HELP - leveling ride height
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 162
Likes: 1
From: Johnsburg IL
HELP - leveling ride height
Help appreciated. I am close to getting the BIG hammer out to level my 69's ride hieght. I am not trying to lower just get it even from side to side. I thought the car was somewhat level prior to completing frame off but did not measure.
I have about a 1/2" difference between front left and right height and about an 1" in the rear. Passenger side is the lowest for the front and highest for the rear. I have a glass rear spring and tried to use longer bolts on the spring but did not accomplish much. I have an 8" bolt for the passenger side and a 6" for the driver side to make even. Does not sound or look right. Frame is level to the ground all the way around.
Sorry for the long post and I would greatly appreciate any methods or suggestions. I have done several searches of the posts and not finding much.
Thanks to all for the help!
I have about a 1/2" difference between front left and right height and about an 1" in the rear. Passenger side is the lowest for the front and highest for the rear. I have a glass rear spring and tried to use longer bolts on the spring but did not accomplish much. I have an 8" bolt for the passenger side and a 6" for the driver side to make even. Does not sound or look right. Frame is level to the ground all the way around.
Sorry for the long post and I would greatly appreciate any methods or suggestions. I have done several searches of the posts and not finding much.
Thanks to all for the help!
Race Director
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 16,100
Likes: 17
My 69 is a 9-10 year old frame off restoration...low to drivers side about !/2".....??? I don't plan to do anything about it..
Your body mounts could be off,....crushed...????
Your body mounts could be off,....crushed...????
Last edited by rihwoods; Feb 11, 2006 at 10:19 AM.
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 162
Likes: 1
From: Johnsburg IL
brand new mounts and car sits on frame right with good door gaps, frame is straight. My biggest issue is how far off the rear is at more than an inch if I use the same length bolts.
Thanks
Thanks
Drifting
Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 1,873
Likes: 1
From: Savannah Ga
Man this must be a real problem on early C3's becuase this comes up all the time.Most try everything with little or no change and give up and live with it.It's really to bad because these are some of the most beautiful cars ever made and to have this problem is unacceptable and GM should have done something about it from the start. 
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 2,577
Likes: 2
From: Long Island New York
Have you driven the car at all since re-doing the suspension? Also did you tighten up everything with the car in the air? Usually after driving it a bit the suspension adjusts itself and things settle into place differently then just taking down off the jacks, this tends to change ride height. Also, I was told that you should only snug up the control arm bushings until you have it back down on the ground and then tighten everything up to specs. Other forum members who have been there, done that will probably chime in with their $0.02 i'm sure. Good luck.
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 162
Likes: 1
From: Johnsburg IL
I have about 100 miles on the car and did all final torques with chassis loaded on the ground. I have the rear spring off now and have measured the frame, diff and strut bracket and all are saure / equal in height.
Pretty frustrated knowing the car sets cockeyed unless I want 2" difference in spring bolt length.
I don't have photos available today.
Thanks
Pretty frustrated knowing the car sets cockeyed unless I want 2" difference in spring bolt length.
I don't have photos available today.
Thanks
Corvette Stories
The Best of Corvette for Corvette Enthusiasts
Top 10 Most Expensive Corvettes Ever Sold on Bring A Trailer
Brett Foote
10 Things Every Corvette Owner Needs (2026 Edition)
Michael S. Palmer
8 Most "Only Corvette Owners Understand" Quirks and Problems
Pouria Savadkouei
10 Reasons the C6 Z06 is Still A Performance Benchmark After 20 Years
Joe Kucinski
How Much Horsepower Every Corvette Engine "LOST" in 1972
Joe Kucinski
Top 10 DOs and DON'Ts for Protecting Your Convertible Top!
Michael S. Palmer
Top 10 Most Explosive Corvettes Ever Made: Power-to-Weight Ratio Ranked!
Joe Kucinski
150 hp to 1,250 hp: Every Corvette Generation Compared by the Specs That Matter
Joe Kucinski
8 Coolest Corvette Pace Cars (and Replicas) of All Time
Verdad Gallardo
Race Director
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 16,100
Likes: 17
When spring gets back on vette, put weight(s) in vette on "high" side and see what happens...Put them behind seat,in cargo area...may take about 250 Lbs +....may give you a clue...benchmark/note height of spring at end on that side at mounting bolt before adding weights.....re-check dimension..post results...