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Listing / Lean To One Side...

marc_w

Full Member
Joined
Jun 5, 2002
Messages
1,112
Location
Douglas, MA
Anyone's Av list or lean to one side? ?

I've got just over 500 miles on mine, and recently I started to notice that it seems lean to the drivers side a good amount. ?

Parked in my driveway, it's completely obvious something is going on - the driver side front wheel sits about half an inch closer to the fender than the passenger side. ?Looking at it from the back - one side is easily an inch or so higher than the other. ?Granted my driveaway isn't all THAT level, but it's definitely not off to that extent.

I gave the driver side t-bar about a turn an a half in to tighten things up.... ?I noticed the passenger side also rose up a bit, but now the emphasis seems to be on the drivers side rear sping. ?It feels to drop to that side over bumps and uneven road surfaces. I'm thinking of pulling a turn out of the passenger side t-bar now. ? :rolleyes:

Anyone experience anything like this? ?Any tips?
 
Cool, Thanks G-xx - I didn't find that thread in the searches I ran...

The funny thing though, is the driver side spring out back.. it feels oddly weak now. I'm guessing the passenger t-bar has too much preload on it and is levering down the drivers rear. Sound legit?
 
marc_w said:
Cool, Thanks G-xx - I didn't find that thread in the searches I ran...

The funny thing though, is the driver side spring out back.. it feels oddly weak now. ?I'm guessing the passenger t-bar has too much preload on it and is levering down the drivers rear. ?Sound legit?
Sorry, can't help much there, mine is so heay that I wouldn't know it - you need help from the 1500 folks on the back springs.

I find it hard to believe that the small adjustment you made would unbalance the truck, my $.02, but I learn something knew everyday on this board.
 
marc_w
Have you measured ride height at each fender yet? After talking with G-xx I went home and measured mine and found that the passenger side was almost 3/4 of an inch higher than the drivers side. Just 1 1/2 turns on the driver side t-bar and everything is now even.

Be careful though, one of my friends has put a set of 325/50R20's on his and cranked up the t-bars to try and level out the front to rear rake. :eek:Now he has a loud creak coming from the front when the front end oscillates. :6:

Jim :B: :B:

 
Yup, did some measuring.... on average, the back end was about 1.25 to 1.5" lower on the drivers side. ?The front was about half an inch after my initial adjustment.

I measured from the flat section of the upper fender, down to the ground, right in line with the center of the wheels. ?I set all tires to 35psi before the measuring began...

Rear:
D: ?38"
P: ?39.5"

Front:
D: ?35.75
P: ?36.4

I parked the truck in about 10 different spots in my driveway. Each time I measured, I'd get a reading off of the ABOVE numbers by half an inch in the front and rear.

I did some more tuning... I think I went in a little more than a turn on the drivers side, and out a full turn on the passenger side. ? The drivers side bolt is now flush with the crossmember, while the passenger side bolts (whole) head is just below the crossmember. ?They differ approximately 3 turns...

I got the front to come very close to 36" on each side, and very close to 39" in the rear.

Driving down the road; ?The wheel and steering feel straight on. ?Excellent...... ?BUT, I feel as though the truck teeter-totters on an axis from the driver front to passenger rear wheel. ?Sometimes I feel as though the passenger front corner is tucking down a little, other times I feel the driver rear corner is tucking. ?(follow me there??) ?

I think I have a bit of fine tuning left to do.

BTW: Should I get my free alignment? ?(it's a bit of ?PITA for me to make the time for it) :rolleyes: :-[
 
Oh yeah - I had right around 3/4 a tank of gas. (about half a tank if you ask me.... I was driving around at FULL for a good 80 miles)
 
I've got this pretty well worked out... I needed about another turn (total, between the two) to get things reasonable and to allow me to sleep at night. On the highway though, the truck DOES WANDER ever-so-slightly to the right. (Ever-so-slightly as in; half a mile it'll be making it way into the lane to the right)

The drivers side is pretty well cranked, the passenger side is a bit more loose. That's a little annoying to a control freak like myself. :7:
 
This one is gonna get the best of me, I know it.

A loooong way back I was complaining that my Av has a mean lean to one side. I measured a half an inch difference between the front wheels, and an INCH AND A HALF out back. The lean is to the drivers side.

I have adjusted the torsion bars for the best possible 'balanced' ride, but it's still not good enough. With a full tank of gas, I still get a noticeable lean even in a nice flat parking lot. I'm not comfortable wit the position of the torsion bar adjustment screws, in it's still not-so-perfect stance.

I suspect that the drivers side coil out back is weaker than the passenger side.

Do the rear coil sprung GM's use a different rate spring for each side out back? It would make perfect sense if they did, and mine are swapped or I have two of the same kind of spring, as the 30 gal gas tank is on the drivers side of the vehicle. That MUST make a noticeable difference in the weight ratio of the truck.

