Hi, hope someone here can help. car is 69 sportwagon, 5 speed, about 550 hp. replaced springs, new kyb gas shocks, boxed hotchkis upper and lower arms, poly bushings and air bags to raise back end up 1.5 inches. new front springs going in next week then I can let the air out of the bags. I still have wheel hopo No: old system had air shocks, old springs and original arms. could my pinion angle have anything to do with it. bought a measuring guage over the weekend to check angles but haven't taken any readings yet. car in storage,.
Too much air in bags and/or too much height in rear can add to wheel hop problem. Air shocks guarantee wheel hop with just a little air in them. Air bags may do the same if rear sits high already. Also check all the arm mounting brackets for cracks just to be safe and sure. Make sure all the bushings are rock solid as any looseness can cause wheel hop. Keep the lower rear arm sitting with the front mounting bolt less than 2" taller than the axle mounting bolt, and go from there to lower heights if needed. Install control arm braces between the front bolts of the upper and lower rear control arms. Crossmember flex can cause wheelhop and wheelhop can destroy the crossmember. These braces are important...DON'T LEAVE HOME WITHOUT 'EM! Lack of front end lift can add to a wheel hop problem. Put a Moog 6204 FRONT spring and cheap gas shock on front of that wagon and watch the lauching action begin. A Moog 5379 rear spring is a good mate for the spring noted above, but lower is often better. Moog 6321 is an even shorter spring if wheel hop persist. One of these 2 springs will get you the right height. (Auto Zone uses the same part number under a different mfg if you want local store bought springs.)
About pinion angle....Should have nothing to do with wheel hop; HOWEVER, if the crossmember that holds the upper control arms is weak and moving under load it could induce wheel hop and alter pinion angle. Control arm braces would eliminate the stress and movement of the crossmember, as well as variations of pinion angle. btw Pinion angle= difference from parallel lines through trans shaft and pinion shaft. I would dissreguard driveshaft angle unless building a bigfoot truck or working with a car with 2 driveshafts.
thanks Gary. are you referring to the hotchkis control arm braces that go from the frame to the upper arms. I bought some but they would not go on a wagon because of the dip in the floor for the third row seating. wagon only has 19000 miles but I will check the cross member. car does sit up pretty high. when I put the new springs in front it should drop an inch or two. then I can completely deflate the bags. thanks Pete
The braces come in different styles. Most have evolved into fancy threaded adjustable and more costly designs. The ones you need will likely look like the factory type that are stamped steel and the upper hole is slotted for tolerance to fit. They are slim and should fit your wagon. Try Year One or another resto supplier. The Chevy boys may have them like 396ss I belive it's called, and should pop up on "chevy talk" sight. Don't leave home without 'em. My friend destroyed his 67 Tempest 421 stick car on the first launch without 'em. Soon after that, I bought braces for my 67 GS.
do the upper control arms have poly bushings at both ends? if so that binds up the rear suspension movement. i remember putting them in an old friends 71 skylark and afterwards when you would put the car up on a lift the suspension would barely drop down. if theyhave heim joints at one end then you are all set. if not then TRZ sells hiem joint bushings for the rear end housing. i put those in my buick and are nice pieces. you just have to be careful when installing them, i hadto spot face the "ears" on the 12 bolt so the faces of the joint/bushing would sit completely flat on the rear end. good luck.
I never had a wheel hop problem until I raised the back of my GS. I lowered it and everything was fine again.
Yeh, the car seems high all the way around though the front is exactly as the chassis manual says. rear is lifted about an inch to get it to book specs. When I put my hotchkis springs in the front it should lower the front between 1 and 2 inches. then I'll let the air out of the bags. I tried 5 new sets of springs for the wagon but because of the dual action gate and 3rd seat they all made the ass end lower. gsca springs sat about 4 inches to low. goes to show how heavy the back end is.
Fat rear bar? do you mean sway bar. have a hotchkis swaybar on it. HR? those are my ex wifes initials. no thanks lol no seriously what is hr.
Pete, where the uppers bolt on to the stamped steel Xmember there should/must be a support bracket that ties into the front of the lower control arms to stop the flexing. If that is not there then get one and install it. Its good to have a stiff bushing in the lower control arms but the uppers should be stock. Put the air bags on craigslist and let the car sit where it wants to and forget the manual. Put a 15 inch tire under that car! That car has bite big time, with all that over hang and the healthy stove those poor little tires are working hard. If anything the coils in the front are too high, the suspension can't work properly with a higher ride height. That car pitch rotates better the a lot of cars you see at the track.
those support brackets youre talking about, are they the ones I gave to bob. remember they wouldn't fit on the wagon because of the indent for the 3rd row of seats. got 255 60 15 on rear and 235 60 15 front last year. no more 14s
Yes those ones. Measure both the uppers and the lower control arms, bolt to bolt. Once we have those I will measure what I have then we can measure top too bottom. If we have to make a set we will. Can you emial me some pic's of that area? If you were to picture a line from upper to lower how much does that 3rd row stick out?
If I remember right that 3rd row sticks way out. I'll try to get photo's this weekend. I'll post a pic of my new wheel combo. Weld drag lites with adapters for hub caps made by steve reynolds. really like the look. trying to decide if I want the drag lites body color. What do those rods actually do. they run between to stationary points.
Paint the wheels Argent color. With out that brace that thin stamp steel upper cross member can flex or rip off at the frame( been there done that) seen it a bunch of times......
The lower control arms push all the force into the frame. The upper arms react by pulling equally on that flimsy stamped steel cross member. It needs the frame braces to lock the upper arm bolts to the lower front arm bolts and takes the stress off the flimsy crossmember. This creates a rock solid triangle through the control arms and braces. No more pull and flex on the flimsy crossmember.
yeh, I think you guys are right. because its a wagon we'll probably have to custom something. I'll get it up on a hoist this weekend and get pics and measurements. will also check for any damage.
