C3 Rear Alignment

[Gregory G.]

On my '70 the rear 2 strut rods are bent upwards.I have 2 used reconditioned rods with new rubber bushings to be installed.I have heard the alignment can be achieved by bending these rods.We all know this is not correct.Why would they have chose this method?What should I look for in this repair or is it a job for a qualified mechanic who knows these cars?
Greg

[Mike M.]

Re: C3 Rear Alignment

replacing struts not difficult but you'll probably need to have the rear end aligned after replacing the bent rods with the recons. don't throw the bent ones away. lay em on the garage floor, get 2# maul(don't use a maw as she's probably getting up in years) and the struts are easily bent back into correct shape. Seen a lot of bent ones over the years---big ole bubba at work again. good luck, mike

[Dick W.]

Re: C3 Rear Alignment

You may have problems with the shock mounts. I would advise using a penetrating oil for two-three days before you attempt to remove them. Purchasing an aftermarket screw on knocker for this mount might save you some bucks. Use a LARGE hammer. The larger the hammer, the less chance of brading the threads.

Lots of luck.

[Joe L.]

Re: C3 Rear Alignment

gerg-----

Bending the strut rods was a once-common means of achieving a correct camber setting when the camber cam/bolts "ran out of adjustment". The real problem was that the strut rods needed new bushings, but many alignment shops either:

1) didn't know that;

2) didn't want to replace the bushings;

3) wanted to "save the customer some money"

4) figured the customer would scream if they told them that they needed to have extra work done on the car;

5) didn't know that strut rods had replacable bushings;

6) didn't know how to replace the bushings;

"Alignment shops" INCLUDES Chevrolet dealer service departments.

[Chuck S.]

Re: C3 Rear Alignment

"Alignment shops" INCLUDES Chevrolet dealer service departments.

Ain't it the truth...I know for a fact that "The Three Stooges" worked for Joseph Chevrolet in Cincinnati, Ohio in the late sixties.

Moe was a "service writer", and Larry and Curly were two "mechanics" who tried to remove my steering wheel WITHOUT a puller and ROTATE it on the shaft, after I suggested that the steering wheel spokes on my still-under-warranty Impala should be horizontal when the front wheels are straight ahead. I wasn't sure at the time, being a green kid out of college, but the steering shaft had a missing spline that forces the wheel to fit the shaft ONLY IN ONE POSITION. You can imagine how entertaining it was watching these "cavemen" on a journey of discovery for the next two or three hours.

Larry sat in the front seat, and Curly stood behind the driver seat back and pulled the wheel from the back. They did get the wheel off finally...unfortunately, it had a new "butterfly" shape. I paid for the front-end alignment (eventhough the car drove like h@ll), but Joseph paid for a new steering wheel. I promptly found myself a real front-end man, and vowed then never to tamper with a factory alignment unless I had jumped a curb at 15 mph.

I have told this story before, and you may have heard it, Joe.

[Mike McKown]

Some people

use a floor jack under the radius rods to jack their car up not realizing it will bend them. I've seen a number of cars that had positive camber, plenty of adjustment in the cam washers and the rods were bent which would indicate the possibility of a floor jack getting into them.

[John H.]

Re: Some people

And the Bubba gas station mechanic who raised Corvettes on a lift that had the old "yoke" on the rear lift cylinder that picked up on the axle tubes of solid-axle passenger cars ("hey, a car's a car, right?"), but with a C2/C3 Corvette, the yoke picked it up by the strut rods. Happened all the time.

[Gregory G.]

Re: Some people

Thanks for all the helpful info.It could have been Joe Mechanic and the 3 STOOGES.In the 70's it was trial and error.Floorjack good possibility.Keep the dialogue going.

Greg

[Chuck G.]

Re: C3 Rear Alignment

Could also be that somebody "ran out of camber adjustment" because the stub axles that go into the differential are worn excessively on the ends. Many wear so much that the C clips fall off. With increasing wear on the ends of the stub axles, the negative camber increases, thus the need to compensate by bending the strut rods if there isn't enough camber bolt adjustment left. Chuck

[Gregory G.]

Re: C3 Rear Alignment

The C clips on the stub axles are in place.Due to wear the stub axles need to be replaced to correct the camber?
What is the worst senario if I just did the strut rod replacement?The rear will never align properly.The rods are bent upward approximatly 3/8th of an inch.

[Chuck G.]

Re: C3 Rear Alignment

Someone smarter than me can give the correct engineering principle explanation, but here's mine. The half shafts and stub axles serve as a suspension component as well as a driveline component.

Think of the half shafts and stub axles as "upper A frames". If the ends of the stub axles wear, that entire component moves inward, increasing negative camber. If the stub axles are worn to such an extent that camber cannot be adjusted to specs by turning the camber bolts, Bubba bent the rods to remove negative camber.

In this scenario, the correct way to "fix" the problem is to replace the stub axles with new, or machine tool insert repaired ones. This restores the correct "upper A frame" length. THEN, you can use "unbent" camber rods to adjust the rear geometry. Hope this makes sense. Chuck

[Gregory G.]

Re: C3 Rear Alignment

Yes and thank you.

Greg