I assembled the frame in a jig and everything was right till now. I put a 292 yblock in the car and also put the 27 sedan body on the car and it is leaning 1" towards the drivers side. Do you think the weight of the yblock could throw it off? I have a early 40's front spring on the rear and I have checked and double checked all of my measurements from the front crossmember to the rear to make sure everything is centered and correct. Either I am missing something or the yblock could be heavier on one side. Anybody ever seen this or is this something common that is easy to fix? Craig
That is a 2x4 that is under the left side of the frame to straighten the darn thing out. When I remove the 2x4 it is 1" off from the passengers side to the drivers side.
My Model A with a flattie is like that, too. I replaced everything in the chassis and it still leans. Oh, well.
Flip the spring 180 degrees and see what happens. Sometimes springs are not the same on both sides, especially one that is 75 years old. Don
I've also had problems where the spring clamp is not equally pulling on the spring. I used to reset my old roadster once a month. Try tightening the high side and loosening the low side. I've seen at least one car from a well known shop that had a piece of 16ga. in the one side of the spring hanger to level the car. This amount can easily move the car 1" out.
Dick recently said to: Loosen F&R U-bolts, then jack the car to level, then criss cross tighten each spring evenly. Can't hurt to try that first
You can use shims to correct the lean at the spring perch, But and I cant see it very well in that pic, but is that perch mount just welded to the middle of the rear crossmember tubing in a T joint. I don't see any gussets or bracing on it?
To what F&J posted I'd add use a torque wrench and tighten the bolts down in small equal increments making a number of rounds to get them to the proper torque. If you suck them down with an air wrench you might be pulling it out of kilter from the getgo.
i think, Don is unto the problem here springs loose their tension over the years and the results is the problem Don is talking about. CRUISER
Also, cars do not settle to their final attitude until you start driving them. I have had cars drop 4 inches in the rear once I let out the clutch, and also have had cars lean to one side and then level out once the spring leaves start to settle in. Just sitting on a garage floor things can get very lopsided and even jumping up and down on the frame may not seat things. Don
I currently only have a 1/4" plate tacked to the rear of the frame that the spring is bolted to. Before tacking the spring plate I leveled the frame and also leveled the plate and then tacked it. This did not change the lean. I am still trying to find the best way to bolt the rear spring on the back. Should I get some ubolts made and install them upside down? I saw something online that they used a plate on the top and also on the bottom but I do not think I have enough room to install a plate on the bottom it is very close to the 9". I could build a flat plate the width of the spring and have that below the ubolts if that might help provide some leveling to the vehicle and provide support to the spring. The car is still being built so the frame (and spring mount) is not fully welded as I want to make sure everything is right before I finalize everything. How much space should I have from the bottom of the frame to the axle? I set the frame 3 1/2" off the axle with the spring uncompressed and welded it. Once I settled the spring and bolted it to the frame we are not around 2 1/2" from the frame to the axle. So the lower side is 1 1/2". I want this car to be low but I do not want to bottom out on the axle. Right now there is a temporary setup on the rear (not ubolts) till I am certain I am doing things correctly and will order the ubolts. I think I might start out tomorrow morning and yank the motor and trans and start measuring and see if it off at all and then tighten everything up correctly till it is straight minus the motor and trans. Once that is correct then I will put the motor and trans back in the car and see if my adjustments work. I will monitor for replies or suggestions tomorrow and will post some more data as I gather it in the morning. You guys have given me some good ideas to get started. I wanted to make sure before I went any farther this problem was solved or close to be solved before I move forward on this build. Craig (This job would be a whole lot easier if I knew what the heck I was doing! But at least I am having fun trying!)
We've had to add wedges on builds with square chassis and NEW springs. Bolt your shocks on, that will help, and keep plugging away. There's a lot more to do before you start dialing in the side-to-side height. With buggy springs it's a wonder ANY hot rods sit totally square.
Finish the build, drive it a bit, THEN adjust the tension on the spring mounting bolts to achieve a level chassis.
I am glad to get all the excellent suggestions. I am freaking out that there is something wrong with the setup and that is why I have went to such great lengths. I yanked the motor and gain a 1/2". Now I can see that I need to check the front spring and how I bolted it into the car. It starts at 1/8" of an inch in the front and it is 1/2" at the back. Thankfully this is a easy problem to fix now that I have it in perspective. Thanks again for your advice! Craig
Motor out, turned the front spring around and made sure I evenly bolted the ubolts on the crossmember and it took the lean out of the car! Thanks, Craig
Radius rods not adjusted right can also chage side to side height. Seen a lot of guys have them off then they force the bolt in and the frame leans.
I recently installed a pair of QA-1 rear shocks on my T. Afterwards, I measured to see how high my clearance was in the rear and it was about 1/2" lower on the passenger side. I couldn't figure it out. Later, I took my battery out (it's under the passenger section of my seat) to charge it. While it was charging, I went back to figure out my rear suspension problem. Lo and behold, it was even again. The weight of the battery was making my car lower on that side. So, I reinstalled my battery and adjusted the shocks to even my car out. Had to sit and laugh at that one. Glad you figured yours out.
The Jalopy Journal
