I just had a wheel alignment on my 67 RS conv and was told by the shop that the rear axle is cocked, causing the steering wheel to be not centered when driving.

Looking at it, you can see that pass side rear tire appears centered in the rear wheelwell but the drivers side is more forward, by almost 1/2".

Is this adjustable? The springs were converted from monos to multis but the shock mounts from the monos were reused.

Also, the shop said that once the rear is adjusted, the steering wheel will straighten out and it won't need a new alignment. Is is accurate?

The axle location is not adjustable unless using off-center location washer between the spring bolt and shock plate. Nobody makes these as I made my own from soft alum.

One-half inch is the width of the spring bolt head.

Unless you want to invest in relocating the axle, you should ask for a thrust-angle alignment. This method uses the rear axle centerline as a reference and adjusts the front axle specs and tells the technician where to adjust the front axle to make it parallel with the rear axle. This would correct the off-center steering wheel.

What the shop did was to align the front axle to the centerline of the car, not taking into effect where the rear axle is located.

It is not uncommon for the rear axle to slip with mono leaf springs. It shouldn't happen with multi leaf springs since they have a center bolt sticking out top and bottom of the spring to better locate the housing.

Have someone good go over the rear spring installation and see if something slipped, or if the conversion was improperly done. If the axle is properly located on the springs, then there is a small amount of adjustment in the front perch brackets where they bolt to the unibody. But first make sure the housing is centered on the springs.

I have mono springs and had the rear shift front to back on hard stops and launches. What I found was the pad nipple was sheared off and allowed the rear to move. As for multi's I have no clue, but worth looking at the spring pads.

I did the installation and recall that the unibody area above front spring mount on the drivers side wasn't in the best of shape. Haven't looked at it yet since the shop advised me of the alignment problem and hoping it's not too bad.

I have a Saturday Camaro project! (to replace the original one I had).

Thanks for the advise!!!!!!!!!!

Did the new multi springs have a locating pin on either the top or bottom of the spring?

Multi's use a through bolt and nut! Nut on the bottom and bolt head up top..

This is one way you can tell a virgin mono rear housing b/c the spring mounts won't have holes in them. But the shock bottom mounts will...

I figure it is worth a call to a spring company and ask flat out if you can drill a hole where the mono spring's locating "tit" sheared off and install a flat-headed bolt like a carriage bolt with the square under the head removed and use the bottom nut as a new centering "tit".

A "Hard-bit" should drill right through a spring!

On second thought, IF they were mine, I would drill it/them anyway b/c they are toast anyway w/o the locating "tits"!!

pdq67

PDQ, not necessarily true.

My 3 leaf VB springs did NOT come with a bolt head on the top, only a locating pin on the bottom which fit into the locating hole in the shock plate.

I suspect the JCWhitney springs that Mark and others have used are the same as mine.

Stock, STOCK!!!

Yes, my JCW '68 Nova three leaf mono replacements didn't have a top bolt head either..

pdq67

Reading his inital post I was under the impression he was NOT using stock parts.

Guess we will have to wait for him to post back.

Sorry this took so long.

I am not using all stock parts. Springs are multi-leaf (5) with the bolt through. Rear is a corporate 8.5 10 bolt from a Nova. Shock mounts are the original monos.

I did try to adjust and was able to get about ¼" closer by centering the bolts in the shock mounts but am still about ½” off – where it appears it’s ½" forward on the drivers side, based on the tire being centered in the wheel well.

The unibody above the drivers side front spring mount was it pretty bad shape when I removed the old springs and did my best (without welding capability) to reinforce the area where the j-clips sit. I assume that where my ½” lives.

At this point, not being an expert in this area by any means, I will try to find a good spring shop on Staten Island (or central NJ) and have them properly align and reinforce.

If anyone is familiar with the area, please recommend.

Thanks for your advise!!!!

Joe A

You may be able to do something in the front spring mount area to improve the problem. Bolt holes in the front perch can be slotted if need be.

Just don't relocate the front perch to fix a problem with the housing to spring location. Fix the problem, not the symptom.
David

My wheel well dimensions differ side-to-side due to the sheetmetal, approx 1/2". It makes the axle look slightly cocked. However, when I measured the quarters the width of the wheel well openings were off, causing the appearance of a cocked axle. Since you alignment shop didn't know to do a thrust alighnment, are you sure the axle is cocked vs. dimensional differences in the quarters?

Also make sure your subframe is set square in the unibody.

Wow, lots of variables here!

Considering the subframe mounts, springs, and rear were installed in my driveway (non-stock, no less) and the alignment shop used was basically a local shop of which I have no prior experience, recommendation, or trust, I really need to find a good shop to look at this issue in its entirety – and to your well-taken point, David, properly fix!

Here lie’s the problem – finding one. With no fellow enthusiasts in my neighborhood (my neighbors hate my car – I likewise detest their SUVs, MiniVans, Beamers, and rice burners), I really need a good recommendation. A body shop maybe, since this is more than likely a body alignment problem?

Thanks all,

Joe

There's a few folks over on pro-touring.com in your neck of the woods who might be able to point you in a direction. Also, folks here, too. Perhaps posting a thread for an alignment shop recommendation on both sites?