body alignment issues please help.

[DJShyn3]

hello
Can you guys please tell me when would a car need a chassis alignment?
And what is chassis alignment? is it different than wheel alignment?
REASON I asked is because my car is sitting tilted on driver side about 2 inches or so. The rear driver side wheel fender skirt is about an inch farther than the other side!!! I am talking about the space between the wheel and fender skirt! to simplify The space in between rear fender skirt and wheel is more on driver side than passenger side. Can someone tell me why is that so? What do I need to check? Do I need to replace body mount bushings? or an alignment should do it?

Thanks
Please help.

[Blue Bowtie]

Check all four springs, their mounts, the control arms and bushings, and the body/frame mounts. The body mount bushings are only about 3/4" thick, and wouldn't account for the drop you are indicating.

[DJShyn3]

Originally Posted by Blue Bowtie

Check all four springs, their mounts, the control arms and bushings, and the body/frame mounts. The body mount bushings are only about 3/4" thick, and wouldn't account for the drop you are indicating.

Thanks
Can you please tell me, the body/frame mounts you indicated, now are these different than body mount bushings? If they are can you point me to a website where I can get these?
Also how do the springs have mounts? I replaced the rear coil springs and I didnt see anything other than the springs!!!
Thanks

[j cAT]

what is the yr vehicle ? what size tires ? did this just occur recently ?

[j cAT]

Originally Posted by DJShyn3

hello
Can you guys please tell me when would a car need a chassis alignment?
And what is chassis alignment? is it different than wheel alignment?
REASON I asked is because my car is sitting tilted on driver side about 2 inches or so. The rear driver side wheel fender skirt is about an inch farther than the other side!!! I am talking about the space between the wheel and fender skirt! to simplify The space in between rear fender skirt and wheel is more on driver side than passenger side. Can someone tell me why is that so? What do I need to check? Do I need to replace body mount bushings? or an alignment should do it?

Thanks
Please help.

if this is that 1991 caprice I would guess this is a frame and body mount rust metal corrosion issue...

between the frame [the heavy thick steel ] and the body metal [light thin metal ] are rubber mounts placed between these two ..at about 14 or so places under the perimeter of the vehicle..when the body metal rusts out the body will not set correctly on the frame ...

normally this would not be a repairable condition ...this would far exceed the vehicles value ..

[DJShyn3]

yes this is 1991 caprice sedan
no this I noticed after an accident my brother had with it a few years ago. But I did not notice it until a year after the accident because the vehicle was on stock springs so I didnt notice it. But when I changed to lowered springs I noticed it easily. At first I thought it might have the shocks, so I replaced them but no it still is there and I noticed the body from the frame is shifted an inch or so to the left. so I was thinking it may have been that the body mounts are gone bad. I don't know what to do

so if i replace the body mounts! it wouldn't fix it? my car is not that rusty actually.
I checked for body mounts here http://www.autopartsdeal.com/catalog...Body+Mount+Kit
can you tell me if these are the ones you guys talking about?

[96capricemgr]

Did you clock the springs when you put them in? The rears are supposed to be oriented a certain way not just slid in place.

[DJShyn3]

Originally Posted by 96capricemgr

Did you clock the springs when you put them in? The rears are supposed to be oriented a certain way not just slid in place.

No I didnt do anything, i just put it in. Can you please explain what do you mean by CLOCK THE SPRINGS? I will reinstall it that way but you will have to tell me in detail please, thanks

BUT TO TELL YOU, THE DRIVER SIDE WAS LOWER EVEN WHEN I HAD THE LOWERING SPRINGS BUT I DIDNT NOTICE THE 1 INCH SPACE I HAVE NOTICED NOW BETWEEN THE REAR FENDER SKIRT AND THE WHEEL. I NOTICED THIS SPACE TWO DAYS AGO.

[j cAT]

Originally Posted by DJShyn3

yes this is 1991 caprice sedan
no this I noticed after an accident my brother had with it a few years ago. But I did not notice it until a year after the accident because the vehicle was on stock springs so I didnt notice it. But when I changed to lowered springs I noticed it easily. At first I thought it might have the shocks, so I replaced them but no it still is there and I noticed the body from the frame is shifted an inch or so to the left. so I was thinking it may have been that the body mounts are gone bad. I don't know what to do

so if i replace the body mounts! it wouldn't fix it? my car is not that rusty actually.
I checked for body mounts here http://www.autopartsdeal.com/catalog...Body+Mount+Kit
can you tell me if these are the ones you guys talking about?

those are the bushings for the body mount/supports....

so you are saying that all these body mount bushing metal structures that support these bushings are not rusted out ...if so then the lowering springs may be installed wrong or are broken...

[ss101504]

Also Try Replacing The Shocks. The Passenger Side Of My Caprice Did The Same Thing Until I Replaced Them.

[DJShyn3]

Originally Posted by ss101504

Also Try Replacing The Shocks. The Passenger Side Of My Caprice Did The Same Thing Until I Replaced Them.

I have replaced all four shocks with bilstein hds, the only thing left is replacing the front coil springs from lowered to stock, but even if that might change the height, WHAT ABOUT THE space I noticed between rear fender skirt and the wheel???? like i mentioned there is about 1 inch more space on left side than the right in the rear :S

where do i get body mounts then?? can you give me a website where i can see them? thanks

[j cAT]

Originally Posted by DJShyn3

I have replaced all four shocks with bilstein hds, the only thing left is replacing the front coil springs from lowered to stock, but even if that might change the height, WHAT ABOUT THE space I noticed between rear fender skirt and the wheel???? like i mentioned there is about 1 inch more space on left side than the right in the rear :S

where do i get body mounts then?? can you give me a website where i can see them? thanks

the other componet that can do this is ,,, the rear end support beams...these on 20yr old GM rear wheel drive vehicles these rust out , causing this condition, on the rear wheel /fender clearance ...but you have no rust on this 20 yr old caprice so it can't be that ...

possible the rear end beam , rubber bushings are broken

[Blt2Lst]

Originally Posted by DJShyn3

I noticed it after an accident my brother had with it a few years ago.

How bad was the hit, could have bent the frame, front spindle or control arms.
Was it checked by a body shop after the accident?

[DJShyn3]

Originally Posted by j cAT

the other componet that can do this is ,,, the rear end support beams...these on 20yr old GM rear wheel drive vehicles these rust out , causing this condition, on the rear wheel /fender clearance ...but you have no rust on this 20 yr old caprice so it can't be that ...

possible the rear end beam , rubber bushings are broken

Are you referring to the rubber body mount bushings? and the rear end beam! what is that? can it be replaced as well?

[DJShyn3]

Originally Posted by Blt2Lst

How bad was the hit, could have bent the frame, front spindle or control arms.
Was it checked by a body shop after the accident?

You know what , the accident was bad it was front end hitting a red light pole, but it was still drivable, though the shop charged us $2000 for repair which we did, its my first car and back then i had just bought this car and just started driving when i had the accident, so i didnt care about how much the repair cost. I think the body shop did there job, though what sucks is I don't remember this thing after almost a couple years.
Then after 3 years of this accident i had another incident where the car slipped on a rainy day and went in to a ditch front first but the only thing i noticed was the radiator fan was hitting the cover, i didnt look for the driver side being low. I don;t want to go to a shop because i know they would charge me alot just finding the problem.