rear suspension... ride height

[jeffs S/A]

Hello to all. This forum is better than most books. Recently purchased my first vette, a 1978 S/A. Has new springs and shocks in front and a new 9 leaf spring and shocks in rear. Problem is drivers side rear fender opening is almost two inches higher than passenger side. Floor to frame measurments are within one-eigth inch. Removed leaf spring and turned it end for end. Made no difference What do I look for next? Thanks!

 

[GerryLP]

maybe the insulators?

It could be a broken insolator for the body somewhere between the body and frame. Look first in the lower area where you notice the height difference. Meaning the side two inches closer to the tire.

 

[KANE]

"What a drag it is getting old...."

What that really a reference to the unrelenting nature of time on old Corvettes by Mick?

I THINK SO!

 

[vmrod]

Are the leaf-spring bolts (the ones that attach the spring to the control arm) adjusted properly. You can always turn these screws to adjust the ride height. (Screwing them in tighter makes the ride height HIGHER.)

 

[69MyWay]

Jeff,

Welcome to CAC.

You could have one of several problems.

1. As Vmrod said, you may simply be out of adjustment on the long bolt/nut that you find at the extreme end of the rear spring assembly.

2. You could indeed have broken down/smashed flat body mounts on the driver side.

3. (and worse case scenario) You could have extensive rust in the left dog leg portion of the frame causing it to sag/pull at the left rear trailing arm mount, and upper rear support.


** I would expect it to be one or two above.**

Does it have any strange driving characteristics, ie., pulls hard to one side or ther other during acceleration, or when hitting bumps in the road?

 

[norms72]

Just a couple of ideas. Has the rear quarter panel been replaced? If so, perhaps they did a poor job aligning the panel. Also if the passenger side is lower, The body mounts may be suspect on that side. Good luck. I'm new here too and I agree, this is a great forum!
:cool

 

[mmvette80]

My car was a total mess. Rear pass side was almost 4 inches higher than the drivers front. I yanked the bastard steel leaf spring and put in a VBP composite spring. My car sits level and rides like a Caddy on the highway. Btw, yes the leaf spring was semi new only five years old.

 

[78SilvAnniv]

Welcome to CACC, Jeff!

You'll find us a bunch of friendly and helpful members!
Good luck tracking down your problem.
Heidi

 

[smurfvet]

I had a height problem with my car when I got it- rear end was out of adjustment- actially lower or "sagging) and one side seemed to droop a little more. The offset bolts on the lower connecting link to the control arms were WAY out of whack- got them adjusted.

I got the car back, it drove MUCH better, and body height (tire well openings) are dead even.

Take it to a reputable alignment shop and have a full four wheel alignment done on it. They should be familiar with the adjustments needed for ride height as well.

 

[jim's82]

Has new springs

Just a possibility here cause it happened to me. You mentioned that you have new springs on the front. My 82 got new front springs last fall. I noticed shortly after that my car was sagging about an inch on the left rear & about an inch high on the front right. I discovered that the spring on the front right was not installed propely. It was turned 180 deg. out of the pocket (or seat) that it sits in. Had it turned around where it belongs & now all is well. Just a thought, good luck.

 

[Tim73454]

Should the top and bottom of the sring line up with the pockets on both end? I just got new ones for my car and put them in. With the bottom in the pocket the top was off about 2-3 inches. I split the difference on both ends. I ordered the springs from my local NAPA store and they asked me several questions before getting them so I assume they are the correct ones for my car?
:confused :confused

Tim73454

 

[cek]

Hello, was surfing the web, lookin for info, and found this site. Looks like it is very helpfull for those 'Vette questions. Here's mine: Where do you find specs on ride heights? Old 72 seems to scrape bottom, ALOT. Suspect tired springs. See lots of good feedback, on composite spring.

 

[vmrod]

What do you mean by 'scrape bottom'? the rear or the front?

 

[smurfvet]

Ride height and alignment info is in the shop manual, the assembly manual (I think) and other reference books. I will check one other reference and get back later...

By "scraping bottom", if you mean the rear end pipes, mine did that before the setup. Now, it's hard to hit bottom. I have an original F41 spring in the car, so the next part purchased will be a composite unit this spring.

 

[cek]

Pipes under rear end, taking the scrapes.
Car currently in garage, waiting for new fuel tank. Leaking

 

[vmrod]

There a bolt on each side of the car, where the leaf spring attaches to the rear control arm. All you need to do, is tighten up that bolt a bit. It will raise the rear ride height of your car up as high as you like.

You could measure the height from the ground to the front fender's wheel well. Then adjust the rear to the same height.

Email if you have any more questions. You may have additional worn out parts, but this adjustment alone may help you get by.

-Vic

 

[cek]

Rear is already 1.5" taller than front. That's why I am looking for height info. Maybe my problem is not just the rear. I'm new to working on 'Vette, and not sure if front and rear should be same.

 

[vmrod]

hmmmm...mine is the same, but I put on a new composite spring. (Actually, I set my rear a little bit shorter than the front)

I'm sure someone can maybe better answer your question. It may help if you could submit a digital picture of the rear of the car (suspension.)

...anyway, this is the ultimate learning place for vettes. If you take the time and read the forum discussions, you will learn a whole lot about your car.

 

[smurfvet]

The suspension/frame specs for sharks with newer metric tires are as follows:

From the center of either of the rear wheel axles forward 24", the frame should be approx. 8.57" above floor level.

From the center of the front wheels backwards 30.5", you should have approx. 8.68".

If the tires are P225/70-15, or 255/60-15, these dimensions are correct, at least according to Chevy. If you have different tires, the dimensions will change marginally. The actual diameter of whatever tire you have on the vehicle can be found in the learning center.

Another way to check the frame height is to put the vehicle on jack stands, and measure either of the rear fender openings from the lip to floor level. if the car is level, and the frame dimensions similar to the ones above, this can easily tell you if the problem is the suspension or the body.

Since you already turned the spring end for end, I would look at the frame dimensions first, then check the body dimensions.