[Guest]

Anyone else see anything wrong here? The pics are not the best I know.

The rear end of this Impala is shifted real far to the right, farther then I have ever seen on any SS. The left wheel is recessed far, the Right wheel sticks out of the qr. Its a good inch from the edge of the tire to the fender molding on the left side.

Is there a remedy for this? I heard about the CA mounting holes not being punched right, would this Impala be a prime example of this?

Left

Right

Left

Right

From some angles it looks really messed up, Viewing the left rear wheel from the front at a slight angle (don't have a pic)

 

[Guest]

They seem to vary all over the place. I've noticed that on a lot of B-Bodies.

What's up with the white aound your trim?

 

[Guest]

wax..lmao ,get a tooth brush man ..MAUSS when you gonna make a raic meeting?


b body ,get under ther eand check for oblong c/a holes

 

[Guest]

Good question... I've been working 6 days a week on this job and I haven't had time for much else. The program should be finished in another month or so, maybe I can catch up on some stuff then.

 

[Guest]

Yeah, Thats like wax, Swirl remover, and who knows what allover in the cracks. I got most of it out last weekened because it looked terrible. (Pics where taken weeks ago) In person you dont see it at all.. Maybe its just noticable when the flash is on. The rear qrs got blasted also. They look terrible now because dumb landscapers keep blowing sand and rocks in the street and it all kicks up.

Ill check out the LCAs.

When the rear is pitched one way or another the right side shift does not look as bad.

Would elongating the LCA holes help this any?

As it stands now the right wheel is closer to the front of the car then the left wheel.


The whole rear end seems to be shifted more to the front on the right. Perhaps the wheel base is a tiny bit less on the right then it is on the left if you get what I am saying.

 

[Guest]

has itbeen in an accident

 

[Guest]

No idea. Maybe it was.

There are no differences in how the paint looks but the LR door does not fit well. The b pillar on both sides also has these ripples. (I need to take a better pic) And the LR doors molding does not line up well at all. The door is shaped wrong. It looks like its too perfect to be a real dent. All in all Maybe its just a sloppy built car.

 

[Guest]

I would R&R the upper and lower control arms... install new bushings and check all the mounting locations. Square it up as true as you can on the re-install.
How's your drive shaft angle? If the rear end is shifter that much your drive shaft won't be straight either.

 

[Guest]

No idea how the drive shaft lines up.

I was always concerned that the car could not get a correct alignment if the rear end is shifted like it is. Like I said eairler I think the RR wheel might be a little more foward then the LR. That would cause the car always to want to go right because its like 4 wheel steering, The two inside wheels are closer then the outside ones. (if turning right sort of) I was just pondering over that a bit when I was drawing out the shift of the axle. I guess one day Ill have to park it on a flat surface and measure it out.

Also I was thinking what a thin spacer would do to the left side, possibly bringing out the left wheel a bit and making the rear look right.

I might think that the laser alignment thing that are installed on each wheel would read false because the left wheel is tucked in a little and the right sticks out.

 

[Guest]

Get a buddy and a length of string... streech it accross the rear wheel/tire and up to the front wheel/tire. We'll call this a string laser

That should tell you if the rear is really shifted (the drive shaft angle can tell you this too)... or if the body is just poorly mounted to the frame.

Even though it looks like the rear is shifted, it may just be that the body is off... and if you're using the body as a reference... your eyes will decieve you.

You can also measure frame to wheel spacing on both sides in the rear. Make sure its FRAME to wheel and not body parts.

 

[Guest]

How could I take the driveshaft angle?

Explain Driveshaft angle to dummies please?

Not that this mattersSome alignment machines will map out the centerline of the car coreect. That should tell me if everything is in alignment.

I'm confused on how to check the alignment out with a string. I kind of have some idea, but im not 100% I'll do a basic internet search now. I heard of this method before but never have been around when anyone has done this. Hey I have to start somewhere.

Nice! found a link, pictures also!

link Its rice but it shall work.


Ill try it out.

Thanks for the tips.

 

[Guest]

I'm not sure that that system will work for what you are trying to find out. Get a friend to hold the string tight aginst the rear wheel... it has to touch both the leading and trailing edge of the wheel... this will allow the string to project a "straight" line. This line should them prove to match up closely with the front wheel.

The point is that if your rear is truly shifted, this line won't match up with the front. I'm going to predict that you will find that it's your body that's not square on the frame. That is, your wheels will prove to be very closley in line with each other.

 

[Guest]

Yo Brian we gatta get together one of these days.I was looking at my car the other day and im having the same problem.We gatta figure this out.It just dont look right.