I crawled underneath a while back, and found what I assume to be a part number tag on the coils - they matched numbers, for what it's worth. I could not locate any obvious extra or lacking spacers either.

I'm hesistant on bringing this to the dealers attention just yet, as I don't want to get looked at like I have two heads and waste a day doing it... but it'll probably come down to it.

How should I approach them with this - leave it as it is, adjusted, and hope they actually find a reason to look things over - and risk just having them shrug me off...

OR

Bring the adjusters back to stock, and hope they just don't do what I've been doing for the last few months now, and re-adjust them?

Any help is *greatly* appreciated.

Thanks,
-marc



 
If you look at any new Av you will notice that the drivers side should sit a little higher than the left. While mine was at the dealer for some work (one was to adjust the ride height) I had them measure all the Z71 Avs they had in stock against mine. All the Av's sat 1/4" higher on the drivers side. The reasoning was because of the extra weight from the fuel tank and the weight of the driver. It made pretty good sense to me. From the ground to the top back corner of the front wheel well measured 36" to 36 1/4" on the drivers side and 35 3/4" to 36" on the pass side.
 
Did any one solve this problem?

This is my first post so Iam working on figuring this posting thing out. I am concerned more about the lean from side to side than front to back. My leans to the passenger side (lower). I cranked up the t-bars by three turns on each side but that didn't change the side to side measurements. This didn't do anything to the backs side to side meas.
 
petesz71 said:
. I cranked up the t-bars by three turns on each side but that didn't change the side to side ?measurements.
Adjusting the t bars raises the front of the truck...if it leans don't adjust both sides evenly. One turn of the bolt is approximately .2 inches measured at the front of the truck. Make sure you have your truck aligned after adjusting the t bars.
Welcome to the club!
 
Will adjusting the t-bars a different number of turns cause any to go out of wack up front. I know you have to get an alignment, but won't there be a different amount of tension on each bar? ?Is it possible that you could feel one side being stiffer than the other?

Just wondering. ????

BTW, I think petesz71 is more concerned about the back leaning more to one side. I know the difference in side to side measurements on my Av is greater in the rear than in the front.
 
Can anyone shed more light on this. My leans too and is starting to aagrivate me :mad: I really notice it now that we brought attention to it.

pogo
 
While on cruises I've noticed that almost everyones left side tires look a little low on air compared to the right sides.

I'm assuming the left side is heavier (gas tank) and the trucks components react accordingly.

David
 
My drivers front tire always looks lower, and I put an extra PSI in there. ?:cautious: ? My rears usually look okay.

I'm still kicking my tires every morning in frustration. ?I just haven't had a Saturday to sit at the dealer. ? :(

I still do bi-weekly tinkering of the t-bars, trying to weed this out myself. ?One week it looks good. ?Another I'm too far and the passenger side sags. ?The next I'm back to the drivers side. ?:8:

I've stood in the junk-suspension-parts-isle of my local auto-parts store, pondering the pro's and con's of just putting in one of those cheap "twist in spring boosters" in the driver rear spring, as a temporary fix. ?That's BAD for me! ?;D

--

About the precise corner which the truck leans from...

I too feel like it's coming from the rear. ?The drivers rear for me. (hey!! NO PUN! ?;D ) ?

If you toss a jack under the drivers FRONT though (like the A-arm), and give it a few pumps, you'll see the rear of the truck also rise in unison... at least for those few pumps. ?That's why I'm still playing with the torsion bars. ?

A little extra pre-load up front, takes a little of the strain off the spring out back, for that particular side. ? It also transfers a bit to the OPPOSITE rear spring, but that's another story in itself.

Even if I get this weeded out via the T-bars, it's still probably going in to the dealer, because I can still detect a spring-rate difference, or weight bias difference between the two rear spings... even when at that particular time the truck feels balanced.

--

About the adjusting of the t-bar...

When you put a little more preload (turning in the adjusters) it's not really making the t-bar any more powerfull of a spring, it's basically just setting the static ride-height for that particular side a little higher. ?

It's hard to explain, but I'll try here...

Picture the front end of the truck sitting on coil springs, instead of torsion bars. ?The truck will find a happy medium where the the springs will be exterting the same amount of force the truck is pushing down with. ?"Turning in the adjusters" would be the equivalent to adding a shim under the springs. ?It'll raise the springs, but not make them stiffer...

:)
 
Heres a blurb on ride height measurement and specs from GM tech:

* Note that they say the vehicle shouldbe level with a FULL tank, so with an almost empty tank you should be higher on the driver side.

----------------------------------

Trim Height Inspection Procedure

Trim Height Measurements

Trim height is a predetermined measurement relating to vehicle ride height. Incorrect trim heights can cause bottoming out over bumps, damage to the suspension components and symptoms similar to wheel alignment problems. Check the trim heights when diagnosing suspension concerns and before checking the wheel alignment.

