[bozkm]

GT Ride Height

Today I was looking at my car, and noticed that it looked a little off. I measured the wheel wells, and noticed the right side of the car is about 1/2 inch higher than the left, between the rear wells, then the front wells. I also noticed the front wells are about 1/2 inch higher then the rear. What would cause this? I have replaced the rear shocks, but not the front yet.

Thanks.

 

[soybean (R.I.P.)]

I cut 2 loops out..car seems firmer..doesnt seem jacked up...car will be
jacked up if you dont cut 2 loops..

I dont know if cutting 2 loops is ok to do..I did it to firm up the back..which it did..i will drive it some more and see.

Bucky, I may have asked this before, if I have pardon my feeble brain. I put the tires on the rear, to move it to the outside pad to pull the front suspension, and it looked like yours did before you cut the springs. I see I am going to have to cut the rear like you did. Did you also grind the spring flat like N61WP and Old Hippie suggested? and how does the car handle now that the springs have been cut? Did you replace the rear shocks as well? Thanks, Jarrell

 

[opeldean]

Yup.

yes, you looked jacked up.

I cut exactly 720 degrees out of the sportwagon springs. I flattened somewhat like old hipped said, but be more aggressive than me. there is a "z' effect that he shows in his picture from cutting the spring.My backend is elevated a little over stock, but the back end is firmer and I would never go back to my old gt springs. I forgot which end I cut from. The ends of the springs are different in diameter, I believe.

The elevated backend gives bettter clearance for the muffler coming over th e hump.

PS: I will enclose a photo of tire bind in my et mag, same as you,
in the proper thread

 

[soybean (R.I.P.)]

Thanks Bucky. When I pull the springs out I'll check the diameter of the ends. I do remember that there were numbers on the springs that appeared after sandblasting, and I put the springs in with the numbers at the bottom. Jarrell

 

[opeldean]

thanks flipper..spring perch function

Flipper(Shawn) was in town on business and came by my house to help me with my suspension. I had ordered a spring perch and now this makes sense.The used perch I bought from ogts is in my hand.The rubber side faces the pavement when installed. You cant see it by looking up at the transverse spring,it sits above it. 2 bolts hold it in so, it can be set in 2 positions. this CAN effect ride height..in Shawns car it did..after he had fixed everything else..he thought mine was suspescious but we felt that my low ride height on the left side was due to several other factors...upper and lower ball joints are shot,spring eye bushings are shot. If you take a screw driver you can poke up into the perch to check its thickess or deterioation.

 

[opeldean]

shot ball joint

shawn says my ball joints are shot.also I think i need to correct the last slide on spring perch...if you move the perch to the outside..the car will lower..correct?

also picture shows the acute angle of my ball joint..too much angle

 

[soybean (R.I.P.)]

On the front end I rebuilt, there was only one bolt each side, but 2 holes as you show. I too am curious now that you brought up the question. Enclosed is a before picture that shows where mine was bolted up. This is the passenger side. Jarrell

 

[nobody]

All I can see is the first picture of what seems to be a group of pictures.

 

[opeldean]

released the front spring ..need opinion on perch

chad released my spring this afternoon.

here is a couple photos i took as i video taped it.

fig 2 scared me the most for chads sake as he was under the car unduing the last piece holding the spring up..beside the jack.

my spring perche looks good Question: should i have chad move the perch inboard to raise the left side?..my left side has been low since i got the car

it went real fast,chad is so quick...i didnt even catch the release of the spring.. only before and after.

lower ball joint was loose and the lower a- arm bushing was rusted to the shaft, chad torched it...it was the source of a squeak in my suspsension since the rubber bushing was bindind on the lower A arm

it was great watching him work.

view of spring perch is laying on back looking up, you can see the 2 holes to allow inboard /outboard adjustment

 

[opeldean]

coat hanger / ball joints

chad took a coat hanger and looped it thru to keep the brakes out of the way, before dropping the spring

 

[opeldean]

update from flipper..flipable spring?

I just spoke to 'flipper" on the phone, he is the only opeler to have seen my suspension before today.

his advise:
1- put it back together the same way, make sure the perch is the same on the left as the right( probabaly the outter holes)
2- flip the spring ( put the right onto the left side...to account for the 34 years of load by its driver)...he thought the spring was "flipable"
3- make sure upper ball joints bolt back up the same way as the 2 bolts are offset and you can be off 180 degrees and your wheels will be leaning.

4- probabbly best not to move perch inward to bring left side up, he thought if i was lucky...it might fix it self by replacing the compressed spring eyes and compressed ball joints.

5- you may have to get it all together..then go back and move a perch to adjust body lean

 

[Old Hippie]

Dean, did you feel any rough or sloppy movement in the ball joints? They'd be shot for sure if you did as good ball joints don't move by hand well at all. I couldn't hazard a guess about turning the leaf. I will say this: clamp the spring in the center to a level beam (sq. tube, small I-beam, etc) above the floor and measure the distance from each end to the floor. It's a quick down and dirty test to see if the leaf is more compressed on one side. It won't tell you if one side is weaker though. A shop could do a weight deflection test for you. Just my 2c's.