 

[Guest]

Okay. I'm avail. anyday!

We can compare rear ends? LOLOL! (Joke

)

 

[Guest]

Guys they all are shifted to the right. No one has fixed this problem yet that I know of because I would have fixed mine once someone posted how to. Get custome wheels made or a spacer is only way to may look good.

 

[Guest]

Guys they all are shifted to the right. No one has fixed this problem yet that I know of because I would have fixed mine once someone posted how to.

They are not all shifted to the right. And many people have made adjustments to fix the problem.

Losten all body mount bolts.
Jack body off of frame.
Move body to square it with frame and suspension.
Re-mount body.

There... now someone has posted how to fix it. (maybe)

R&R of the 4 rear control arms can allow for some adjustment too. But not much if everything is in good shape. Elongated mounting holes is a possible cure.

 

[Guest]

Some cars I have seen are Perfect! Its not the case on all of them. Its fun comparing everyones car and how parts line up at large gatherings.

I know on the wagon even there is less of a side wall to fender gap on the right side then the left.

When you move the body over (if needed) loosen all the bolts and just wiggle it over to one side? How much can you move the body side to side? It seems like a interesting task.

 

[Guest]

Originally posted by Rustic:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr /> Guys they all are shifted to the right. No one has fixed this problem yet that I know of because I would have fixed mine once someone posted how to.

They are not all shifted to the right. And many people have made adjustments to fix the problem.

Losten all body mount bolts.
Jack body off of frame.
Move body to square it with frame and suspension.
Re-mount body.

There... now someone has posted how to fix it. (maybe)

R&R of the 4 rear control arms can allow for some adjustment too. But not much if everything is in good shape. Look for elongated mounting holes as a possible cause. </font>[/QUOTE]How are you gonna remount the body if the holes dont line you once you shift the body over. Mine is 1/2" shifted to the right on both my cars. Explain in detail and its a done deal for me tonight.
When I first got my 96 in 98 I took it to the body shop because I thought it had been in a wreck and the guy laughed at me. He told me people were bringing them in all the time to him and it was a factory defect in all the b bodies and then I read post after post of shifted to the right. So you explain to me how to fix please because that is the biggest thing I hate about my cars.

 

[Guest]

I think re-mounting the body should be a last resort. I didn't mean to make it sound like and easy task... because it wouldn't be.

I would really recommend taking A LOT of measurements of the car to isolate the problem first. If your car is one of the one's that had the LCA mount hole stamped wrong... then that's what you should fix. I think the TSB said to elongate the hole... but I would much rather weld it up and re-drill. Elongated suspension mount holes are not a good idea if you ask me.

Remember that all the measurements you take must NOT reference the body. Wheel to frame, frame to drive shaft, rear wheel to front wheel... etc. If everything measures out as being square and you have ruled out the control arms themselves THEN I would say adjusting the body would be the way to go.

The body mount bolt holes do have some "Slop"... I would estimate 3/16"... maybe more. The nuts that are attached to the body (you won't be able to see them) are loose too. They are held in with a thin piece of sheet metal with a hole cut for the bolt. So, they can adjust to slight movements when mounting the body.

Here's a link from a couple of years ago when I was taking the body off of the race car:
http://impalassforum.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=16;t=003053
I'm showing you that to give you an idea of what you might get into if you have a rust problem.

If you do want to adjust the body... the instructions aren't very detailed. You really just have to losten all of the bolts, jack the body up a little and then pry or push it in the direction you want it to go.

How are you gonna remount the body if the holes dont line you once you shift the body over.

This shouldn't be a problem because you never actually remove the bolts.

 

[Guest]

Here's a quote from a guy who has used this method:
2TonChevy wrote:

I had this very problem on my Caprice after getting wider wheels, I really noticed the problem. The problem with mine was the frame was not centered under body. I measured the Rear end as related to the frame rails and the rear end was straight/centered in relation to the frame. When I measured the Rear end and frame at certain spots it was not centered under car. I loosened the Frame bolts/ body mounts. Jacked car up placed jack stands 2 behind rear tire/ two in front of rear tires and two behind front tires,, All jack stands on the frame. I then placed jack lightly under the body on one side (jack placed under side where wheel to fender gap is wider) jacked up enough to relieve some weight on the frame and them just took a 2x4(between body and frame rail near rear tire) on the opposite side of jack and was able to move the body over with minimal effort. Hopefully your frame mounts are not to rusty. I was lucky, live in AZ and no rust at all. Hope it helps. Roger,,