60 Corvette body lean

[Greg L.]

I'm finally getting around to sorting out this body lean issue on my 60 and would like some words of wisdom. I think it's 90% springs and 10% actual body and this is what I've done so far. Also for what it's worth,this was all done on a cement floor so it's not 100% accurate but I think it's fairly close because of the way I did it.

The front measurement between the lower control arm front grease nipple and floor(Front Dim. A) is, drivers side-10-1/8" & pass side-10-5/8"

The rear measurement between the bottom of the frame kick-up and top of the axle tube(Rear Dim. B) is, drivers side-6" & pass side-6-1/2".

The rear leafs were new replacement ones(non-groved) when I bought the car and the front coils look like originals so I'm thinking that new front one will take care of it. I also read some place that there were shims used along with the coils and I was wondering how thick they were, how many were often used and if they went on the top of bottom of the spring? I wonder if maybe I have a shim issue or if not maybe I could use some to level the car if the new coils don't do it.

Now if I jack under the divers control arm cross shaft to level the frame(both Dim. A is equal) and then lay a 4' level across the fender tops just ahead of the hood I still need to raise the drivers side of the level about 3/16" to make the level, level so that tells me that the body also has a bit of lean or is this not a good way to check this?

If it is actual body lean then where do I go to raise this part of the body and seeing as it's just a driver I'm wondering if I even want to go there....

Thanks

[Bill M.]

Re: 60 Corvette body lean

Based on your measurements, the first thing I would try is to swap leaf springs side-to-side.

The coil springs have one side ground flat. The shims go on that end. I think the shims were used to equalize all the springs to the same height. A shim was wired to the coil for service parts. I don't know if shims were available seperately.

[Greg L.]

Re: 60 Corvette body lean

Thanks Bill.

Swapping the rear leafs did cross my mind so now that you mentioned it to I'll try that. I've already ordered the front coils so changing them will be plan B now.

In regards to my leveling the front of the frame with a jack and finding that that body still seems to be about 3/16" low in regards to the frame, would this be something to look into correcting as well or would this be allowable factory tolorance? Maybe I'm being too picky?

[Bill M.]

Re: 60 Corvette body lean

In regards to my leveling the front of the frame with a jack and finding that that body still seems to be about 3/16" low in regards to the frame, would this be something to look into correcting as well or would this be allowable factory tolorance? Maybe I'm being too picky?

Greg:

I would work on getting the whole car leveled to your visual satisfaction first ... I'm guessing that the 3/16 will not be visible.

Bill

[Greg L.]

Re: 60 Corvette body lean

I little up-date...

I've swapped the rear leafs and changed the drivers side coil spring, it sits a little more level side to side but not much better than before. The body does have a slight lean to it but from all my measuring I have to say that the majority of the lean is in the front suspension(drivers side is about 3/8" lower than the passenger side when measuring from the centerline of each front lower control arm bushing to the pavement).

Now I'm wondering if I should change the other(passenger side) spring to see what happens or look into shimming the drivers spring so the suspension is level? Does anyone know how thick these shims were and how many can be used at once? I guess the other thing is that maybe the passenger side spring is just too stif or maybe IT has been shimmed so maybe I should replace it with the other new spring that I have to see what happens.....

Any ideas?

[Bill M.]

Re: 60 Corvette body lean

Now I'm wondering if I should change the other(passenger side) spring to see what happens or look into shimming the drivers spring so the suspension is level? Does anyone know how thick these shims were and how many can be used at once? I guess the other thing is that maybe the passenger side spring is just too stif or maybe IT has been shimmed so maybe I should replace it with the other new spring that I have to see what happens.....

Any ideas?

Greg:

It's a good idea to replace springs in an axle-pair. If you installed the taller new spring in the driver side, once the shorter new spring is in the passenger side, then I would consider shimming the driver side to level.

Bill

[Douglas M.]

Re: 60 Corvette body lean

Definitely change springs in pairs.

One of my front coils was collapsed about 2" compared to the other side, the car didn't lean so much sitting still, but it sure had a lot of body roll turning right vs turning left.

Make sure your frame isn't tweaked, also, kinks in the frame just behind the front cross member are common in cars that had collision damage in the past.

Doug

[Greg L.]

Re: 60 Corvette body lean

I was going to install the pair but thought I'd try a little experiment by installing just one new, "stronger" one the sagging side to see how it looked. I did compare the two new ones and the old dirvers side one on the bench and didn't see any noticable difference in height.

I guess I'll replace the passenger side spring now and see where that puts me. Hopefully that spring is too stiff or is shimmed(fingers crossed).

[Adam S.]

Re: 60 Corvette body lean

Greg, I have seen the fiberglass out more than a 1/2 inch with one fender higher than other. Some very early repairs by a Chevy body shop that was made back in 1960's when GM parts were used to fix them as factory correct just as you would have done as todays new car, I think & hope(modern throw a way cars)? Make a "X" measurement if possiable on top surface of fenders headlight bezzel from outer corner to an opposite area like the edge of fender/door gap space. I don't think there is such a thing as perfect, but should give you a feel as how square that area may be. Just a though.........

[Dan P.]

Re: 60 Corvette body lean

If you search the archives I posted a repy on this before .Coming from a collision repair background I have had to deal with this same problem before .
The first thing you have to do is to determine if the problem is in the front or rear .So you need to isolate one or the other by jacking up one end of the car .The front is the easiest. You will need to find center of the frame .Put a large socket on your jack and jack the car up with socket on centerline.Center of the third arm bracket should do .Make sure the rear tires are on a level surface and have the same air pressure in both.Now all the weight is on the rear tires and the front can pivot on the socket which is centerline of the car . Now measure the back . If it measures the same side to side the problem is in the front . If it is off the problem is in the rear .