spring in the rear?

Thanks,

Jeff

Putting bolts of different lengths may correct the lean, but does not address the basic cause. I'd be more interested in knowing what it is.