I'm curious as to weather anyone else has experienced this and what could have caused it to happen. After a total rebuild of the front end on my 67 GS, it sits about an 1", 1"1/2 higher than before. I reused my original springs because I loved the stance it had and I didn't want to risk altering it by buying new springs. I remember reading posts stating NOT to tighten the control arms too much until the car is sitting on the ground. That is what I did. I'm sure the springs are installed correctly so i'm stumped as to what would cause this unintentional rake job. Could the addition of an 1"1/4 anti-sway bar have anything to do with my dilemma. I would appreciate anyone's input or suggestions. Here are a few B/A pics, Thanks...
I doubt that the sway bar could influence ride height. Are you sure the bottom of the spring is correctly in the "pocket" of the lower control arm? That pocket conforms to the open end on the bottom of spring. If the spring rotated during install, it may be sitting on the "high" part of the pocket. It looks like you installed new spindles. Is it possible there is a height difference in the spindles themselves? o No:
Did you leave the bolts to the lower control arms loose and put it back on its tires? If you didn't this will sometimes make the front end sit high. Loosen the bolts up and put it on the ground. Cycle the suspension a few times and then tighten them back up with it on the ground. (I know it sucks without a chassis hoist) Mike
Rule #1 is to never tighten the suspension bolts until you have all the weight on the car but I doubt if that would hold the car up 1" or more. My guess is you don't have the springs correctly seated in the pockets. Make sure they are centered at the top before you even try to seat them in the lower control arm.
My first thought was getting rid of all that crud lightened your front end, but since it's all unsprung weight it wouldn't have any effect on stance. Did you change or add rubber spring seats? That could add an inch of the old ones were shot. Maybe there's less binding on the pivot points now with all the new parts and the car is simply rising up to it's normal height. Upload a pic of the stance.
Yes, there is a guide hole on the bottom control arms that the end of the spring must be visible in. According to the shop manual, the end of the spring must be visible, but not past the hole. That's the way I set them in the pockets. I don't know if the top part of the spring is sitting in the frame correctly. Maybe that's the problem. As far as the spindles go, they're the same height as the stock ones.
Yeah, I could see that happening if I had new springs, but these are 43 years old. I drove it about 25 miles today and did a few short stops to try and settle things down. No luck, it measures exactly the same as before.o No:
Wow. Deja vu. You just did the exact same work to your car and ended up with the exact same problem. My 65 is sitting about 2" too high in the front too. At this point, I think I put my coil springs in upside down. My coils had one end that was flattened and one end that was not. I recall putting the flattened end down instead of up. It is the only thing I can think of that might be the problem. Let me know what you find if you solve it first.
Yeah, I read your brake thread and we even used the same kit from Tom's Classics. What a coincidence! My springs don't have a flat side. They're rounded on both ends. It may be that the top of the springs are not centered in the frame properly. I'm really looking forward to sweating my ass off in the garage once again to get to bottom of this. I HATE the way the car sits and the way it feels going down the road. It kind of feels like i'm driving a 60's gasser now.
HA! That is exactly what came to mind for me. I love the new brakes though. What a monster huge improvement! I guess I just have to pull it apart and look. I just don't want to accidentally cut or damage the new ball joint boots with the pickle fork. I am not sure if they sell those separately.
I never use a pickle fork because they not only damage the boots but usually bark up the spindles, too. I always remove the nut and thread on a longer, hardened one, down to the top of the threads. Actually, I use a head stud nut off of a flathead Ford. Hold a big hammer on the bottom somewhere for support and then whack the nut with a lead mallet.
PROBLEM SOLVED!!! I just came in from the garage and I couldn't be happier. The car is back to normal height! The problem was the top of the springs weren't seated properly in the frame. The bottoms were so perfectly seated in the control arms that I didn't pay attention to the tops. BIG MISTAKE and a valuable lesson learned. Thanks to all for pointing me in the right direction, especially Bill ( Golden Oldie) Thanks again,
This is good news. Now I know just where to look. Too bad there is no trick to popping them into place without pulling it all apart.
Maybe I'm missing something here, but if the spring lines up with the slot in the lower control, how can they not line up with the top? If you turn it to line up the top, wouldn't that now throw the bottom alignment out? I had the same problem, but I thought it was because I went to new springs, aluminum radiator and heads etc. I ended up pulling the springs and whacking a coil out of each spring, problem solved
