Rear wheels not in center of wheel well any thoughts?

[jcis4me]

Aloha
My 72 GMC came to me with the rear axle almost 3 inches too far forward, anybody have this situation? Could it be possible that the leaf's might be installed backwards? Any suggestions on fixing it? I am asking because I will be installing urethane bushings soon and want to tackle everything all at once. But the problem here in Hawaii I have to order everything in, and that becomes a hassle due to the fact EVERYTHING has to be shipped in, so I need to order all I need and have it here to start and finish the same day, This is my daily driver and only vehicle right now.
Any and all suggestions will be welcomed!
ALOHA
Marty

[lolife99]

Any more info?
1/2 ton?
3/4 ton?
2wd?
4wd?

Any pics you can post would be a BIG help.

[jcis4me]

Thanks for replying Keith,
Can't get my camera to down load as of yet it is a new one and the wife is looking for the book she put away for it.
The truck is a 1/2 ton 2wd, from the side it has about 2 inches between the fender well and the front of the tire, and the back almost 6 inches, I havent seen a truck on here that looks like mine does, could it be that the po used a wrong spring set? He did alot of stupid stuff putting it together. Most all the bolts were loose on the bed, the intake manifold wasnt torqued correctly. The timing is off some how too, I lined up the mark on the balancer and checked the distributor and it points at #1 but when I put timing light on it the mark is no where to b e found. Stupid crap like this is driving me mad! But it is a ground up rotiserie resto. Mirror paint new interior great running truck after I combed out all the bugs.
Marty

[lolife99]

Could it be a cut down lwb truck?
(you didn't mention if it was a lwb or swb truck)

There should be a rubber bump stop mount on the side or the rear frame rail.
This should be directly above the rear axle tube.
I would check the frame for welds.
I would also check the leaf spring hangers and see if the original steel rivets are still intact,... or if they are bolted on.
Again,... pics and as much information, as possible,... works best here in the suspension section.

[jcis4me]

Sorry again Keith
It a sb and the vin verifies it. no welds and it is riveted on, I am going to string and measure the springs in the morning to see if maybe the po installed them backwards. The guy did alot of stupid crap, so I can only assume?
Marty

[lolife99]

Looking forward to seeing what you find out.

[SCOTI]

Is it lowered? If so, the PO might not have used the correct bracket for re-centering the rear-end housing or installed them incorrectly.

Get those pics up.

[neo1370]

how about broken centering bolt in leaf spring

[jcis4me]

Aloha
The truck is lowered with shackles and the axle is on top of the springs? Is that factory? Any way the centering bolt is not broken, it has a 12 bolt rear end and as in past posts PO did some stupid repairs and I think was rushed to finish truck or got frustrated with all that goes into resto's, and quit when he was sooo close to finishing. Pic's are from the dealer who sold it for the PO.
You can sort of see in the 2nd pic the distance in the front.
Thanks
Marty

[SCOTI]

The rear should be below the leafs from the factory.

That being said, that rear-end has different mounting pads welded to the housing (or it's a car housing) because the pads are in the normal spot for a GM car. I know some guys will do the 'flip kit' install that way, but standard kits come w/brackets to relocate the housing. Those brackets in the kits specifically have offset holes the locate the housing rearward approx 1".

My guess is whoever installed the rear end (or the pads to the rear end) did not drill off-set holes to shift the housing back.

[lolife99]

Very NICE truck.

I have a 6-lug 67-70 GMC "leaf spring" rearend in one of my parts trucks.
It looks just like yours.
(The rubber snubbers/brackets are exactly the same)

The easiest fix would be an offset drilled center pin or a set of 1" lowering blocks with an offset pin arrangement.
This might require you to switch to a 73-87 style u-bolts and lower shock plates.
You could also redill the saddle that is welded on the rearend housing as long as you don't have to move it too far rearward.

How much do you want to move it back?
You will also affect shock angles and the driveshaft length.

