Slightly tilted

Moparwilks

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My 72 Newport has a noticeable list to one side. What could cause this? I had new leaf springs installed about 6 years ago but I did not notice it then. If I measure the top of each rear wheel well I’m almost 1 3/4 in off. Shocks torsions? Any ideas?
 
Take all that crap out of the trunk! :poke:

Front or rear end have the sag? Rear, stuff in trunk.

Front, adjust the torsion bars.
 
Check your rear spring hangars, one side might have flipped up, or installed incorrectly.
 
Check the bushings for both ends of the rear springs, then check the lower control arm bushings. You should not have any broken spring leaves unless you have put a lot of miles on it. Measure the distance from the rear end housing mount pads to the rear radius of the spring, sometimes a broken centering bolt in the rear springs will cause one or the other of the leaf packs to shift. (both sides should be the same) This will make the car ride unevenly and will cause the car to "dog walk" if bad enough.

Dave
 
Best way to check if the problem is in the front suspension or rear is use a trolley jack to jack up the front of the car with the jack centered under the sub frame in front, lifting the front wheels just off the ground, bounce the car a little bit in the rear at the center and check to see if the car is still leaning, if it is, the problem is in the rear suspension. If it isn't, the issue is in the front suspension.
 
With the car on level concrete, look at the rocker panels and their relationship to the concrete. They should be parallel, unless the front bars have been adjusted "down" or "up". Look at both sides.

Then, get on the concrete and look at the dimension between the lower control arm bumper and the crossmember under the oil pan. They should be equal. Don't worry about "inches", you can get a good idea just by using your fingers (vertically) in that dimension.

As for the rear leaf springs, with the car on a drive-on "muffler shop" lift, measure the distance between the rack and segments of the leaf spring, about 2" between the measurements. Compare the results from each side. You might discover that the main leaf has a bend or sag, comparing them side-to-side. It can be "hidden" until you find it, then it'll be very obvious.

Age and "wear" on the front eye bushings and the rear shackle bushings should be about the same on both sides. AS should be the iso-clamp rubber insulators which cushion the leaf spr assy between the rear axle mount clamps.

Of course, any time you're under the car, at ride height, make sure the vehicle is in "P" and/or with the parking brake firmly applied!

Let us know what you determine.

CBODY67
 
You can also do a easy visual inspection of the leaf springs. Look for rusty areas within each spring assembly, rust can indicate a broken leaf within the assy.
 
What I discovered on the car I did the rack inspection on, which was not initially apparent, was a short section of the main leaf which was "flat" rather than "arched". From a rear-end collision situation from years ago. The rear shackle angle was also slightly different on that side too. Until I did the detailed measurement, everything looked reasonably normal, but afterward, it stuck out big time.

CBODY67
 
I will look further into this. Like I said leaf springs are new basically 8 years ago (its only my summer car) and my shocks are older than my 15 & 12 year old kids. I’m gonna start there first and hope I don’t have to mess with the torsion bars. Thanks for all the info. My front looks pretty low since the rear spring job. Probably could use a little tighten up. Like I said before these cars look like there riding sky high when you catch them in period correct television & movies. It’s not thunderbolt and lightfoot (lol) but you can notice it a bit.
 
The front being low does help the average folk not notice the mangled front valance (previous owner probably stuffed it into a frozen parking lot snowbank)
 
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