Newbie question....

[kpdalton]

1950 truck.
Ok, so how can I adjust the headlights? From what I can tell, a bucket is just screwed to the fender with a light in it. With decent force I can't seem to get the chrome ring off the light which is held on by just one screw. Whats the secret here?

More importantly, looking carefully at my rear axle I noticed it is more to the left than it should be. I noticed it by the wheel clearance to the fender. One side I can fit two fingers in, the other side only 1 between the tire and fender. It looks to be about 1/2 off. Maybe 3/4.

This is a completely restored truck, show condition, not stock.
I'm just wondering why the builder would choose to offset the axle like this of if its an accident. My first thought was the driveshaft had to be lined up and totally straight and in this case the axle needed to be off to the left some.

any help is appreciated.

[mknittle]

may be the bed is off center by half a finger.or a fender is bent slightly or, or or any combomation of things.measure from the frame thm the brake drum on each side then the frame to the sides of the bed [NOT the fenders} if all is good measure the bed side to the fender lip. the head light ring should pull out from the bottom then up.
post some pictuers!!!

[kpdalton]

For the axle, the fender was the first clue but when I looked under the truck I can tell by where the ubolts/leafsprings attach it is closer to one side than the other. In other words, if I measure the ubolt to the drum it is shorter on one side. It seems like an easy fix, just loosen it and move it over but the driveshaft may be affected and I'm not sure if that needed to be dead straight.

[NEWFISHER]

Drive shaft does not need to dead straight, play is taken up or absorbed by the ujoints

[kpdalton]

I was just told by the builder that the rear end is out of a 87 trans am and because of the coil springs and tortion tube it was made offset. And the offset is well within the limits of the ujoint so mechanically its not an issue. But I know its about 3/4 " off as far as the wheels go so wondering about a wheel spacer to even them out. Not sure how good of an idea this is.

[kpdalton]

Also curious if this offset will cause alignment issues just going down the road straight. It does pull to the left but i haven't had it aligned yet to see.

[mknittle]

Originally Posted by kpdalton

For the axle, the fender was the first clue but when I looked under the truck I can tell by where the ubolts/leafsprings attach it is closer to one side than the other. In other words, if I measure the ubolt to the drum it is shorter on one side. It seems like an easy fix, just loosen it and move it over but the driveshaft may be affected and I'm not sure if that needed to be dead straight.

you cant go by that. the center is offset on most axles because the ring gear is off to one side of the pinion. one tube is shorter to make up the difference. the springs are/should be centered off the overall {wheel flange to wheel flange} or better the frame rails. The coil springs and torque arm have nothing to do with it!Sounds like either he don't know{bad} or a fertilizer sale {don't buy it}

[mknittle]

Originally Posted by kpdalton

Also curious if this offset will cause alignment issues just going down the road straight. It does pull to the left but i haven't had it aligned yet to see.

Offset alone wont cause problems Not being perpendiclar will though To check you will have to cross measure the frame. if good the frame to the front axle if good. axle to axle but if yours is offset it will show as off so if the front and frame is proven to be square{within 1/8"}measure from the kingpin/ball joint center backto the rear axle on each side.{not the tires}
Or take it to a good align ment shop.[NOt the guy that built it.

I wear out an average of 2 tape measures a year

[NEWFISHER]

set up some visual reference points and yard sticks, snap a pic so we can see whats going on to further help.

[kpdalton]

ok so some more investigating and here's what I found. The fenders were modified to be about 2 inches wider and thats where the discrepancy is. I'm measuring the rim to fender. But when I measure wheel to frame, frame to leafs, etc its all good. The builder spared no expense on the truck, had the frame boxed in, built on a jig, verified all was straight. I'm confident its fine, I just didn't realize the fenders were custom made and thats where the issue was. If anyone wants to see pics still let me know, I will take and post a few.

[mknittle]

http://www.iedls.com/asp/admin/getFi...&TID=28&FN=PDF

this may help.

[mknittle]

Originally Posted by kpdalton

ok so some more investigating and here's what I found. The fenders were modified to be about 2 inches wider and thats where the discrepancy is. I'm measuring the rim to fender. But when I measure wheel to frame, frame to leafs, etc its all good. The builder spared no expense on the truck, had the frame boxed in, built on a jig, verified all was straight. I'm confident its fine, I just didn't realize the fenders were custom made and thats where the issue was. If anyone wants to see pics still let me know, I will take and post a few.

good al least you know it's nothing bad.post sompictures here so more of us will see them.