 

[opeldean]

Chad's metal ferruled poly bushing for late "A arm"

we ran into a problem this am. My lower bushings are too small for the a arm.

apparently my 70 A arms have been changed to late model.

1-here is chads solution..has anyone heard of this?

burn out the rubber of the old ,early bushings,...then press them on the new late poly...seems like it was almost made that way.."as the shoulder is small on the A arm anyway...according to Chad"

2- upper A arm set for neg camber..is this correct?

Advise

 

[baz]

a nice fix i like it

 

[flipper]

I would recommend trading in those for the right ones, and check your other side to see what size it is. It is worth the wait from ogts to know its right. Different size lower a arms seems to be common as gts get older. To anyone replacing their a arm bushings, check diameter of both sides before ordering. Or, order both sides and return the ones you do not need with ogts permission of course. Just my $.02

 

[nobody]

There was a reason Opel went to a larger diameter. The smaller ones had a tendency to flex and this was thier solution. Yes the rubber has to be removed first. It's the inner diameter that was changed.

 

[opeldean]

I need to read the instructions

ok, burning out the bushing is in the instructions.I am learning.

Gil (and the instructions) said
1-the metal sleeve is a part of the lower A arm,,,it should of stayed there...he said tack weld it.
Gil said:
2- dont use neg camber..thats for sport spring only.

3- moving perch will affect ride height ,but not not enough to select the neg camber position of the upper ball joint.

problems i ran into:
i was short a spring eye pair, even tho 2 members on the site (svopel and tking) had sent me spares thru rush mail.(thanks for trying) ..but they were for sport springs which will not interchange with a reg spring eye..sport spring has a smaller eye...so we used tr6 rubber bushings...1/2 on each side for balance...had to improvise a bit as its all apart in a shop .

i filmed what i could and I hope to get I can get back for the reassembly...passenger side upper ball joint was rusted and loose..even rattled...old spring eyes bushings were oval and split..i cant believe how much better this car is going to be...

 

[opeldean]

will align tomorrow

imissed the spring install with the video camera

couldnt get away from my work , but work pays

for opel stuff

chad is going to show me how to align it tomorrow.. i wil be able to take photos or video..


in the shop...car was level! groans and squeeks are gone..tomorrow pm i will be driving her

chad moved spring perch to outboard hole on each side, spring was also flipped

ball joints are set with neg camber,chad said he wants to see how it measures up tomorrow

 

[opeldean]

no body lean...soft smooth ride over bumps

well today is a big opel day for me. no body lean. I have driven it 20 mlies. we checked toe in,camber,castor..its about right...only thing right wheel is showing positive camber of +2....i think the manual says 1/2 degree positive..although ball joints are set for neg camber in the sport spring position...we will recheck it after the suspension settles in

i will try to get photos..camera card malfunctioned this am.

car drives great. it feels like a new car..oddly enough...it feels softer ,cushier ,and very sedan like. A lot of big differences, car is level and you really notice it when you drive. Another thing is how easy the steering wheel turns...has a buttery ,well lubed feel. no squeaks or groans...vey soft and supple.

cambor,castor, toe in...chad has some simple tools to check this.

the car drives show room new, when Truman drives it next month on our way to carlisle..i will let him vouch for me...as he has driven it before repairs.
( we are not bringing the car to carlise tho, as there isnt enough oil in kuwait to get us there)

next project...start working on the engine rebuild that is part way


if I had it to different he is what i would do, (if you want to do more of the project yourself...and still be safe,especially if you dont have good equipment or good tools or want to drop a car on yourself trying to get off that last rusted nut on the spring retainer-crosspiece)

i wish i had bought some salvage upper and lower A arms. get these painted ahead of time and disassembled. get the ball joints installed and get the new bushings in..take your time. then i would take it to a shop...have them decompress the spring, swap in the new arms, having the arms ready to go,jacking with the A arms is over 1/2 of the shop time. also have all the needed grade 8 bolts ready, as the shop will probably not have these ready)

if you are not going to do that, at least order a double set of A arm bushings, old and late model,,,so that the car is not apart and you are back ordered from your opel dealer....maybe your" A arms are not the same year as your car?"

also: i have been assured,that there really is nothing challenging for a shop to do this. the folks that did this said " not hard at all"..

from what i saw...working at a a pace..if your A arms are ready..the whole job could be done in 2 hours by someone with good tools( and who can find their tools)...4 hours at most..if rusted bolts were encountered.

my mechanic spent about 5- 6 hours on the job..i will have to ask him

all in all...unbelievable...it rides/steers like new..

 

[opelgtmaster3]

i had the same thing wrong with mine. all i did to fix it was change out the long bar in the back right behind the rear axle. the car is level now