The Cook

iTrader: (4)

I recently bought a wrecked and repaired 2000 Z28 for my toy since it was cheap and I wanted a quick car that I didnt have to worry so much about getting scratched or dinged up at college.

The rear end is off center, it looks to me like it needs to go about an inch towards the passenger side to make it perfect. The car doesnt dog leg but if i take a sweeping 50mph curve to the right at say 60 or so the right (passenger) side rear tire rubs the inner fender.

1. it doesnt make sense to me why the right rear rubs the inside when i turn right... it seems to me like it should rub turning left???

2. I "persuaded" the areas where it rubs, inward a little and it helped some but it still rubs.

Just wondering if I can put like a 1/4" wheel spacer on the passenger side rear to temporairly fix the problem until I get an adjustable panhard bar to fix it.

Im thinking the panhard bar should fix it as the OEM one looks bent a little and has definately been heated and bent back some in 2 areas. Am i going to run into more issues putting an adjustable panhard bar on there or do u think that'tl do the trick?

Somthing else, im 95% sure its the rear thats off and not the frame being bent or off etc.

thanks,

SparkyJJO

iTrader: (11)

If the panhard bar is bent that could cause it. I've heard bad things about spacers and really it is just a patch fix. I'd personally get a good panhard bar to begin with and do it right the first time.

The Cook

iTrader: (4)

i know im gonna get a UMI single adjustable (not on car) panhard bar and LCA kit. its like 230 bucks and then I can mayb get rid of the occasional wheel hop too. I jus wondered if it would hurt anything to run a spacer for a couple weeks until I get this stuff. I keep having this re-occuring daydream of having to chose between exploding the tire or driving off the road...


EDIT:
hey just a thought... if the panhard bar is bent wouldnt that move the rear towards the passenger side and not the driver side... since it attaches to the car on the passenger side and the rear on the driver side??? confused?

SparkyJJO

iTrader: (11)

Depends. Check the mount points, also depending on how bad the panhard bar was bent and repaired it could have actually gotten stretched in the process theoretically (not sure how possible that actually is). Are there any other signs of damage that wasn't repaired right?

Scoggin Dickey

iTrader: (34)

It makes sense that it rubs that way when you consider the movement of the panhard bar and the weight shift. You need to pick up an adjustable panhard bar for sure. Yours could bent, or if the car is lowered or anything else is affecting ride height it will change the alignment of the rear as well simply due to the nature of how a panhard bar works

The Cook

iTrader: (4)

yea all i know about a panhard bar is it controls lateral movement of the rear end, i dont know how it does it. so thats good to know that that side should be rubbing when i turn right and its not something weird. the car isnt lowered atleast not to my knowledge and it doesnt look lowered. ill try and post some picures if i ever figure out how to do it.

the only other damage i can see underneath is there is a decent crease running left to right along the bottom of the driver side rear floor pan under where the driver side rear passenger seat is. dont think its hurting anything tho.

like i said im gettin a panhard bar and LCA's from UMI soon. just wanted to know if a 1/4" wheel spacer could act as a temporary fix for 2 or 3 weeks.

SladeX

Actually, if you look at the panhard bar setup, you can actually "see" how it would cause the rubbing. As the car lowers, the panhard bar works like a triangle in shape. The angle slowly decreases and you see that the car which is riding on the top of it doesn't go down straight, it goes down AND slides over causing the rub you are describing.

The Cook

iTrader: (4)

Yea i can understand the up and down movement of the car and yea it makes sense that when the car came down it would move the rear end towards the driver side more which would cause the rubbing since the inside of the passenger side tire and the passenger side wheel well (frame side) is where the rubbing is.

still im confused as to when the car rolls/slides... it jus seems to me that as you turn right the car wants to roll off left... creating a larger gap on the passenger side where the rubbing happens. maybe I didnt clairfy enough in my first post that its on the inside, not the outside of the passenger side that is rubbing.

im not questioning you guys im just making sure u know where im talking about

passenger side

middle of car || | tire | | outer sheet metal
middle of car || | tire | |
middle of car || | tire |

double line (||) is where rubbing occurs

haha hope u like my diagram.


for sure im going to get an adjustable panhard bar, im jus making sure that if it isnt entirely the panhard bar (thats making the rear off center) and i put in an adjustable panhard bar it wont mess some other alignment up. and ill scrap the spacer idea.

thanks, sorry if im being repetative.

Scoggin Dickey

iTrader: (34)

When you turn right, it presses down on the left, which brings the panhard bar more in line with the axle, therefore it is "longer" and pushes the axle to the left. IT really does make sense, it's not about gaining or losing wheel gap that does it, it's the length of the panhard bar in relation to the axle in that portion of the travel. Note that when the left wheel is closer to the body (IE a right turn) the panhard bar moves up and must pull the axle to the left, causing your rubbing.

The Cook

iTrader: (4)

excellent, thanks for being patient with me, that makes total sense. ive got a single adjustable panhard bar and adjustable LCA's on their way from summit. Ill post pics of before and after once im home to work on it. The schools internet wont let me upload pics to my cardomain so ill get them when im home.

thanks again

Pats Fan

iTrader: (3)

Yeah, like to see the pix and also how you set it all up. I'm swapping rear ends soon and I want to make sure I get everything lined up right! don't want to wear out those Eagle F1s too fast, they cost too much!

The Cook

iTrader: (4)

well just to update I got it fixed. ive got some pics but nothing great... there had been holes torched in both of the mounts to get the panhard bar to work i assume... so i fixed those holes and used the stock ones. had to turn the bar in 7/8 of an inch to bring it to center as measured from the frame.

ill try and get the pictures ive got up later.

z28_YOU_HO

iTrader: (7)

Mine would do the EXACT same thing when I had my 315's. Get a adjustable pan hard bar and straighten that puppy out!

The Cook

iTrader: (4)

shes straight! was urs a BI*#C to get pulled over? it took a decent amount of pushing to get mine where i wanted it... of course mine was wrecked at some point... yours definately doesnt look that way