One side sits higher than the other? 1978

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donnie1956

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Oct 22, 2011
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Troy,MO
After completely rebuilding the front suspension with new bushings and replacing the body mounts my passenger side front sits about 1 inch taller than the driver side. Verified last night that the stock springs were in the pockets, the passenger was not, so got it rotated and in the pocket. Mounted the tire back and drove around the block, and didn't change the height. During my restro mod I replaced all the body mounts on both sides with new poly. I replaced the body mounts one side at a time to make sure all the shims went back to the correct mount.
Rear end is still stock and untouched at this moment.
What else am I missing? Still going to double check the body mounts but can't see where that would cause that much difference.
 
Lots of C3 seem to have the issue including mine, but until now I haven't found a solution.

Was it leaning to the left ? Most of them do. And was it like that before ?
 
I didn't notice it before the paint job or adding my 18 inch wheels. Its noticeably higher on the passenger front than the driver. Going to take some frame measurements. The stance on the drivers side is what I am looking for.
 

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Here's photo's of both sides.
 

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The 1 inch difference only showed up after the modification?

A really good insight to your problem will be to weigh the car at all four wheels. On a stock car from the factory, there are a few pounds difference between the wheel readings, but not that much. If the wheel weight readings are all within normal, the 1 inch higher body height would seem to be a body to frame issue, not a suspension issue.

...On a previous Corvette, I couldn't get a good wheel alignment, the car would get a little sideways on forceful braking. Weighing the car weight at each wheel disclosed that the rear passenger's side wheel was registrating 100-200 pounds light...bent frame.
 
Measurements

My next step is to double check the body mounts, then take some measurements from the frame to the ground.
 
FWIW before I did remount my body, I have measured my frame and nothing showed up. I also very correctly meased the height of the various body mount points and set the shims accordingly. This proved to set the body perfectly on the frame.

However, I still have the leaning.

It has something to do with the suspension, almost the same as when you turn your front wheel left or rear, you can see the body lean even more pronounced.

Springs are all new however, so it has nothing to do with that either.
 
Could be several "easy" things..... here's my troubleshooting ideas....

Severe binding in the bushings?
Verify you are not sitting on the bump stop (check rear too)
Disconnect sway bars, check height again (binding) ??
Swap coil spring left/right, check height again
Loosen body mount bolts while car is sitting on the tires on level ground
Shim body on driver rear to lower passenger front
Upper A-arm hitting frame on pass side??
Lower A-arm hitting frame??

If you did not have this problem before it is probably not a bent frame or bent A-arm.....

Weird though......
 
Everything looks normal Going to replace front springs

Checked all the suspension parts from front to rear. Still have the passenger front sitting about 1" higher than driver. Added a couple of spring compressor clamps to the front spring on passenger side. Compressed the spring about 1 coil and the side came down about 1/4 in. The body mounts all seemed to be ok. Next step is to change the front springs with another set. I would like the front to be about 1" lower than stock as I have added the LS engine which is lighter than the small block. I have access to a set of gymkhana C3 springs from a 76. Would they need to be cut to achieve the desired ride height?
 
donnie1956 said:
Checked all the suspension parts from front to rear. Still have the passenger front sitting about 1" higher than driver. Added a couple of spring compressor clamps to the front spring on passenger side. Compressed the spring about 1 coil and the side came down about 1/4 in. The body mounts all seemed to be ok. Next step is to change the front springs with another set. I would like the front to be about 1" lower than stock as I have added the LS engine which is lighter than the small block. I have access to a set of gymkhana C3 springs from a 76. Would they need to be cut to achieve the desired ride height?
Click to expand...

It's easier to just use the VBP 550 coil springs. They lower the car about 1-1 /2".
The gymkhana's are worth as much as what you pay for the vbp new ones. So I would not cut them.

I doubt the issue is in the springs though.
 
I took a pair of 550's off my '79 when I installed the front dual mount spring .... If you're interested let me know .... I'll have to see where I put the coils, they're somewhere in my garage ....
How about $50 plus shipping ?

Cutting coils is not a great idea, the end of the coil must be properly seated in the pocket otherwise it makes noise .....
 
I am in the middle of a body off restoration of my 1980 Vette and have it apart completely. Noticed a difference in hight in the rear of about 3/4" before disassemble.

The rear sway bar is warped on mine, i guess i need a torch to straighten it out. When laying flat on the floor there is about an inch difference in height of both holes.

I think that is causing my problem, maybe yours is the same.
 
A bent sway bar front or rear could cause what you're seeing..... Nevertheless: you'll be happy with those 550's coils, those coils and Bilstein shocks are the best money can buy for the C3 .... Unless you're in for the big bux or a crapload of work like grafting a c4 suspension on there.....
I got a great deal on the front dualmount spring otherwise I'd still run the 550's !!!
 
Shortened Rear main spring

Front springs are in. All the A arm bushings appear to be ok and the arms move up and down with out binding. The one of the stock springs was slightly shorter than the other but can't image that made an 1" difference.
One side still sits 1/2" higher than the other but when doing some measurements with the car on the lift one side of the frame is 1/2 inch higher. Used a laser level with strings on 4 points of the frame.
Satisfied with the stance in front and now moving to the rear. My stock spring is to long and its going to hit the inside of my 9 1/2 wheel. Anyone change out to the shortened composite? Or shortened rear main?
 
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