crooked cutty

[cutlassguy]

has anyone ever had a cutlass that dog-tails? i was following my 84 a few days ago and noticed i can see more of the driverside than i can the passenger side. is there any way to correct this? i re-welded the rear frame rails awhile back but i never thought to take any messurments to see if the whole vehicles square.

 

[crucial118]

Try getting a 4-wheel alignment. Maybe that'll correct it.

 

[cutlassguy]

huh, never heard of it. what does that entale? i never even knew it was possible to align the rear wheels lol aside from the obvious tweaking of the tie-rods, what else can you adjust? the a-arm kingpin if thats what you call it? thats the only other thing i can think of that has spacers.

 

[1983regal]

huh, never heard of it. what does that entale? i never even knew it was possible to align the rear wheels lol aside from the obvious tweaking of the tie-rods, what else can you adjust? the a-arm kingpin if thats what you call it? thats the only other thing i can think of that has spacers.

The only way to adjust the rear suspension is by replacing the control arms with adjustable ones, if it is dog tracking something is bent. I had a 75 nova with rear leaf springs and when the shop replaced them, they did not get the rear end straight so it dog tracked. You can have the camber and caster adjusted by placing or removing shims on the upper control arm. The toe is adjusted by the tie rods.

 

[cutlassguy]

think it might be possible the whole frame twisted? its never been in any accidents, although it has done a few fish-tales

 

[dave1978]

Sometimes the frame and body will shift if the body mounts are shot.Check those out first. There is no way to do a 4 wheel alignment on this type of car there is nothing to adjust in the rear. If the rear control arm bushings are worn out ,it may be possible to get some movement . If all else checks out you will need to cut and re weld the frame or replace it.

 

[cutlassguy]

nope everythings tight and in its proper place. its nothing too major but something id like to correct if i could. im not afraid to cut and re-weld the frame but what would i do? add a half inch on the passenger side? considering no-ones ever shortened the frame or anything like that im almost thinking it might be a good idea to just hook one side up to a tree an reverse to see if that straightens it out. nothings ever been done to it, something just went a lil wonky for whatever reason so i should be able to "wonk" it back no? lol

 

[1983regal]

nope everythings tight and in its proper place. its nothing too major but something id like to correct if i could. im not afraid to cut and re-weld the frame but what would i do? add a half inch on the passenger side? considering no-ones ever shortened the frame or anything like that im almost thinking it might be a good idea to just hook one side up to a tree an reverse to see if that straightens it out. nothings ever been done to it, something just went a lil wonky for whatever reason so i should be able to "wonk" it back no? lol

Unless you replaced the frame from in front of the rear control arm mounting points there is no way to cut and reweld the frame to straighten it out. Replacing the rear frame rails can not make the car dog track, the only thing it would affect is how the bumper sits in relation to the body.

 

[anakputa]

Take it too a body shop, then they can check the frame etc. Most the car was smacked some time in history..sometimes they can pull it or it something you may have to live with 🙁 as long as it drive straight and the tires are not wearing out...

 

[cutlassguy]

wtf the i just typed out a 9 line reply and it never posted heres a shorter version lol i agree that cutting and re-welding the frame isnt the right fix. when i replaced the rear frame rail i messured like crazy and everything like the bumper and rear body mounts lined up good. upon closer inspection i did actually notice the front pass. side body mount bolt doesnt quite line up with the access hole above it. its sits about a 1/4 inch back from the center of the 1 inch hole above it so the old guy i bought it offa must have bumped something. still doesnt really make sense why the whole car would have twisted tho considering the rear mounts line up. this is just my winter beater spare cutlass so its not that big of a deal, im more curious cause ive seen a few other ones on the mean streets that look simular. ive even noticed other vehicles that seem to be slightly crooked so maybe im just cross eyed :shock: