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Was driving down the highway and the rear tire blew. At the same time the steering went 90 degrees to the left, so I had to steer right to keep going straight. I was able to get the car to the berm safely. By then the steering was almost back to normal. Towed it to the tire shop, they put new tires on (old ones were OLD) and noticed a crack in the frame. Looks like where the lower arm support connects to the front crossmember sheared when the tire blew.
So what do you guys think? Is this a major issue or should a frame/body shop be able to repair this?
Last edited by 1975Coupe; Jul 13, 2017 at 08:20 PM.
So a side effect of all of this is that the alignment is completely wonky. The tire shop veteran told me that the control arms I have are non-adjustable and they can't align it. They told me to buy Adjustable upper control arms #92470 for both sides of the front and rear shims for the back, #47170. I can find the 92470 just about everywhere but I'm having trouble finding the rear shims. Will these from Eckler's work? https://smile.amazon.com/Premier-Qua...47170+c3+shims
Just a little info. I rebuilt a wrecked 1968 that had a bent frame rail. I straightened the frame rail and I also had some wacky alignment issues. It turned out the spindle on the damaged side was also bent. I replaced it and my alignment issue was gone.
For starters, many vettes seem to crack or rip when comes to those brackets, poor design. If you search you will see some of the extra enforcement pcs added. That is great they repaired it for you, but charging you double for the work they did, stinks.
As far as your alignment goes, have you ever had it aligned before ? I am kinda confused on what is non adjustable, they have shims that you can change to adjust the upper control arms.
For starters, many vettes seem to crack or rip when comes to those brackets, poor design. If you search you will see some of the extra enforcement pcs added. That is great they repaired it for you, but charging you double for the work they did, stinks.
As far as your alignment goes, have you ever had it aligned before ? I am kinda confused on what is non adjustable, they have shims that you can change to adjust the upper control arms.
They took all of the shims out and the front driver side is still angled out (left). I'm not sure of the cause. The alignment shop is saying that they need the adjustable control arm to get it to angle straight. The passenger side is fine. My thought is that when the control arm sheared off it probably twisted either itself or something else.
They say the rear has no shims in it and needs shims, which due to the age of the car they don't carry, so I have to provide my own. That was the reasoning for my linking to the amazon part.
Take off a rear tire. Follow the trailing arm till it goes into a pocket in the frame. There should be a bolt that goes thru the frame thru some shims thru the trailing arm thru some shims thru the frame into a castle nut on the outside of the frame. If you did not have these shims the fron of the trailing arm would drift left and fight at will, you would not be able to drive the car as the rear would be all over the place. The bottom of the shims are held in with a very large cotter pin.
try to find a better alignment shop it does not sound like the one you are using knows C3.
Last edited by 72 Project; Sep 9, 2017 at 02:32 PM.
So a side effect of all of this is that the alignment is completely wonky. The tire shop veteran told me that the control arms I have are non-adjustable and they can't align it. They told me to buy Adjustable upper control arms #92470 for both sides of the front and rear shims for the back, #47170. I can find the 92470 just about everywhere but I'm having trouble finding the rear shims. Will these from Eckler's work? https://smile.amazon.com/Premier-Qua...47170+c3+shims
Yes, those are the right shims for the trailing arm toe adjustment. If your trailing arms haven't been worked on before, those shims and bolts will be rusted in place and they won't be able to adjust. For the front, is the alignment shop not able to adjust the camber? Did they give you a read-out you can post here of what your alignment is presently
Unless they got the gusset welded back in EXACTLY the same spot as it's supposed to be they are going to have a tough time aligning it correctly. My guess, repair is not 100% and there is no more adjustment left to correct alignment angles. Hence, this is why they want the arms that have more adjustability. BUT, even if the can get the alignment angles correct on that wheel with aftermarket arms your car will still FEEL funny because you will still have positive setback. I have never needed aftermarket arms or offset shafts do a proper alignment on ANY car or truck that used shims on the upper arms unless there was frame damage or bent suspension parts. Ask around, find an alignment shop that knows what they're doing and have them do an alignment check. Specifically ask to know what the Setback, SAI (Steering Axis Inclination) and Thrust angles are. You need to find someone who truly understands alignments and not someone who sees red and green on a computer screen. Good Luck.
Frame Damage - Repairable?
