I dont know what I did or how to fix it....

The car is a '90 Convertible with the Z51 option

What I did was:

Last weekend I put the car on jack stands, removed the wheels to replace the calipers and rotors. While it was apart I cleaned the suspension - clean enough to eat off of... I used a scrub brush and several cleaners (WD-40, Simple Green, oven cleaner and Aluminum cleaner) after it was super clean, I lubed everything and sprayed the bushings with silicone - Re assembled everything and drove the car.

The problem:

Brakes work great, no new noises or squeaks! but when I pulled it back into the garage, I noticed the rear of the car seems to sit lower then the front and after a closer look, the driver side rear tire looks like it leans in at the top and is about 3/4 of an inch lower then the passenger side rear....

Before We did any work to the car it set level and the wheels were all straight..

I did drive the car for about 40 miles and switched the suspension to all the settings - Nothing seems to have changed it....

**Note** When I pulled the car off the jack stands, the driver side rear was the first off the stands - Could the "tweak" of the car being lowered to the ground have blown out the shock? It's not leaking...

I'm baffled... The car looks like crap with the front up in the air and the rear on the tires.... But the crossed drilled rotors, braided brake lines and painted calipers look great!!

Any help would be a great - as I now want to lower the car, but don't want to do anything until this problem is figured out...

I'm all ears!!

 

I don't know how far into the suspension you got, but shocks should not affect ride height. The only two things that I can think of that could change the camber would be the bolts at the end of the rear spring, and the camber adjustment cams. I would be suprised if either of those two could change the height that much. If you really let the car down quickly, I suppose it is possible that the spring took too much shock, but I have never heard of that happening. By the way, you will have much better luck moving this to tech or general. Good luck!!!

 

Nope... I let her down slow and easy.... I did not take anything loose except for the caliper and brake lines....

Well, I did replace the radiator with a all aluminum unit - But it didn't weigh enough to lift the front of the car when removed....

My son said "It looks like it has no motor in it" If that gives you any idea of how it looks....

BTW - Thanks for the idea of posting in the other 2 forums!

SC

 

I agree. Definitely not shocks. It sounds like the camber adjustment came loose. If it was a little loose to begin with, jacking the car at an angle would certainly be enough to throw it out of alignment. I'm also not sure about using oven cleaner on suspension parts -- I know that stuff is pretty harsh, but I'm not sure if it's harsh enough to have damaged any of the rubber bushings.

I would do a visual inspection of the bushings and suspension. If you don't see anything broken or damaged, I'd take it in for an alignment.

 

If it looks that bad, I'd inspect the rear spring very closely. It's definitely possible the spring is cracked. They don't respond well to harsh chemicals either since it can eat away the coating.

 

Spring? - The long spring that goes across to both sides?

What is the material that it is made from? Fiberglass?

I may have made that sound a little harsh - The rear tire is not "tucked into the fender well, but it is way lower than the front...

Lets say that this is the problem - Is this a major workload for a " shade tree" mechanic?

Come to think of it.... When I let the right rear tire down (left rear on the ground) from the jack stand (about 12" off the ground) We did hear some sounds that made me look to see if the body was cracking - sounded like a fiberglass crack, not a snap - more like a crunching noise...