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...335636&page=46

[kpdalton]

Doesn't really show the rear end closely but its what I already had up so I'll share this until I take more.

[wood1]

Look at an original Avance Design('47.2-'55.1 GM truck and the axle/wheel sits more forward/left on the driver side than on the pass. side. Why I don't know but I'm sure someone will.
I have a 10 bolt under my '51(restomod) and it sits forward also. I bought it that way and noticed it more when I changed wheels/tires the 1st time. I've noticed this on all the original trucks, restored originals and SOME of the restomods also. Guess it's however you set up the rear?? Or is it an illusion to do with the fender?? I've always wondered about this and why it wasn't "centered" when the truck was restored. Then again I've seen plenty the same way. Good question to ask on Stovebolt.com

[mr48chev]

You had me when you said the truck was fully "restored" and then show us a slick modified chassis with an MII front end Trans Am rear end quite similar to my plans for my truck. I always view "restored" as show room stock just like they came from the dealer when they were new although I am not a "restorer". I'd say that it is a nicely done mildly modified truck by what I see of the chassis.

The axle being offset to the side half or 3/4 of an inch shouldn't make the truck pull to the side but I wonder why they thought that they had to offset it. From reading posts by who knows how many guys on the net on different forums I fully understand that there is that cadre that is anal about the driveshaft being perfectly parallel with the centerline of the frame and seem have real issues with one that angles back to the pinion shaft in the rear axle even ever so slightly. I don't see it as an issue and would rather have the axle housing centered and not look off to the side. The wear on the Ujoints will be negligible anyhow. Compared to the guys over on the 4x4 side of the board we don't have Ujoint angle issues with our two wheel drive trucks.

Vehicles usually pull to one side going down the road due to one of a few things.

1. Tire pressure not matched from side to side.

2. Mismatched tires. same size but different internal construction due to their being of different brands or a different series in the same brand. Example: truck owner buys a set of matching tires and six months later ruins one hitting a pot hole and the tire store replaces it with a newer version of the same brand and model of that tire.

3. I haven't seen it lately but in the early 70's when I was doing front end alignment work for a living there was a big problem with radials wanting to pull or push to one side as you were driving straight down the road. Usually that is a "drift" to the side while an alignment problem is more of a "pull" to the side. Sometimes you can cure the "drift by moving the tires side to side. I've seen a few that actually caused the car to drift off to the other side when they were swapped.

4. Saved for last because I have a feeling that this is the real cause of the truck pulling to one side.
If your location under your screen name is right you most likely live up in the mountains of SoCal and the roads are crowned more than they would be down lower or in the Desert areas like Phoenix or Tucson. If the truck came from a really dry area and it now pulls to the right on crowned roads you will have to go to an alignment shop and have the front end set for your roads. That means you want at least 1/4 degree more positive camber on the left front (US driver side) than the right front wheel. That will compensate for the camber in the road when you drive down the road.

One thing I've seen a few times and after I got done laughing at the situation or banging my head against the wall is that the person will try to "straighten up" a steering wheel that is slightly off center when they drive down the road and then complain that the car "pulls" When you are out on a straight piece of open road at road speeds and take your hands off the steering wheel for a few seconds what does the truck do?
It should track straight when you don't have your hands on the wheel.

[OrrieG]

The front and rear tires need to be the same distance from the spring seats or the vehicle will pull. Its the same as getting the frame bent. My kid had a Mustang that had the rear axle replaced with one a little wider. They set the passenger side on the spring pad, the driver pad was only on about half the pad, so the driver wheel on that side were offset to the outside to. Looking from the front, siting down the front tires you could see it. The car pulled to the driver side because the rear wheels were trying to align along the center axis with the front tires. The springs, 4 link, coils, etc. should be centered on the long axis of the frame and the wheels the same distance from the suspension points. We corrected the problem and it steered straight. The pinion can be offset, the drive line does not know if the angle is vertical, horizontal or some where in between, the universals just like to be between 2 and 8 degrees to work correctly.