1969 Barracuda Body Lean

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Stukenbroeker

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Ever since I bought my 1969 Barracuda it has had a drivers side lean to it. I thought the front shocks may do the trick, so I just finished the replacement of those, but it doesn't seem to have changed. I'm wondering what else I should be checking for. It's a significant lean. I'll post pics in the morning when I have some daylight.

Thanks in advance!!
 
Stukenbroeker said:
Ever since I bought my 1969 Barracuda it has had a drivers side lean to it. I thought the front shocks may do the trick, so I just finished the replacement of those, but it doesn't seem to have changed. I'm wondering what else I should be checking for. It's a significant lean. I'll post pics in the morning when I have some daylight.

Thanks in advance!!
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leaning just in the front? torsion bars adjusted the same height?
 
i was wondering if it could have been the torsion bars. are you referring to the adjusting bolt that goes through the lower control arm? if so, should i be cranking it up, or letting it off?

i think the lean is originating in the front. the back has a very slight lean, but i think it's a residual affect from the front leaning
 
Measure both sides. Look at your front end right height. Determine if you want to raise up the low side, or drop the high side.

Also keep in mind if this has been a long term issue, you may have a broken torsion bar mount on the low side. There have been many that have found out the mount has broken loose and "twists" in the frame.

Keep in mind if you are able to balance it out you will need a new alignment.
 
Hi. Shocks only control the bounce. In front your torsion bars determine the hight of the car and in the rear the leaf springs do the same. Leaf spring are not adjustable but you can order new ones that will lift the rear higher than stock. Torsion bars are adjustable and it could be as simple as adjusting them to get your car level. You may have a broken torsion bar, if you do it would be very low on one side. Bobby
 
rob_robinson87 said:
Measure both sides. Look at your front end right height. Determine if you want to raise up the low side, or drop the high side.

Also keep in mind if this has been a long term issue, you may have a broken torsion bar mount on the low side. There have been many that have found out the mount has broken loose and "twists" in the frame.

Keep in mind if you are able to balance it out you will need a new alignment.
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Are you referring to the where the torsion bar mounts through the frame in the middle of the car? Or the torsion bar mount in the K frame? I would think that if the torsion bar itself were broken it should be pretty obvious when i get underneath it.

Also, i should obviously measure with the car on the ground, but should i raise the car before adjusting, then let it back down to check if the ride height has changed?

Clockwise on the adjuster screw adds load to the torsion bar therefore raising the car, correct?
 
I had a 70 Swinger that started leaning. Turned out that the frame was rotting out where the front of the driver's leaf spring attached.
 
Take a good look at your rear suspension as well. if you have a bad or weak leaf spring that is sagging that will cause the opposite front to appear to be high. this is called tweak. if the rear is not level have someone push down on the high side of the rear while you measure the front.
Luke
 
iw378 said:
Take a good look at your rear suspension as well. if you have a bad or weak leaf spring that is sagging that will cause the opposite front to appear to be high. this is called tweak. if the rear is not level have someone push down on the high side of the rear while you measure the front.
Luke
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good point! i will look at that tomorrow as well to see if that could be the case.

thanks!
 
take a tape measure and measure from the floor to the center of your rear leaf mounting bolts, the bolts in the way back, also measure from the floor to the bottom of the frame rails on each side from front to rear. it will help you narrow it down. get your car on a level flat surface to make sure you get good measurements. if you do not have a level floor you can use plywood to get a level spot to park the car on. start at the bottom and work up from there
Luke
 
iw378 said:
take a tape measure and measure from the floor to the center of your rear leaf mounting bolts, the bolts in the way back, also measure from the floor to the bottom of the frame rails on each side from front to rear. it will help you narrow it down. get your car on a level flat surface to make sure you get good measurements. if you do not have a level floor you can use plywood to get a level spot to park the car on. start at the bottom and work up from there
Luke
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I'll do exactly that in the morning and update with my results. I'm also going to grab a couple pics of the torsion bars, the torsion bar mounts, and the adjusters and maybe you guys can catch something that's off.
 
Weak or out of adjustment torsion bars,rotted torsion bar frame,k frame lower control arm attachment is broken through or could have super stock springs. The SS spring on the RR is stiffer than the left for launch and does push down on the DS more than stock. It's hard to tell but I would start there.
 
So after measuring it looks like with the car on flat ground, from the front driver frame rail to the ground is 13.5 inches and the front passenger frame rail to the ground is 14 inches. So 1/2 inch drop from passenger to driver side.

The rear spring shackles to the ground were the same height. I believe the rear springs to be original to the car, no SS springs here.

One thing I did notice was that when i jacked up the front of the car, the drivers side leaf spring was almost completely straight. Obviously the leafs are carrying a great deal of weight with the front off the ground, but is this normal? The leaf spring mounts look fine, and the torsion bar shows no sign of damage.
 
68383GTS said:
Torsion bar cross member rusted out possilbly.
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I know it's dirty and probably impossible to tell anything, but i snapped some pics earlier. I'll clean it off in the morning to get a better look.
 

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If the Unibody checks out. You can level the front by adjusting the left torsion bar. One thing to consider is that the left rear leaf spring sees more weight in it's lifetime due to drivers weight. You might consider a pair of HD leaf springs.
 
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