69 BB Rear Suspension

[John M.]

My wife came in the house tonight and said the Corvette is tipped. What? Well sure enough, the wheel well height at the left rear is 5/8 inch lower than the right. The frame height is within 1/8 from side to side. The front left is less than 1/4 inch lower than the right.

The rear spring is about 7 years old and was purchased from Corvette World according to the receipt that came with the car. ( 9 leaf 2 1/4 inch) Is this the problem? What else should I look for? Everything looks good and tight under there. Bushings and body mounts all look ok. Thanks for any advice.

[Joe L.]

Re: 69 BB Rear Suspension

John----

Trust me----you don't have a spring problem. My 1969 when it was BRAND NEW suffered from this EXACT SAME problem. My side-to-side measurement differential, measured at the wheel wells, was virtually IDENTICAL to what you found front and rear. At that time, I complained to the dealer repeatedly. Finally, a GM zone representitive came out and had the car checked on a frame rack. He showed me that all of the suspension measurements and geometry were well within factory specs(as, essentially, you've found from the few frame to floor measurements you've performed). He told me that there is more manufacturing tolerance with respect to body-to-frame mounting and that is what is measured when performing wheel well to floor measurements. Even then, my measurements were within GM production tolerances.

You could correct this problem by doing a frame off and reshimming the body to frame mounts. Of course, then you might crack the body when you cinch it all down since the body has taken a set to its relationship to the frame. Also, of course, if you corrected the "lean", your car probably wouldn't be "factory original". I know for SURE that mine wouldn't.

[Joe L.]

Re: 69 BB Rear Suspension

John----

Trust me----you don't have a spring problem. My 1969 when it was BRAND NEW suffered from this EXACT SAME problem. My side-to-side measurement differential, measured at the wheel wells, was virtually IDENTICAL to what you found front and rear. At that time, I complained to the dealer repeatedly. Finally, a GM zone representitive came out and had the car checked on a frame rack. He showed me that all of the suspension measurements and geometry were well within factory specs(as, essentially, you've found from the few frame to floor measurements you've performed). He told me that there is more manufacturing tolerance with respect to body-to-frame mounting and that is what is measured when performing wheel well to floor measurements. Even then, my measurements were within GM production tolerances.

You could correct this problem by doing a frame off and reshimming the body to frame mounts. Of course, then you might crack the body when you cinch it all down since the body has taken a set to its relationship to the frame. Also, of course, if you corrected the "lean", your car probably wouldn't be "factory original". I know for SURE that mine wouldn't.