Leaning tower of shark

[81Batmobile]

I have an '81 with the 4 speed tranny. All good so far but my vette leans to the drivers side in the back. I just had all the body mounts replaced. All body panels and the t-tops line up nicely. From the ground to the bottom edge of the wheel well at the center of the hub on the rear is about 5/8" lower on the driver's side than the passenger's side. The rear spring was replaced about three years ago. My local corvette expert recommends I turn the rear spring around to see if the lean goes to the other side. Has anyone else dealt with this problem??

 

[Art Jett]

Just use the spring bolts to level the car. (The ones from the spring to the trailing arm.) Tighter raises the car, looser lowers it.Art

 

[LannyL81]

What type of spring...steel or composite? You might have a broken composite spring. If okay, do as written above and use the bolts. The amount of bolt showing pass the nuts should be close to the same on both side though.

 

[81Batmobile]

Answer, maybe.

I think I have solved the problem. Initially, I followed reommendations and tried to adjust the lean out by tightening up one aide and loosening the other. I came within a half inch of being level but I was max'd out on the distance the nuts would go on both sides (one tight, one loose). I decided to pull the spring, which is the old nine leaf steel spring, and spin it around. It was relatively painless and took me about 90 minutes from tires off the ground to back on the ground. I turned the spring around, trying to move the lean to the other side and determine the spring was the issue, so after re-installing it I left the three center mounting plate bolts loose while I re-attached the outside spring bolts and made sure they were uniformly tightened showing about a half inch of the threads. I jumped in and drove the car around the block and then realized I had forgotten to go back and torque down the three center bolts. I did this immediately after returning. Now the kicker, the car is perfectly level. I think the previous owner put this spring in and it was off center just a little bit. It is a replacement because it has "Made in Mexico" painted on it. I may go with a composite spring anyway just for sake of the ride but it is level now. :W

 

[Tritium007]

It looks like you may have discovered a new spring centering procedure. :eyerole So tell me Ron, what did it feel like the moment you remembered that you had forget to tighten those bolts? hnoes Glad to hear it seems to have worked out for the best. Now on to the next project! See ya soon.

 

[81Batmobile]

Well, when I took off out of my neighborhood I headed straight for a stretch or road I know that has a couple of good curves in it and wound things up hoping to get those springs to settle an and the rear end to sit down where it's supposed to be. I was thinking it felt pretty good, was handling well and I was replaying the whole process in my head when the question hit me, "Did I tighten those bolts??" The pucker factor went up astronomically and I was very conservative on the ride home.

take care, I'm putting Sensei's rebuilt carb in tonight.

Ron

It looks like you may have discovered a new spring centering procedure. :eyerole So tell me Ron, what did it feel like the moment you remembered that you had forget to tighten those bolts? hnoes Glad to hear it seems to have worked out for the best. Now on to the next project! See ya soon.

 

[IrishJoker]

Here is a bit of trivia on the 1981 Vette: the spring you are describing is part of the Gymkhana suspension RPO. As you know in 1981 they started using the composit spring as standard. If you ordered the Gymkhana suspension package you got the left over steel springs from 1980, and you paid more for it! In my opinion that was a pretty good marketing ploy by Chevy! I have the same option on my 81 as well. :eyerole

Charlie