Perform the following before measuring the trim heights:

Make sure the vehicle is on a level surface, such as an alignment rack.
Remove the alignment rack floating pins.
-Set the tire pressures to the pressure shown on the certification label. Refer to Label - Vehicle Certification in General Information.
-Check the fuel level. Add additional weight if necessary to simulate a full tank.

To ensure proper weight distribution make sure the rear storage compartment is empty.
Close the doors and hood.

Z Height Measurement

Important
K models only the Z height must be adjusted before the alignment.


The Z height dimension measurement determines the proper ride height for the front end of the vehicle. Vehicles equipped with torsion bars use a adjusting arm in order to adjust the Z height dimension. Vehicles without torsion bars have no adjustment and could require replacement of suspension components.


Important
All dimensions are measured vertical to ground. Cross vehicle Z heights should be within 12 mm (0.47 in) to be considered correct.

<<See attachment for image to ccompany following instructions.>>

1. Place hand on the front bumper and jounce the front of the vehicle. Make sure that there is at least 38 mm (1.5 in) of movement while jouncing.

2. Allow the vehicle to settle into position.

3. Measure from the pivot bolt center line (2) down to the lower corner (5) of the lower steering knuckle (1) in order to obtain the Z height measurement (4).

4. Repeat the jouncing operation 2 more times for a total of 3 times.

5. Use the highest and lowest measurements to calculate the average height.

6. The true Z height dimension number is the average of the highest and the lowest measurements. Refer to Trim Height Specifications .
Z Height Adjustment




1. For vehicles equipped with a torsion bar suspension turn the bolt (1) that contacts the torsion arm as needed. One revolution of the bolt (1) into the nut increases the Z height by approximately 6.0 mm (0.2 in).

2. For vehicles without torsion bars, replace damaged or worn components as necessary.

3. If these measurements are still out of specifications after adjustment or are not equipped with torsion bars, inspect for the following:
Sagging front suspension. Refer to Torsion Bar Replacement in Front Suspension.
Collision Damage

SPEC MEASURMENTS: 92mm (3.6") ideal, 86-98mm (3.3-3.8") ALLOWED

----------------------------

I don't know if this helps or answers your question but lets you know what GM checks for and how to check if your vehicle is "within spec" for what it's worth.
 

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Thanks Darkwing. (y)

Know what's scary? With a full tank I AM adjusted pretty level.

Anything less than Full?

The DRIVERS SIDE IS LOWER.

Go figure! :rolleyes:

I wonder if my passenger spring(s) are a little longer... and softer? I don't know, it's too confusing. I'm not going to think about it! ;D

 
Hi,

Just picked up my Avalanche yesterday. It was titled to the Dealership owner and has just under 5000 miles. Its currently backed into the driveway. Noticed that the it seemed to be leaning to the left so got out the measure and sure enough it's leaning about 1 1/2 to the Left (driver's side). At the front it's only a 1/4" or so on the left side.

Had a front end lean on an S10 blazer like this years ago and it ground off the outside of one of the stock front tires. This rig has just under 5000 miles currently and I don't see any noticable tire wear so far.

Bounced the back end and rocked the body back and forth to make sure it wasn't just an anomolie. It setteled back into it's left lean. The rig's totally empty.

Anyone seen this. Pretty nasty outside for crawling around underneath to see if the left coil spring is out of it's seat or some such.

Would appreciate any advice you all might have.

Thanks in advance!
 
Welcome to the club.
most likely you need a Z height adjustment. An alignment can fix that. Worst off the rear coil spring could be broken.
Take her back to the service dept. somewhere between 3-5 thousand miles the manufacture will pick up the tab on an alignment. Over that mileage and you pay. I paid around 150 bucks for my first alignment at 7500 mi.
A broken spring should be covered to 36,000 mi. If you hold your ground and don't try to strangle someone at the dealer they may offer you a Free alignment. Seems only fair. :D
 
Thanks for the quick reply! Sounds like good advice to me.

This same dealership (in 1983) re-aligned my S10 twice trying to fix the problem. So it stands to reason that alignment can be a cause of 'body lean'.

It was an ancient mechanic where I was buying new tires for the S10 rig that finally spotted the problem with the torsion bar.

Overjoyed that I found this club. WarrantyGold gave me a headsup about the club when I was talking to them about an 'extended warranty'.

I have a little more business to do at the dealership this morning so I'll take my measure tape along and talk with the service rep while I'm there.

Many thanks and best wishes to you and your Avalanch!
Glad to be a member of the club.
 
The posts following this one were moved from a similar thread titled 1500 List / Lean revisited.

This is so that we can keep related discussion together for easy access.

-- SS
 
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