El Camino lean?

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85gbody

Greasemonkey
Jun 10, 2010
192
2
18
Long Beach, Cali.
I recently swapped the rear springs and shocks on my el camino because i realized it leaned a bit lower on the rear passenger side. I figured the springs were wore out and replacing would fix the issue. My luck, still leans. Any ideas on what it could be or what other things i can look at to diagnose this issue. Hoping it not the body bushings. Its a bit dark, i will snap some pics tomorrow. Thanks in advance!
 

81_El_Homewrecker

Greasemonkey
Oct 26, 2015
170
43
28
I’ve been chasing this for years...I’m beginning to think the frame is tweaked somehow. Here’s everything I’ve done...

New rear springs
New front springs (triple checked the pocket)
Disconnect rear shocks
Disconnect front shocks
Disconnect front sway bar
Loosen all front and rear control arms
New body bushings

The body isn’t sagging on the frame because the bumpers are also leaning the same amount leading me to believe it is spring issue or tweaked frame. Still leans and is low in the right rear...
 

1evilregal

Comic Book Super Hero
Apr 23, 2009
3,056
4,357
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Greensboro, NC

RegalBegal

G-Body Guru
Jul 10, 2009
705
747
93
Goldsboro, NC
I had this issue with every G body I ever had. When I rebuilt my front suspension it went away. I suspect torquing the upper bushings with the car level on the ground fixed this. It's just a theory.
 
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pontiacgp

blank
Mar 31, 2006
29,270
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Kitchener, Ontario
you need to start with removing the shocks or just letting them hang, if it still leans then loosen up the control arm bolts, if it still leans then replace the front springs with new ones. I doubt the frame is tweaked if the door gaps are consistent and the doors open and close without any problems.
 
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Rktpwrd

Builder of Cool Shjt
Supporting Member
Feb 2, 2015
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Calgary, Alberta, Canada
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Mike T

Greasemonkey
Mar 25, 2018
112
133
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Baton Rouge, LA
I had a 76 camino for about 8 years that I just loved. Put a short rod 406 in it in front of race ready TH400 and it was awesome. Only thing that bothered me about that camino was that it leaned three quarters of an inch low on the passenger side back. I changed everything over the years and could never get it level.

One Saturday, after about a million beers, my friend said it was probably built with a lean. Next day, after the aspirin kicked in, I got to thinking about what he said. Next weekend, I put the car on level ground (used a 6' level) and then up on jack-stands under the frame rails. I made sure the body was level and measured from the ground to the bottoms (tops?) of the back spring pockets and damn if the right side wasn't just over an inch farther from the ground. Measured several other places on the car, left side to right and every other measurement came out the same, or damn close.

Took one of the brace plates (or whatever they're called) from my Harbor Freight 2 ton press and put it on top of the back right spring and lowered the car. That baby sat dead even for three years until someone ran a stop sign and I T-boned em and totaled my baby.
 
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pontiacgp

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Mar 31, 2006
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Have you checked the body bushings to make sure they are all there and in good shape?
 
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