1SLwLS1

iTrader: (6)

God only knows how long it has been out of whack. The car had DA LCAs, PHB, and UMI Long slip style TA. The car flew sideways over a curb last November. The body shop fixed all of the suspension, but I have had to get the front end aligned (4) times since then and the rear end is favoring the PS by 1/4". From wheel center to makeshift plum-bob, I get 2 1/2" on the PS and 3" on the DS. So I know it has been off for as long as last November, what all could this be affecting?

I know in the turns under hard throttle, I get a little wheel hop, but usually from a straight line, it pretty much hooks on the street, unless I am on asphalt and if it does spin, they just spin, no hopping or bouncing. I do have a Strange 12 bolt with the LCAs on the lowest hole.

I can also tell you this, my pinion angle has got to be 6+ degrees! I don't know how that could of been setup that bad! The driveline angle is probably around 3+ degrees. My pinion is definitely pointed towards the sky. I wanted to adjust this last night BUT, I couldn't get my rear ale centered due to the PS bump stop already touching the 315 Nittos and the PS needs to come in by around a 1/4" so I will have to grind first.

All in all, what are the effects/affects (?) of having an un-centered rear axle?

BMR Tech

iTrader: (9)

I do not see the off centered axle being the cause of wheel hop.

You might be surprised if you check a stock car how much they are off from the factory.

To be honest I do not know if the rear being off by a 1/4" would have any ill effects at all on a daily driver ......

1SLwLS1

iTrader: (6)

Me neither, I wouldn't figure much, but would it cause it to pull one way or another considering the rear wheels are not behind the front, albeit not much? Just wondering if they me a tiny contributor to some of the chassis/suspension issues I have been having.

leadfoot4

iTrader: (1)

I agree. For what it's worth, I put lowering springs on an '85 Firebird that I owned way back then. There wasn't as much knowledge or aftermarket parts such as adjustable PHBs available back then, and yes, my rear axle was offset by about a half inch. I drove it that way for 8 years without any ill effect, and as far as I know, the fellow who bought it from me is still driving it that way.

1SLwLS1

iTrader: (6)

Also, I would of figured that going from loaded suspension to full droop would give me different readings, considering that the axle should travel on an arc with a PHB setup. Quite the contrary, loaded had the same measurements as they did at full droop.

I then thought, well maybe the x position, if you were to plot the height of the axle relative to the horizontal movement through the range of motion of the axle, was at the same point, just on the opposite of the axis, and I guess this is the case.

leadfoot4

iTrader: (1)

Yes!

From what I've observed over the years, 3rd and 4th gen car's OE ride heights varied all over the place. My '85 Firebird and my '96 Z-28 seemed to be at the high end of the spectrum (of course!!) while a former neighbor's '90-'91 V-6 Camaro coupe, which I know was bone stock, was "slammed" from the factory. However, there was only one OE PHB. Therefore, the axles were rarely centered on all the cars as they came from the factory.

1SLwLS1

iTrader: (6)

I am sure that its not a problem in street trim and duty, but I will heading to the track soon and want to go ahead and get a baseline on settings and angles and make sure simple stuff, such as centered axle, is square, so I can put it out of my mind. I am also going to have to adjust the TA to reduce my driveline angle. With the suspension loaded, it is up a few degrees, imagine under launch load!

LS1TAUTO

iTrader: (1)

got the same prob but my is stock suspision wise the car smacked the crib pretty bad Couple months ago my passenger tire sticks out a little more then my driver I think I need a adj phr

leadfoot4

iTrader: (1)

If you smacked a curb, you probably bent the panhard bar. While an adj. bar would be a good idea, even an OE bar from the junkyard would be an improvement. While you're down there, check your LCAs, and make sure that you didn't bend either of them also....

Snake_Skinner

iTrader: (12)

Ya i smacked the **** out of a curb about two weeks ago. Check and make sure your PHB aint bent or the sway bar isnt moved over. It bent the hell out of my stock PHB(glad really cause it took the brute of the force then gave), bent my axle, moved the sway bar over an inch, and straight destroyed one of my AR rebels causing me to lose the whole set b/c there discontinued. I put on a new axle and another oem PHB bar and my rear is still like an inch and half more to the PS. I can definitely tell you i can feel a difference, it pulls real bad and shakes real bad on sharp right turns. I plan on just buying an adj PHB and moving the rear end back over, figured you could just do the same do you have an adj PHB?

1SLwLS1

iTrader: (6)

Yea, I ended up moving mine over, but even further favoring the PS. The initial readers were 2 1/2" from wheel hub to fender on the PS and 3" on the DS. I moved everything square with the subframe and made sure the LCAs were parallel. The new measurements are 2 1/4" and 3 1/4". So I exaggerated the initial condition, but if it is straight with the subframe/uni-body, I am good to go.

libertyforall1776

iTrader: (2)

Isn't this a good use case for a Watts Link?

1SLwLS1

iTrader: (6)

Why? Still centers the axle same, just the vertical motion route is changed between PHB and Watts Link.