Thread: Wheelbase unevan on 1968 Chevlle

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I have a 1968 Chevlle that some years ago hit the drivers side fender , while backing up on one of those rpond pieces of steel at a gas station. The fender was replaced and that was that. More recently I,ve got involed in restoreing the car. And discovered that the diverside front is about 2 and 1/2 inchs longer than the passgenger side. My son said the frame was bent when hit the pole. But I made a careful inspection of the frame and could not see where anything was bent. Also the bolt holes line up okay for the bumber and shteel metal in the front. And ofcourse the frame on that car is a strong frame. It would take one heck of an impact to bend it. So I don't think the frame is bent. I also check lower and uper control arms, the shalf, busings, ball joints by takeing them apart. Could see no damage. Also the fender and inner fender was off the car, so I could see everything petty good. Is there anyone that may have a sujestion? I am at my wits end. Thanks, John.

Hi, 2.5 inches is a lot of misalignment! Maybe you should check the body bolts to see if the body was knocked out of line when it was involved in the wreck. As a retired body dude that is what I would look for. Good luck, Topless.

Hi Toppless, Thanks for your answer. I also took a mesuring tape and check the wheel base. The passinger side is 110 &3/4 c to c and the driver side is 113 c to c. with wheels stright. But I did think of somthing else. I did'nt check the passinger side of the frame. Or any other part of the frame other than the driver side front. Maybe the proplem is somewhere else. Thanks, John.

There are a number of holes in the frame that are concentric from side to side. First you should do a diagonal measure from the furthest back right to the furthest front left, then do likewise from the other side. That will tell you if your frame overall is square if they measure the same. If one dimension is longer than the other then your frame is tweaked with the impact being on the short side. Next, do the same kind of measure on the rear half, and the front half to see if most of the deflection is at one end or the other. If the frame checks pretty good, say not more than 1/2" difference, then check the front suspension in a similar fashion. Use the same two rear holes as before, and do the diagonal measure to the center of the lower ball joints. If they're different, one of them is either bent back or forward. If you study the undercarriage, you'll see several places where you can do that kind of measuring to determine which part of the chassis is off.