HELP! truck sitting 1" higher on driver side!

[Ohchiiit]

I just took out the 3" coil springs and replaced them with 2.5" spindles and 2" drop springs. everything is sitting in the correct place, springs are in correct place. the front driver side measures 26" from ground to center of wheel well and bottoms out when being pushed down by hand. the passenger side measures 27" from same location and that's where the truck needs to be. I can stand on the bumper and jump up and down and will not bottom out! what have I over looked? any advice will be greatly appreciated!

[Ohchiiit]

[Slammed84]

Sounds like you got yourself a case of the good ol' Chevy lean!

Happens to the best of us bro.

You can get irritated and try to shim the drivers side with blocks and stuff, or...

You can EMBRACE THE LEAN!!!!!

[Slammed84]

Sweet Shortie, BTW

[Slammed84]

Mine leans about an inch lower in the drivers side. More in the back, than the front.

[Damien]

You can swap the springs from left to right. If the problem follows the spring then it is a spring issue, possibly a weak spring. If nothing changes then the passenger side of the truck is a little heavier.

[Ohchiiit]

Originally Posted by Damien

You can swap the springs from left to right. If the problem follows the spring then it is a spring issue, possibly a weak spring. If nothing changes then the passenger side of the truck is a little heavier.

its all new stuff, still possible for a weak coil spring? they are 2" cpp springs

[Ohchiiit]

Originally Posted by Slammed84

Sweet Shortie, BTW

thank you sir!

[Ohchiiit]

before I started I was 28 3/4" up front on driver side and 29 1/4" passenger side. I figured with all new spindles and springs this would be corrected. currently sitting at 26" on driver side that's to low and wont turn. do I go back with stock coil springs and cut 1 round off and apply some heat to make side to side match? your opinions?

[chuckmc8]

It may help to put a few miles on it and let everything settle in.

As others have said, sometimes its really hard to make them sit perfectly level side to side, especially with the gas tanks on these trucks when full of fuel adds considerable weight to that side.

[lolife99]

Originally Posted by Ohchiiit

I just took out the 3" coil springs and replaced them with 2.5" spindles and 2" drop springs. everything is sitting in the correct place, springs are in correct place. the front driver side measures 26" from ground to center of wheel well and bottoms out when being pushed down by hand. the passenger side measures 27" from same location and that's where the truck needs to be. I can stand on the bumper and jump up and down and will not bottom out! what have I over looked? any advice will be greatly appreciated!

I would verify that you have the springs seated correctly in the crossmember's upper spring pocket.
There is a "D" shaped ring the end of the spring must wrap around.
And while you have them out, swap them from side to side to rule out that possibility.
And as suggested, drive it a few miles and make sure they are seated.

[Ohchiiit]

I know you can't tell from the pic but the front tire has about 2" up inside the fender well and can't be driven for it to settle. I'm just curious which side is correct and what's causing this. Possible I have a bent control arm? I will re check spring later this evening when I get home

[chuckmc8]

Hmmm....It was driving ok before you did the spindles and spring swap? And it was within 3/4" of level before you did the swap also?

[RUN GMC]

Does your truck still have the rubber donut insulators between the spring and pockets? You can(two jacks) lift the truck just behind the fronts tires on both sides and see if springs are sitting in the pockets the same way.......heating springs will weaken the strength of the spring......

[gasmn1620]

are you sitting on the inner fender wells? I have 3 inch springs and 3 inch spindles on 22s and I'm driving it everyday. Had to roll the fenders a little and remove the inner fender wells but I'm driving it.

[chuckmc8]

Ochiit,

if you have computer time available today, you should try to search the board and see if you can find others that have your new spring/spindle setup and see how their truck sits.

[Bigstevex4]

What going on in the rear I have the Hanger on the passanger side 1 inch lower to get front level.

[homemade87]

Ohch , I went thru the same thing and measured until I was blue in the face . I decided I was going to tweak the front spring by trimming until it was level . I trimmed the high side of the front to lower it to match the other side . By lowering the height on the front side, it lifted the opposite rear corner to match the other rear corner .

Worked pretty good until the spring broke . I think what I trimmed made the spring not sit in the pocked very well . So it broke the bottom coil off .

So I ordered another set of springs and started over ( keep in mined my spring were new to start with ) . When I started to fit the new spring I noticed the opposite sided spring looked like it would fit the d shape up top better after I trimmed it , it fit the lower pocket better as well . I had an extra anyway so I started trimming it a little at a time until it matched the other side . Fit pretty good . Felt like this would solve the broke spring problem . After about 2 years now with no problem at all and still dead level . This corrected all 4 corners for me .

In the end this was a pretty good fix. I think the real problem is with the rear leaf springs rates after they get old and possibly the frame has been tweaked some .

If you decide to try this I would drive it around with the new springs for a while to let the opposite side settle down . I do not recommend to trim the existing spring for problems listed above . Order a new set of springs and use the opposite side spring , trim to about a 1/4" above the opposite side for room to settle ( judgement call ) and I think you will be good . This is a bit of a tedious task for the spring has to go in and out and cut a little at a time before you get it right .

It was worth it in the end for me.

Just one other note . This is assuming the body bushing are new or in good shape . I would not try this on 20 + years body bushing. If your going thru the trouble I would take the time to replace all body mount bushings first .

[Rich84]

Drive it for a while if you can. It does settle. Then look at the back of the truck.

[Ohchiiit]

I will re measure the rear when I get home this evening, I can't remember what it measured yesterday. I do know truck was 1/2" higher on passenger side with the 3" drop springs before I started this time. What would be causing the bottoming out on the driver side and not the passenger side? Thanks to everyone for taking the time to read and help me correct this issue

[Ohchiiit]

just measured all four wheel wells and im at 26" front driver and 27" front passenger (front driver side wont turn, its too low)
27" driver rear and 28" passenger rear

before I started I was 28 3/4" front driver and 29 1/4" front passenger
27 1/2 bothsides in the rear

I was hoping that with new spindles new springs and new shocks my lean would be corrected. im now leaning worse and driver side bottoms out pretty easy compared to me being able to stand on the bumper in the front and jump up and down without bottoming out on passenger side. could I be feeling the top of the tire hitting the top of the inner fenderwell on the driver side?

[Ohchiiit]

I was trying to recreate the stance of this truck!

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=249927


if im reading correctly on page 2 hes saying the front of his is 31 1/4" front and 34 1/2" rear. im a lot lower than that with less drop and exact same tire and wheel sizes. I don't see that much gap between the top of the tire and fender for those numbers to be correct. anyone know this guy?

[Rich84]

The more you lower these trucks the more the lean becomes a challenge..It probably is the tire hitting the wheel well. How big are the tires. I ran 30" tall without ever hitting anything.

[Rich84]

Originally Posted by Ohchiiit

I was trying to recreate the stance of this truck!

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=249927


if im reading correctly on page 2 hes saying the front of his is 31 1/4" front and 34 1/2" rear. im a lot lower than that with less drop and exact same tire and wheel sizes. I don't see that much gap between the top of the tire and fender for those numbers to be correct. anyone know this guy?

He was complaining about his tires rubbing..

[Ohchiiit]

passenger side