[TSmith]

I have a buddy that just bought a 67. It came with air shocks on the rear and was up in the air quite a bit. We were going to lower it down and noticed that the drivers side tire would hit the quater lip if lowered. However, the other side had about 3/4 clearance... Anyone ever had this problem? We are not sure what is causing it to be that far off center. Frame does not appear to have been hit or bent..

 

[sLOW63]

could be worn leaf springs and or worn/deteriorated bushings on them....

 

[JRouche]

Mass Manufacturing. Maybe the rear came around once too fast and whacked the curb. Leaf springs right? Im not very familiar with leaf spring rears but they are pretty tight to the axle housing with welded spring perches right? So if they look fine, and the body mounts arent torn I say manufacturing. JR

 

[TSmith]

could be worn leaf springs and or worn/deteriorated bushings on them....

The bushings all look in good shape. It has multi springs and lakewood traction bars. They appear to be fairly new. Im puzzled???

 

[TSmith]

Mass Manufacturing. Maybe the rear came around once too fast and whacked the curb. Leaf springs right? Im not very familiar with leaf spring rears but they are pretty tight to the axle housing with welded spring perches right? So if they look fine, and the body mounts arent torn I say manufacturing. JR

Yeah multi leaf. perches look ok. dont see torn body mounts.... Im wondering if the traction bars could maybe be an issue. Not sure how they could.
What would be the best fix???

 

[bowtie0069]

Loosen the U-bolts(or T-bolts if it has those) take the weight off the springs, and see if you can move it around enough to center it. Sometimes you can cheat em over a little.

 

[TSmith]

Loosen the U-bolts(or T-bolts if it has those) take the weight off the springs, and see if you can move it around enough to center it. Sometimes you can cheat em over a little.

Thanks, I'll try that and see if we sqeeze any room out of it.

 

[DANNO]

This is a problem that has been reported here before. As was stated, in mass production things can get a little off. An eighth of an inch here, an eighth of an inch there and soon you end up with what you're describing. :yes: It was not a problem with the skinny stock tires.

 

[Chevy6455]

I have run across this problem personally twice. It was very noticeable on my 65 and the driver side quarter lip would rub the tire on a sharp turn and the passenger side had about 3/4 inch of clearance. I just mounted the same wheels on my 64 and its almost the same thing. They both have mone leaf rears. Neither car appeared to have taken a major hit in the quarters or anywhere else. If anyone has a good solution please let me know too. I am eventually going to put in a rear frame kit like the TCI or Heidts but until then it would be great to figure out, Jeff

 

[JRouche]

If anyone has a good solution please let me know too.

Watts link.. Yeah, I made a watts link and havent driven it yet but moved it through all the motions to a max of about five degrees of body roll and it keeps the rear end centered just fine. It better, I only have a 1/2" clearance from the tire to the quarter. Oh, and its a watts link/4-link setup. JR

 

[TSmith]

wouldn't the rear end being off set cause the drive shaft to be out of alignment and cause some vibration at moderate speeds?

 

[DANNO]

wouldn't the rear end being off set cause the drive shaft to be out of alignment and cause some vibration at moderate speeds?

Nah. The driveshaft is not aligned. That's why the U-joints are there. Some Ford rears, I believe are purposely offset.

 

[OB_67_Nova]

That was and is a GM production matter. Most Novas with stock rears have that problem.
None of the engineers of that day thought about putting any other wheels and tires on these cars. With the small 14 inch wheels they used it was just fine.
My 67 has the same issues, I can get a 245 on the drivers side with good clearance but only a 225 will fit on the passenger side without rubbing.
Only fix is to move the spring perches.

 

[JBimmolate]

I've even seen a few diffs that had the perches welded on more to one side from factory so check that too.

Miles

 

[TSmith]

Thanks for the input guys.... I'm sad to hear this was such a problem, but glad to hear I'm not the only one. Looks like we will looking to replace the stock rear end or cut and reweld the perches.