[jcis4me]

Got plenty of room on the drive shaft, I think I will drill out the centering plate it may move it back about 1" and then maybe get the lowering block that is adjustable.
Appreciate ALL the help it was Exactly what I needed to know!
MAHALO
ALOHA
Marty

[lolife99]

The thing I notice the most,... is the arch in the rear leaf springs.
Most always,... when the rearend is flipped on top of the leaf springs,... it puts the axle tube very close to the frame.
This always require some type of c-notch.
Looks like you have plenty of room.
I wonder if the rear leaf springs have been re-arched or swapped out altogether?
A rear spring swap,... might explain the forward pin placement in the spring.

[jcis4me]

Aloha Keith
Tore the springs apart and drilled out the front hole on the spring perch and viola problem solved! I hung a string from the center of the arch and it dropped about a 1/2" front of center line. Took it for a spin and it seemed like it rode better but it is probably just in my mind HA HA.
I agree with you on a replacement spring set, I have been comparing replacement parts on my truck to Brothers catalogue and alot of them match, I think the PO us them for parts. So the springs might be a replacement. Who knows ? ? ?
Aloha
Marty

[jcis4me]

Another point about the replacement springs, the shocks are no longer on the truck due to the fact they bottom out too long I guess, so I removed them and put in 3 50 pound bags of sand and it rides like a cadillac.
Something had to be changed.
Marty

[N2TRUX]

Originally Posted by jcis4me

Another point about the replacement springs, the shocks are no longer on the truck...

Marty- Take a look in our Vendor Marketplace. Several Vendors offer a solution for your shock issue. No Limit Engineering just introduced a new kit that might fit your needs.

[SCOTI]

Originally Posted by N2TRUX

Marty- Take a look in our Vendor Marketplace. Several Vendors offer a solution for your shock issue. No Limit Engineering just introduced a new kit that might fit your needs.

The No Limit rear shock kit is for Truck Arm applications. They haven't mentioned one for leaf set-ups yet.

[smashingchuck]

I would be getting some replacement shocks on there ASAP! Glad you got the problem corrected.

[SCOTI]

Originally Posted by smashingchuck

I would be getting some replacement shocks on there ASAP! Glad you got the problem corrected.

x2.

[CC69Rat]

jcis4me -- This may or may not help you, but I have both a C10 and an S10. I used these plates on my S10 to drop the axle back .5". All S10 trucks have a .5 forward position on the rear axle. Especially with a lowered truck this will correct the problem with your driveshaft length too. It will probably help your situation some but I'm just not sure on the size of that center pin. Don't hold me to it .. but check this out. I have no affiliation with these guys, .. just sharing a solution that worked for me. Hope it helps.

http://www.jagsthatrun.com/Pages/Parts_S10-301.html

While you have it apart .. might as well stick a 1" block in there too (?)

[jcis4me]

ALOHA
CC I drilled put the saddle on the axle and it moved it back almost 2" and now the wheel sits in the middle of the wheel well. But on the way to work this morning (this is my DD) major vibration under load, let off the gas and it went away, pulled over and noticed that the slip joint was scarey away in other words just enough but ready to fall off, got it home and called a local driveshaft guy and he looked at it and told me that the u-joints werent even chevy! The PO WAS AND IS AN IDIOT!!! So the DS guy is making me a brand new one. Dang what else is going to be wrong with this "drives like a dream" truck. Had many problems once it got here, loose bolts on the intake and major exhaust leaks, rear end was totally gone no good all the teeth were pitted, seals leaking on the brakes, front calipers hung up wiping out the rotors and pads, on and on
But I still would rather push my 1972 GMC than drive a new one!
Aloha
Marty

[CC69Rat]

I agree! You'll get the bugs worked out. Hang in there.

For the PO --

[lolife99]

Are these pics after you fixed it?
If so,... something is still wrong.

[jcis4me]

I fixed it but in an earlier post I mentioned that after I did move the axle the slip joint almost slipped out! so had to put it back the old way and and going to pick up the new one on Wed. Then I will post after pic's
Aloha
Marty

[jcis4me]

Originally Posted by lolife99

Are these pics after you fixed it?
If so,... something is still wrong.

Ok it is fixed and here are some new pic's of it!
Aloha
Marty