LUVTruck.com

the top of my frotn tires lean in... I already got the frame straightened and they still lean in at the top. and the bottom control arm hang low, which I THOUGHT should have them pulled in at the bottom... The right leans real bad and the left is leaning slightly. What could be wrong? There are no shocks in right now, coudl that be it?



You can see it leaning with the wait on it


Here it is with the body off, still leaning

Frame is straight right? Suspension not bent? Did you try unloading the suspension? Torsion bar or spring suspension? Caster, camber, and toe-in all set right? Front end had to be knocked out of whack. Looks like a hard landing got it. Check all the cams at the alignment adjustment points.

It's tough to tell from the pics but it looks like the upper and lower control arms are too steep. Are the rubber stops removed and the torsion bars cranked to the max? Are there a lot of shims at the upper control arm rod/shock tower? I think it was raised too high by only going with the torsion bars.

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Previous setup: 4.1 Buick V-6/TH 350
Current setup: 400 Small Block Chevy V-8/TH 350
9" ford rear end/short bed/blue
What do Water, Electricity and Humans have in common... They all travel the path of least resistance.

I agree , check your shims. I looked at mine yesterday on my 80 and it is really shimed alot on passenger side,but still is not right. Looks like i need to adjust!

Its a t-bar suspension, but everythign else you just said sounds like jibberish to me, I'm not to good with this IFS stuff and have no idea what is what. It was a very hard landing, and the brackets that hold the upper control arms where shoved in, I pulled them out on the frame rack when I fixed the frame. The shocks are broke loose from the towers also. There is plenty of room left on the torsion bars from what I can see, but yet the control arms are at about 60 degree angle. Could my t-bars be sprung?
Could I remove them from the back mount, set it at the right hieght and put them back in the back mount? or could I flip the side of the shock tower that the upper control arms is mounte don, so that its on the outside of the tower? I'm painting it this week and need to get all of this fixed intime for the LIMA OHIO 4X4 JAMBOREE may 16th.

The steep angle is causing the problems. The bent shock towers tell me that too much force is transmitted directly into the frame. The modifications done to the suspension got the tires to fit but at the cost of a working suspension. If the towers bent once, they will bend again even easier next time they slam into the ground. It's possible that whoever had the chevette before you had cranked down on the t-bars and it wasn't enough for what they wanted it to do. So they reworked the splined end of the t-bar at the adjusters to get the end result of getting the tires to fit. This changed the characteristics of the suspension to the point where it's basicly not working.

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Previous setup: 4.1 Buick V-6/TH 350
Current setup: 400 Small Block Chevy V-8/TH 350
9" ford rear end/short bed/blue
What do Water, Electricity and Humans have in common... They all travel the path of least resistance.

check your ball joints. It could be that your lower one is shot and its just sagging. Other than that i can say there is way too much lift whith the torsion bars on that side. Get underneath and loosen the bolt at the 3rd cross member (should be a 22mm) and see if that helps.

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1980 LUV 4x4, going under re-construction...

Verobrass is right about unloading the suspension. Crank the tension off of the suspension and with the truck(?) still in the air, grab the tire and try and move it up and down, in and out and such to see if anything is loose.
I looked at the pics at offroad ,com and you stated that you broke the CV joints after a jump. You most likely have other stuff bent/broken if it hit that hard.

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Previous setup: 4.1 Buick V-6/TH 350
Current setup: 400 Small Block Chevy V-8/TH 350
9" ford rear end/short bed/blue
What do Water, Electricity and Humans have in common... They all travel the path of least resistance.

man thats crazy lookin . how long has it been like that.

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1980 luv sport 4x4 Just a memory now
Frame rusted from the inside. Truck stripped and now looking for a new donor in southern ohio

I'll try all of that tomorrow, and let all of you knwo whats going on. I'm not the oen that jumped it it was the dumbass before me, and now I gotta fix it all...

if it was jumped definetly check the lower ball joint. If it is broken or close to being broken it can do things like that.

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1980 LUV 4x4, going under re-construction...

Most of you have probably aseen this picture but this is what happened to it

that kicks ass!

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1980 LUV 4x4, going under re-construction...

here are some better pics, with axles missing.


right side


Left side


I still havent figured it out.. checked everything and it appears fine. where are the rubber stops located? I didnt see any of those, maybe thats whats wrong. the upper control ar is so steep it is actualy sitting down on the frame. If I put alot of wieght on the front, they straighten out, so i'm guessign the suspension is workign fine.. I'm thinking about buying adjustable tubed control arms, and fixing it that way... I just need it to get by for about 6 months until I cna afford to go SAS.

From the looks of the pictures, it looks like the right side took the hardest hit. The lower control arm appears to have been bent out and up, therefor bringing the lower suspension components furhter out. The space between the frame and the hub assembly looks to be wider on the right side. Analogy: if you put too much down force on a saw-horse the legs will transfer all of the weight straight to the bottom, thus causing the legs to spread. Once the legs have spread, it is easier for this to happen again and again. Blue Meanie mentioned this in his post about the shock towers.

so you are saying the bottom is twisted out?

why dont u go to the junkyard and get some new arms?

nuthin around the ohio junkyards. i called all the locla ones and searched all the salvage listings on the net. didnt fidn nuthin...... toto_dave, probably has some I coudl by, i just bought his axles and motor mounts, so i'm outta money for now..it'll hafta wait if i do that.....
My dad wants to build a race car, and he suggested the tube control arms, like the race cars use, and said he'd pay for them.... so i'll probably do that, if he want sot build it like a race car, i'll let him as long as he pays for it....lol

4x4.....i know of 3 LUVs in a boneyard in Athens Oh....the name of the junkyard is

Mc Kee Auto Parts
(740) 753-1100

http://yp.yahoo.com/py/ypMap.py?Pyt=Typ ... T:20:fbT:0

hope this helps brutha

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I like my steak like I like my women, young, tender and bloody.

All I need is my weed, women, and wine. -Edge City Outlaws

i'll see what I decide to do, might give them a call