Been puzzled about this for a year now
Thread Starter
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 2,658
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From: Clifton Park NY
Been puzzled about this for a year now
I had a thread about this, this past spring but it still hasn't been resolved. Now I'm determined to figure out what has changed.
Ride height from level floor to the fender is 28 inches in front and 27 in the rear. I've got a gap almost 4 inches between top of tire to fender. Until this past spring I never had this gap.
Last winter I put a new motor in. At the same time I put a set of KYB shocks on the front, and the infamous steering rack. Nothing else was messed with in the front. Front end got aligned at least 3 times this summer due to the rack issues with ecklers
I pulled the KYB's off the front tonight to see if it would drop back down and it didn't.
I then checked to make sure that the monospring is sitting correctly in the cushions that located within the control arms and it is.
As I was doing this I had remembered that at the time when I put the new shocks on the car it was on jack stands and when I pulled the old shocks off the control arms dropped all the way down. Is it possible that something in the monospring had shifted to the point where it has raised that front end up and inch?
Ride height from level floor to the fender is 28 inches in front and 27 in the rear. I've got a gap almost 4 inches between top of tire to fender. Until this past spring I never had this gap.
Last winter I put a new motor in. At the same time I put a set of KYB shocks on the front, and the infamous steering rack. Nothing else was messed with in the front. Front end got aligned at least 3 times this summer due to the rack issues with ecklers
I pulled the KYB's off the front tonight to see if it would drop back down and it didn't.
I then checked to make sure that the monospring is sitting correctly in the cushions that located within the control arms and it is.
As I was doing this I had remembered that at the time when I put the new shocks on the car it was on jack stands and when I pulled the old shocks off the control arms dropped all the way down. Is it possible that something in the monospring had shifted to the point where it has raised that front end up and inch?
Instructor
Joined: May 2011
Posts: 213
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From: Miramar Florida
I purchased my '86 vette this past spring and it has the same problem. It has had a steering rack installed fairly recently because it still has stickers on it. I don't know what else was done before I purchased it. I just purchased a lowering kit from Corvette central to try and close that fender gap but if you find a solution I'd rather not install the kit. Keep me posted. Thanks.
Drifting
Joined: Jun 2010
Posts: 1,853
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From: Westerly RI
The FSM has specs for ride height, called "trim height", measured to specific points under the rockers. Checking these measurements might give you some insight to your problem. Look in Chapter 3.
Race Director
Joined: Apr 2003
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From: moraga ca
If you had your control arms off or loosened, they need to be at ride height when tightened and torqued. If the bolts are tightened when the control arms are hanging down, the bushings will set in this position and the car will ride high. Try loosening them on whichever side is high, jack up under the a arm and tighten and torque. Hopefully this will solve your problem. Willie
Thread Starter
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 2,658
Likes: 4
From: Clifton Park NY
If you had your control arms off or loosened, they need to be at ride height when tightened and torqued. If the bolts are tightened when the control arms are hanging down, the bushings will set in this position and the car will ride high. Try loosening them on whichever side is high, jack up under the a arm and tighten and torque. Hopefully this will solve your problem. Willie
I'm assuming I can leave the tires on when I do this?
I'll have to do both sides.
Both upper and lower control arms should I loosen?
then jack up
Retighten according to torque spec of the FSM?
Race Director
Joined: Apr 2003
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From: moraga ca
The fsm specifically states to have the a arms horizontal or at ride level when tightening. I'm not sure you will be able to access the bolts with the wheels on. It's pretty tight under there, and you might have to tighten the bolts from the wheel side.
Thread Starter
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jan 2005
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From: Clifton Park NY
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Le Mans Master
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From: Life is just one big track event. Everything before and after is prep and warm-up and cool-down laps
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St. Jude Donor '12
Shoot on my 92 the driver side upper A-arm sometimes rubs on the wheel rim after I replaced all the bushings. Just haven't had time to pull it all apart again and get it right. Now I need another engine and then I'll work on it. Have new lower adjustable bushings and a different spring to install.
Instructor
Joined: May 2011
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From: Miramar Florida
If you had your control arms off or loosened, they need to be at ride height when tightened and torqued. If the bolts are tightened when the control arms are hanging down, the bushings will set in this position and the car will ride high. Try loosening them on whichever side is high, jack up under the a arm and tighten and torque. Hopefully this will solve your problem. Willie
Race Director
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From: moraga ca
I was talking about the control arm bushing bolts. Now that you mention it, I seem to recall maybe reading that the spring retainer bolts should be tightened with the wheels at ride height also.
Thread Starter
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jan 2005
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From: Clifton Park NY
I had a chance to play around with this a little bit.
On the ground
Floor to center of bolt for lower control arm is 8 inches- each side
Checked each of the tranverse spring into control arms and is sitting in the cushion correctly
Checked the inner straps of that spring as well and its sitting in there correctly too.
Got to thinking about those control arm bushings:
If there round in shape as I'm assuming they are how could they come out of placement by taking the shocks out while on jackstands? The control arms bolts were never removed so they stayed tight the whole time just the bushing itself should have moved. Or am I missing something about those that I'm just not seeing?
I did have the shocks off the car the past few days to allow it to settle if it needed to. Even bounced it up and down to see if it would drop.
On the ground
Floor to center of bolt for lower control arm is 8 inches- each side
Checked each of the tranverse spring into control arms and is sitting in the cushion correctly
Checked the inner straps of that spring as well and its sitting in there correctly too.
Got to thinking about those control arm bushings:
If there round in shape as I'm assuming they are how could they come out of placement by taking the shocks out while on jackstands? The control arms bolts were never removed so they stayed tight the whole time just the bushing itself should have moved. Or am I missing something about those that I'm just not seeing?
I did have the shocks off the car the past few days to allow it to settle if it needed to. Even bounced it up and down to see if it would drop.
Instructor
Joined: May 2011
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From: Miramar Florida
After looking at my manual and other articles, it looks like if you loosen the spring retainer bolts and the control arm bolts you should be able adjust the ride height. I'm going to try it this weekend. If you get a chance before then, let me know how it goes.
Thread Starter
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jan 2005
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From: Clifton Park NY
Maybe if you just loosen the spring retaining nuts then raise the wheel up an inch?... just a guess
Instructor
Joined: May 2011
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From: Miramar Florida
That was my thought too but in every article I read, it says loosen the control arms, including 383vette in this thread. I don't understand why either.
Thread Starter
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jan 2005
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From: Clifton Park NY
Thinking of just removing the spring and cutting the wedges down at this point. Car is already up about 12 inches off the ground. How much higher does it need to be to pull the OEM spring out?
Le Mans Master
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From: Life is just one big track event. Everything before and after is prep and warm-up and cool-down laps
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St. Jude Donor '12
If you disconnect the sway bar and remove the lower control arm that may be high enough. Leaving the A arm on you probably need 18"
Instructor
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From: Miramar Florida
Are you saying that your ride height is 12"? Can you post a picture of what it is you are measuring and a good picture of the car sitting level on the ground. My car seems to be sitting high, but not that high.
Race Director
Joined: Apr 2003
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From: moraga ca
When the control arm bushing bolts are tightened, the bushings are held in that position. The control arm does not freely rotate within the bushing. It can move a few degrees up and a few degrees down as the rubber twists. If the bolts are tightened when the arms are not at normal ride height, the arms will want to return to the position they were when the bolts were tighened. Hopefully this makes sense. Willie