GR879SHARK

The ground hight to fender is 1" higher then the rear can't figure it out any thoughts? getting 4 wheel alignment and don't know if this is somethig that I need to adress before? Thanks

KapsSA

What are the actual measurements? Rear low or front high?
I have pretty much 28 1/2" all the way around on more than one Vette.
Definitely address it before the alignment.

GR879SHARK

My rear sits 27.5 and the front sits 28.5 Now that said my grandma's stock untouched 79 with same susp. sits 27.5 all the way around so I can't figure out what I did wrong if anything when putting the front end together.

GR879SHARK

how to fix this problem?

Retro78

Install a big block

CCrane65

Did you remove the front springs and not get them back in their seats properly?

There is a specific way they belong on the spring perches.

cc

GR879SHARK

Maybe I'm not sure. is their a way to check this when all put together My thoughts were that at some point in time someone put bigblock springs in this but who knows.

calwldlife

did you use rubber bushings and tighten them on the ground or unsprung?

GR879SHARK

are you refuring to the sway bar links ? I just put the springs in the controll arm and put a jack under and jacked them up till I could get everything bolted up.

calwldlife

the control arm bushings, need to be tightened when car is on the ground.
the rubber ones have serrated sleeves that bite into the bar.
if you tighten them while jacked up, the car will sit high.

GR879SHARK

thanks!! can I loosen them with the car on the ground and then re tighten them? to fix this problem or to see if this is what I might of done? thanks Matt

GR879SHARK

I can't remember what I had done now because I put the susp. together about 8 years ago and finally finishing the car now.

calwldlife

yes, loosen them and bounce car and re tighten.

GR879SHARK

Cool I will try this and see if the car drops down thanks for the imput buddy

KapsSA

8 years?
Have you driven it at all since? Might settle it down a bit.
No idea what it measured before?

GR879SHARK

I havn't driven it yet except down the drive and back alignment to far off. I have been restoring it for the past 12 years and finnally getting it on the road can't wait motor is pushing around 500hp I'm ready to suck the paint off the rice around here.

STODD

I have similar issue, with aluminum, heads, intake & water pump (not to mention cast iron exaust, smog pump and other factory junk removed)I figure to have dropped close to 100lbs, I think that is the problem. I've never had the springs off my car.

jb78L-82

Many of the mid to late 70's vetttes seem to have a pronounced rear squat bias with the 78/79's the worst. My 78 has always sat lower in the rear than the front despite my trying to alleviate the problem since 1983. I had a friend with a 74 that did the same thing. I replaced the rear steel 7 leaf spring years ago (1987) with a 360 composite which helped noticeably as well as using poly bushings in the rear strut rods and spring mounting cushings. Gas shocks helped a bit but never cured the problem totally. 2 years ago I replaced the front springs with Mid America's 550 lb springs that are 1 in shorter than stock in height (no cutting here, they are manufactured shorter) and again the issue was almost solved but still not perfect since I wanted the front slightly lower than the rear. I finally solved the issue last year completely with 17 SLP rims all around with 255/45/17's ZR's in the front and 255/50/17's ZR's in the rear with the front overall tire diameter about 1 inch shorter than the rear tires. I did the staggered tire sizes for 2 reasons: 1. To preserve the rear overall tire diameter so that it was the same as the OEM 255/60/15's since I have 3.70 rear gears and did not want the engine revving higher than it already does on the highway and used 255/45/17's in the front to gain another inch as well as more crisp steering and handling. To get that desired effect (slightly lower front pitch), I needed to add about 2.5 -3 inches to the rear: 1. About 1 inch from the composite rear spring and Bilstein Sport shocks. 2. 1 inch from the slightly shorter front replacement springs. 3. 1 inch from the staggered 17 inch tires. Hope that this helps!

jnb5101

check the aim for correct suspension heights-i think it's the Z and N value- to see where your problem is.

72LS1Vette

There is a small hole in the top spring pocket. If the spring is installed correctly you should see the hole covered ~1/2 way by the edge of the top spring coil.



Rick B.