79 Corvette front end PROBLEM!!!!
Thread Starter
2nd Gear
Joined: May 2012
Posts: 2
Likes: 0
79 Corvette front end PROBLEM!!!!
Hi everyone. I'm new here. Long time looker first time poster.
I have a 79 L82. And 1 wheel is further back than the other on the front. The difference is about an inch and it is making the passenger side tire rub the inner fender when turning. There doesn't look like an excessive amount of shims for the caster???? No front end parts are worn. The car hasn't been wrecked.
How do I go about correcting this? Is it an alignment issue? Not many people around where I live would even know how to align one of these. Maybe with some help from you guys I can get it close.
Thanks in advance!
I have a 79 L82. And 1 wheel is further back than the other on the front. The difference is about an inch and it is making the passenger side tire rub the inner fender when turning. There doesn't look like an excessive amount of shims for the caster???? No front end parts are worn. The car hasn't been wrecked.
How do I go about correcting this? Is it an alignment issue? Not many people around where I live would even know how to align one of these. Maybe with some help from you guys I can get it close.
Thanks in advance!
Burning Brakes
Joined: May 2008
Posts: 1,116
Likes: 5
From: Middleburg Florida
I don't know if you could move a tire back or forward an inch with the caster available on these cars. So, is there uneven tire wear? If not, can you tell if the car's been hit in the front (most C3's seem to have been smacked at one time or another...)? If so, can you tell if there was frame damage/repair? Was the front fiberglass repaired or replaced? My point is that there may be other issues, not necessarily alignment. I'd get the car up and look around looking for signs of damage and repairs. You can usually see this on the bumper supports or the plastic bumper that's behind the bumper cover.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 7,445
Likes: 971
From: Tennessee/Rhode Island
I agree with damoroso that what you are describing sounds like frame damage/bent frame-look for signs of repair on the body as well as any welds out of place on the frame. I have uncovered C3 frame damage a few times both in the front and rear of C3 frames by uncovering frame welds in places where there should be no welds!
Thread Starter
2nd Gear
Joined: May 2012
Posts: 2
Likes: 0
I've been under this car many times. No frame damage that I can see. And the tire wear is good. Maybe I should suck it up and have the alignment done. Maybe one tire is forward half an inch and the other is back half an inch?
Le Mans Master
Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 7,445
Likes: 971
From: Tennessee/Rhode Island
Have you checked the body mounts to the frame? Maybe the body has moved on the frame due to deteriorated body mounts causing the misalignment of what appears the wheels to the body?
