I would greatly appreciate any information members here might be able to provide concerning the number and location of body mounts for a 1986 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme Brougham, 2dr coupe. I recently took delivery of my Cutlass from a body shop claiming to specialize in frame and floor repairs, and it would appear that several body mounts are missing at the rear of the car. On a recent trip with four passengers, the car body would swerve and shimmy wildly when I applied the brakes (even at low speed), when it was travelling downhill, or when I encountered even small ruts in the road. I know there are two new body mounts near the bumper, and one behind the rear axle on the driver's side. But, aren't there also supposed to be mounts located OVER and just AHEAD of the rear axle? These appear to be missing and/or improperly installed. Are there supposed to be threaded and/or reinforced areas in the floorpans to accept the body mount bolts? Extensive floor repairs were undertaken on this car, and I'm wondering if this guy knew what he was doing or not. If not, it would appear that I paid $15,000 (that's right, $15,000) for a restoration that made the car totally unfit for the road ! I'm afraid I am heading for a lawsuit or small claims action over this, and I'm feeling like the world's biggest sucker for letting this body shop ever touch the car. It is seriously F'd up. I've been under the car, and I have seen where they replaced seven of the mounts, but, like I said, I am certain that several mounts were omitted altogether, and that this is why the car handles and rides so poorly.
Number and Location of Body Mounts
- Thread starter oldsmobeast86
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By two I mean one each side same place
Should be two body mounts in front behind bumper, two in front of doors, two middle of doors, two in front of rear axle, two behind rear axle and two in front of rear bumper. there is provision for two above the axle but they were only installed on GN's, GNX, and some 442 to my knowledge and they are non bolt mounts.
As for the rest of the body mounts yes they should all be bolted and floor areas reinforced, but the nuts are all "blind" and can not been seen from the inside or top floor panels.
Seen many cars with only 3 or four body mounts actually still holding body to frame and not have body to frame movement under normal conditions.
Many times "shimmy" is more of a suspension issue. I would also verify all of your suspension mounts and bolts are correct and installed
Should be two body mounts in front behind bumper, two in front of doors, two middle of doors, two in front of rear axle, two behind rear axle and two in front of rear bumper. there is provision for two above the axle but they were only installed on GN's, GNX, and some 442 to my knowledge and they are non bolt mounts.
As for the rest of the body mounts yes they should all be bolted and floor areas reinforced, but the nuts are all "blind" and can not been seen from the inside or top floor panels.
Seen many cars with only 3 or four body mounts actually still holding body to frame and not have body to frame movement under normal conditions.
Many times "shimmy" is more of a suspension issue. I would also verify all of your suspension mounts and bolts are correct and installed
Thanks for that info. In response to your comment on suspension: the front end of this car had all bushings and balljoints replaced in 2011, along with both front springs. Handling was superb after the refit, until the car was taken out of service to address the frame and body issues. It also rides on four new shocks, and good Michelin Rubber. The rear axle suspension connections were never touched during the restoration, or any time before that. These changes in handling have all occurred since the floor/frame restoration. I know for certain that the one of the two body mounts behind the front wheels were replaced (driver's sd.). The mechanic said the original passenger-sd. body mount did not warrant replacement. I just pulled the rear-seat a moment ago, and what I see isn't good. Pics to follow. For now, know that I see bolt heads sticking through holes drilled into the floorpan, and one of them appears on the verge of pulling through the sheet metal. I'm afraid. Very afraid.
BTW, I'm new to the G-Body-Forum, so I'm as yet unfamiliar with how to upload pics, or if it is even possible.
From your description regarding the bolt heads coming through the body, and beginning to tear thru the metal, does not sound like he did a proper repair of the areas mentioned. It sounds as though he might have broken, or snapped the body bolts. And instead of using the proper caged nuts, he chose to drill through(or punch out) the broken bolts, and just replace it with a bolt instead.
In other words, it sounds like someone cut corners.
You'll have to take some pics and post them here.
I'm sure you'll receive a good amount of feedback from other members.
In other words, it sounds like someone cut corners.
You'll have to take some pics and post them here.
I'm sure you'll receive a good amount of feedback from other members.
oldsmobeast86 said:
Go to a site like tinypic.com to host pics.....the site allows you to resize and gives several methods for posting. I personally resize for message board and then copy the
The diagram was a great find! Once again, thank you very much for that! A little further investigation found that the rear axle bearings are most likely worn out. Spotted lubricant flowing down the tailpipe near the passenger sd rear wheel. Wouldn't worn bearings contribute to the side-to-side shimmy?
CWPottenger said:
I changed the body mounts on my '81 sedan, and there were two non-bolt body mounts over the axle. I replaced them. Two near the rear bumper. two forward of them, two over the axle, two just forward of the axle, two mid-way along the wheel base...
I took my car in for a Province of New Brunswick-mandated mechanical/body inspection in order to register it for the road. What we saw was very disturbing, and could spell the end-of-the-line for what was an otherwise perfectly serviceable platform. The "shimmy" was produced by a bent &roken driver's side lower trailing arm. Quite tellingly, the damage is at the point where the trailing arm meets the frame of the vehicle, and this point is close to where you would normally jack/hoist the car. I suspect someone put that hoist in the wrong place, and lifted against the control arm. The technician inspecting the car also found that the body is seriously out-of-line with the frame, and that the new body mounts were all improperly installed. He further believes that when the body shop undertook repairs to the floor of the car, that they didn't use temporary braces to stabilize the body before cutting out large sections of the original floor (to replace areas identified as rusted/corroded). I have thousands of dollars tied up in this so-called "restoration," and I'm being told that this car is not at all safe to drive! Lawsuit? But, owing to the car's age, it's likely to come down to a "he said/she said" scenario, with your's truly saddled with a huge bill and no car to show for it. Very, very, VERY unhappy right now....
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