I am restoring an 85 SE. The rear end seems to be shifted over like half an inch and forward on the right side like a quarter inch.

I just replaced all the watts linkage and the arms today and and still the same.

The car is straight and has never been hit.

Any ideas what to look for next.

 

Is it possible you have the center pivot for the Watts Link installed upside down?

 

thats my guess as well.

 

Did you torque the suspension bolts to spec while the body was sitting on jackstands? If you did, that's a nono. Body must be sitting on flat/level ground before torqueing and a good wiggle of the body side to side and back and forth will help settle the suspension to where it needs to be. Also, did you lube the bushings and pins?

If your springs are badly worn, that may account for some of the side shift. For the front to back shift, check the the control arms for correct orientation and if they are bent. My widebody shows a slight shift to one side with the Eibachs,

 

thanks for all the replys. I will double check the watts linkage but i believe its on correct. It was like this with the old watts linkage as well

the car is still on jack stands with the rear only attached by the watts. I have not put any of the suspension on it yet.

Actually i am putting new springs as well as tokicos on it. I left like that till i can figure out whats going on.

I also have a widebody so you can really notice the shift as the wheels sticks out farther on one side.

 

I had the same problem on my old FB, it's because the mounting point on the rear end was bent, thus shifting everything over.

 

This is what I have seen a few times.


The pin on the rear for the watts was bent causing the off set.

The lower arms of the 4 link have been bent.

 

OK, i just blasted all my links and changed all my bushings, springs, and shocks and i did torque everything down while it was on jacks. I still have to install the bearings and collars before i can put the axles back in.

So, if i read this right, i need to loosen it all back up a bit, drop the car, wiggle it a bit so everything lines up the way it supposed to and then torque it again?

I just want to be sure about this.

on a side note, do you what size pipe i will need to get the new bearing collar insatlled?

Thanks