Axle sticking out, car not lowered, 05 v6
12-17-2015, 05:49 PM
#1
Thread Starter
Join Date: Dec 2015
Location: North Carolina
Posts: 5
Axle sticking out, car not lowered, 05 v6
I just got new wheels and tires for my 05 v6, which has not been lowered. I got 18x9 wheels from American muscle wrapped in 255/45-18 Continentals all the way around. The car had 215/65-16 tires before. I was looking today and the left rear tire sticks out while the right rear tire sets inward. The offset is the same on the wheels. I talked to my mechanic and he said everything was fine and it was set up like that from factory, but the axle clearly sticks out 1/4 on the left. Do I need a adjustable panhard bar? He said this might affect u-joint wear, but I've never heard of that being a problem. Please give me some help and solid advice.
12-19-2015, 08:01 AM
#4
6th Gear Member
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: state of confusion
Posts: 7,635
The only way to track down what's happened is to eliminate all the "obvious" things.
Make sure that the car is sitting on level ground.
Check the offsets again, or at least the backspacing. Make sure that they are both 9" wide (there is a way to check this without having to remove the tire). Make sure that the tires are all the same size.
Check for evidence that the PHB brace might have slipped (look for where its attachment bolts might have moved in the holes).
Ideally, you should 'string' your car. This is a rather fussy process that gets into wheel alignment topics, but can perhaps tell you if the axle actually has shifted sideways relative to the front wheels. It's not like the sheetmetal has to be perfectly symmetrical on every one of these cars.
One thing for sure is that wheels with offsets down around +30 tend to make small "errors" in axle location more readily noticeable. Can't do much about that at this stage of the game without starting over . . .
An adjustable PHB should be able to re-center the axle. If you do this, don't bother with the PHB brace that may be 'pushed' as being a necessary companion mod. It isn't.
Norm
Make sure that the car is sitting on level ground.
Check the offsets again, or at least the backspacing. Make sure that they are both 9" wide (there is a way to check this without having to remove the tire). Make sure that the tires are all the same size.
Check for evidence that the PHB brace might have slipped (look for where its attachment bolts might have moved in the holes).
Ideally, you should 'string' your car. This is a rather fussy process that gets into wheel alignment topics, but can perhaps tell you if the axle actually has shifted sideways relative to the front wheels. It's not like the sheetmetal has to be perfectly symmetrical on every one of these cars.
One thing for sure is that wheels with offsets down around +30 tend to make small "errors" in axle location more readily noticeable. Can't do much about that at this stage of the game without starting over . . .
An adjustable PHB should be able to re-center the axle. If you do this, don't bother with the PHB brace that may be 'pushed' as being a necessary companion mod. It isn't.
Norm
Last edited by Norm Peterson; 12-19-2015 at 08:03 AM. Reason: removed blank lines that forum software insists on adding . . . . grrrr
12-19-2015, 08:43 AM
#5
S197 Section Modder-ator
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Orlando FL
Posts: 13,373
Those cars were never "spot on" from the factory... the axle assembly always sticks out to the driver side by a 1/4 inch or better...
My car did it and so was EVERY other one that I put my hands on.
You don't notice it until you put different rims that are flush with the body work or when you lower it, it's even more obvious then.
An adjustable panhard bar is the trick like Norm already mentioned...
Get a BMR or equivalent style, with the adjustment nuts away from the mounting eye so you don't have to disconnect the bar when trying to adjust it.
I had the Steeda and it was a mistake...just pointing out little things to you that are more of a PITA than it should.
My car did it and so was EVERY other one that I put my hands on.
You don't notice it until you put different rims that are flush with the body work or when you lower it, it's even more obvious then.
An adjustable panhard bar is the trick like Norm already mentioned...
Get a BMR or equivalent style, with the adjustment nuts away from the mounting eye so you don't have to disconnect the bar when trying to adjust it.
I had the Steeda and it was a mistake...just pointing out little things to you that are more of a PITA than it should.
12-20-2015, 08:46 AM
#8
4th Gear Member
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: Michigan
Posts: 1,329
be aware that even though you'll center the axle when the car is at rest, it's still going to move from side-to-side through the suspension travel. pretty much unavoidable with a Panhard rod design. the only way to truly eliminate side-to-side displacement of a live axle is a Watt's link setup. Or leaf springs, but let's not go back to that.
http://www.americanmuscle.com/whitel...link-0510.html
http://www.americanmuscle.com/whitel...link-0510.html
12-20-2015, 09:21 AM
#9
6th Gear Member
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: state of confusion
Posts: 7,635
The Corvette's transverse leaf spring is a pretty good solution, but I'd never want to go back to leaf springs the way they used to be run on Mustangs and just about every other leaf-sprung car of the 1950's and 1960's. Been there with at least three different cars of my own plus several more that weren't.
Leaf springs certainly will deflect sideways, particularly if there's much shape to them (think semi-elliptical in side view) where you'll get some lateral axle movement from the torsional twisting that'll be going on. The rubber-bushed shackles that most designs use can't hold the rear spring eyes in their static locations under cornering load even when they're brand new. IOW, "conventional" leaf springs aren't likely to be any better at lateral axle location than the S197's rubber-bushed PHB, and might quite possibly be worse.
Norm
Leaf springs certainly will deflect sideways, particularly if there's much shape to them (think semi-elliptical in side view) where you'll get some lateral axle movement from the torsional twisting that'll be going on. The rubber-bushed shackles that most designs use can't hold the rear spring eyes in their static locations under cornering load even when they're brand new. IOW, "conventional" leaf springs aren't likely to be any better at lateral axle location than the S197's rubber-bushed PHB, and might quite possibly be worse.
Norm
12-20-2015, 11:39 AM
#10
S197 Section Modder-ator
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Orlando FL
Posts: 13,373
Leaf spring are primitive anyway and they will let your rear axle shift during cornering no matter what...
As for the S197, we used to race these cars and win (road course) with its solid axle and OEM panhard bar so anyone on the street doesn't need to spend lots of money with Watts links and other system.
The real issue we always had was the weight of the car, too heavy.
A good set of springs and dampers is all you need for the street, with the skills to make the car go properly around corners of course.
As for the S197, we used to race these cars and win (road course) with its solid axle and OEM panhard bar so anyone on the street doesn't need to spend lots of money with Watts links and other system.
The real issue we always had was the weight of the car, too heavy.
A good set of springs and dampers is all you need for the street, with the skills to make the car go properly around corners of course.
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