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

[69redvette]

You can eliminate the spring without buying a new one. Take it out and turn it 180 degrees and reinstall. If it's the same then it's not the spring. Also, you can pull the left rear tire and remove the small access panel in the front of the wheel well and check the body mount behind the drivers seat. See if it's rotted out.

Joe

 

[KevinZ]

As most have said, this is an older car, and the leaf spring technology is for each of the leafs to move on each other. Over time they don't get the service needed and also loose their arch. Most noteably is the fact that if you try to re-arch the spring, it is going back to origional, but it took time to get in the shape it's in now.. LOTS OF FLEXING HAS OCCURED. May be the best time to think about replacing it even with a stock spring. It could fail as a result of re-arching, or last... I would rather have a good spring under me..

 

[Vett-Less]

Very very common on old vettes you need a new spring think abought a fat ass driver sits on the left and so does the battery. New spring at a spring shop $200 and 30 minutes latter you are rocking

 

[Macgyver]

So what did you do?!

Ive got the same problem and Id like to hear what ya did.

 

[citruspilot]

Mac, I did nothing yet. Had another project to tackle first for the upcoming Autofare here in Charlotte April 1st thru the 4th. I'll be showing my car there.

I've just sunk about $600.00 bucks into detailing under the hood to bring it back to showroom shape. I removed and repainted the valve covers, intake manifold, water pump, and all the associated engine accessories and brackets to their original colors. In addition I replaced every inch of fluid hoses from the radiator back to the heater core which involved special orders from a few different shops. I changed the oil, filter, tranny pan gasket and its fluid. Put in fresh anti-freeze and bought a new GM radiator cap. I rebuilt the carburator replaced some of the vacuum lines and installed new plugs, cap and rotor. During this process I had to replace the a/c compressor and receiver/dryer and I used R-12 to keep the system original type freon. Now that was expensive! 5 "12 ounce" cans of freon cost about $130.00! Its expensive fixing up an older Corvette I have found out. But "SSHHhhhh", dont tell my wife!

So with all that said and done my spring problem will have to be addressed further on down the road. But when I do fix it I will have the rear spring re-bowed first. From what I've read above thats probably where the lean comes from......

Later.........

PS: Its really nice to have a 25 year old car the looks and smells like a new car when you park it in the garage after a drive. Theres just something about new paint on an engine that smells better than anything!

Jeff

 

[Macgyver]

If youre mocking me by repeating everything Im doing as well right now then I dont think its funny! LOL

Im pretty much doing all that as well right now. But I threw the Ac out, put on a new intake, and am going to be throwing in a new radiator when I get home this evening if it was delivered. In the process I painted and chromed everythign in the engine bay. I was like "is that trash or not? ...."then paint it!" Dressed that baby up! Very far from stock though. The before and afters are hilarious.

Hurry up and rebow that thing so I can know wether its a mistake...hehe

I cant wait to get that new car smell. I plan on completely redoing the interior along w/ the second stereo upgrade this summer or earlier. Man thats gotta be nice.

 

[rponfick]

Something I hadn't heard of before as a possible cause of your problem was pointed out to me recently. It could be the rubber bushing that attaches the rear crossmember to the frame. Normal torque twisting upon acceleration stretches the rubber bushing on the passenger side. Sure enough, I looked at mine and it sits up almost an inch higher than the driver side. I thought is was just not seated properly, but that didn't seem to be the case. Since I'm in the middle of a frame-off, it is not too hard to get to.

Something you may want to look at.

 

[citruspilot]

rponfick, thanks for the heads up on that. I'll look at mine and see if its "stretched". But even if the car only has 28,000 miles in 25 years that thing can stretch? Remember its been sitting alot and stretching seems kinda odd. But I do appreciate the idea.

Now, if I can just figure out how to post the pictures I have of my car on here???? Everytime I try to upload a picture it says the file is too big. Most of my files are about 450??? and the website only takes files about 87??? Can you tell I dont know what they call those things? Well, anywho my digital camera makes them that big. Is there a way to shave off some "bites" so it will upload here???

Thanks!

Jeff

 

[JohnZ]

Jeff, 450K is a BIG digital image, relatively speaking. Most digital cameras allow you to change the image resolution in the menu system, usually from the lowest (320x200, for e-mail images) up to the highest the camera is capable of (i.e., 2048x1536 for a 3.2MP camera, which gives about a 1.3MB image file). I shoot everything at the "standard" resolution (640x480), which gives about a 55-60K image, except my magazine article shots, which have to be done at ultra-high resolution for color reproduction in the magazine. Hunt around in your menu system (and user's manual under "image size" or "resolution") and you'll find out how to change resolution so your shots are at "standard" image size, and you can upload them all day.

 

[problemenko]

I'll sit in your passenger seat. I'm 6' 260lbs. That should more than compensate for a slight left lean........ :L