Rear end outta whack... WTF!??!!

[Phoenyx]

OK, so I was walking up to my Malibu from the back the other day. And I noticed something scarry.

My rear end isn't centered. I don't mean front to back. It's out side to side. Probably close to 2" over to the passenger side. I can barely get my fingers between the tire and the frame. And all I have is 205/60/15s, so it's not to fat of tires lol.

OK so for you who don't know this. I just got the car about 2 months ago. From a little old lady with only 44,000kms on it. Everything looked great, but I did notice that it had been hit on the rear driver side (maybe this could have bent something?). And since I got the car I had the rear end replaced and had Edelbrock trailing arms, anti-hop bars, and tubular braces installed.

I went to ask the mechanic if he noticed anything odd back there. He said no, but he also wasn't looking. And he said that everything bolted in with no problems. I also had a wheel alignment done last week and I'm sure they would have noticed if there was a problem.

So the only other thing I can think of is maybe it happened while I was driving. I spun out going around a corner a few days ago, and then I hit a dry patch and it bit hard. Could this have bent anything? Those Edelbrock arms are suspose to be stronger than stock, so I can't see them bending.

So what do you all think, have any of you ever had this problem? Give me all your input.... please lol.

I have an appointment booked for tomorrow afternoon at the alignment shop to get it checked. I have my fingers crossed that it won't be to expensive. I've already dumped close to 10G into this thing in the last 2 months.

 

[pontiacman469]

On a easy note,sounds like a twisted control arm..new uppers and lower are less the $400....

 

[Silent viewer]

maybe the whole body shifted from the frame and went off to one side? where did the car get hit at? and how hard? if it was a little old lady you would think she had insurance and it was fixed the right way? plus that would be allot of frame damage to shift the rear end. i think you have a different fixable problem?

 

[jrm81bu]

Make sure it's not yout axle coming out before you go driving it again.

 

[phaZe]

Make sure it's not yout axle coming out before you go driving it again.

I think it would be better to just do a big burnout and twist the whole axle and break it all. Then you can say you had so much torque you broke the axle free from the car. 8)

 

[jrm81bu]

Make sure it's not yout axle coming out before you go driving it again.

I think it would be better to just do a big burnout and twist the whole axle and break it all. Then you can say you had so much torque you broke the axle free from the car. 8)

It sounds cool...until it really happens. I've had one axle come out twice while going down the road in my Elky. And in my Monte SS I had both axles come out at the same time. Not fun at all! Not to mention the body damage to the rear quarters.

 

[phaZe]

Make sure it's not yout axle coming out before you go driving it again.

I think it would be better to just do a big burnout and twist the whole axle and break it all. Then you can say you had so much torque you broke the axle free from the car. 8)

It sounds cool...until it really happens. I've had one axle come out twice while going down the road in my Elky. And in my Monte SS I had both axles come out at the same time. Not fun at all! Not to mention the body damage to the rear quarters.

True, plus all the money you would have to spend on the driveline, gas tank, exhaust, suspension, etc.

 

[pontiacman469]

Funny stuff till someone pokes an eye out!I've broken a few axles in my time-NOT PRETTY!I Liked it best when the wheel bounced around in the wheel well and smashed the f.... out of my fenderwell.Hmm guess thats why they made c-clip eliminators... 8)

 

[85 Cutlass Brougham]

What you need to do is back it up on some ramps and then look over EVERYTHING back there. Look for cracked paint where something bent, check the lower control arm mounting brackets in the frame and rear axle, check if the frame is not centered under the body. Put a straight edge on the axle tubes, checking them every 90 degrees to be sure one is not tweaked. Ditto the LCA's. Measure the axle and frame for square using the frame mount of the driver's side to the axle mount of the passenger's side, and vice versa. The diagonals should be equal. Use the bolts as the reference points when doing this so that you have an equal measuring point on both sides. If that does not help, check the back end of the frame for square with the tape measure too, using the same points on each side to check for square.

 

[pontiacgp]

if it's shifted that far to one side you'd be able to see that the drive shaft is on an angle.....and the springs would be sitting on their perch on one side of the spring if the rear housing shifted sideways 2".....the rear end itself would be on a angle with the passenger rear wheel forward and pointing left and the right side wheel back and pointing left...when driving the car your steering wheel would be turned to the right to compensate for the back end