Body to chassis mounting

[Danwedges]

I've just fitted some wider rear wheels to the back of my gt6 and have noticed that the driver side rear wheel is almost an inch further back in the wheel arch than the passenger side. Passenger side seems quite central where as driver side is noticeably not centred.

So my question is how much movement do you have on the chassis to body mounts and could I loosen mounts and square up both rear wheels to the wheel arches?

The car drives straight and doesn't scrub the tyres so I'm assuming it has to be body mounts not being in line rather than rear suspension components not being in line also my car doesn't appear to lean at all either side so I'm hoping I can just loosen the body mounts and nudge the driver side of the body back 1/2 inch to an inch

Anyone have any experience with fitting a body to a chassis and know how much play there is?

Thanks

Dan

[Ian Faulds]

There is movement if you loosen the body bolts however you will also move the gap to bonnet. You don't say if you have rotoflex or not. I think rotoflex have adjustable tie rods. Maybe they are different and could adjust a wee bit. Not an inch though and i think they may only adjust camber. IF you moved the tub to equal the wheels then you would have to re adjust the bonnet. 

[Gully]

Before touching the body bolts I would measure the distance between the wheel centres on each side of the car and compare the separation - that should tell you if it's the body position or hub. The latter is certainly easily adjusted via the tie rods on rotoflex GT6s. 

I'm certain Pete will be along soon with general tracking checking advice.

Gully

[Danwedges]

It is a Rotoflex  model and I'll definatly measure the difference in wheel centres but if I have to move the tub I don't mind adjusting the bonnet as it's already very poorly fitting is it as easy as just adjusting the tie rods on the rear of the car? Would that not cause unequal wear on tyres as the wheels I've taken off the tyres have worn really nicely and even 

[Pete Lewis]

A simple test for basic alignment , stand a straight 6ft  length of something straight on a brick against the tyre , just sight the line to the sill   both side want to looking the same so you get    || ▪▪||    not \| ••||

Pete

[Danwedges]

Okay so I've measured a difference of approx half inch between driver side and passenger side wheel centres is this too much to adjust via rear tie rods?

I didn't expect to see any difference here due to the car driving straight with even tyre wear but it certainly explains the difference in wheel arches 

[Clive]

Methinks some proper measuring/alignment is needed before playing with anything at all.

I would start by setting front and rear wheels parallel, then setting up a string line down each side. See what isn't right so you can correct it if possible. If you just adjust rear tie rods you could upset something else...

 

Saying that, it may be a case of adjusting both sides to correct the difference. But you need to be certain.

[Danwedges]

Closer inspection of the front tyres shows passenger side even wear driver side wearing more on outside edge, I wonder if pulling the rear wheel further forward could correct this also? I'm going to read up on at home wheel alignment and see what I can sort out today hopefully it doesn't rain haha

[Pete Lewis]

Get a  gunsons  Trakrite from amazon £44  worth every penny  + free dilivery 

[Danwedges]

I've had a play about and found that depending on how it's been driven prior to parking up ie. Reversed, driver forward straight or at an angle can shift the rear wheels back or forward half inch and that coupled to a worn rear spring dropping half inch further on driver side to passenger side was causing the tyre to catch the inner arch lip on the driver side when reversed off the drive so I've knocked the inner arch lips up to give a little clearance but I think I'm going to need new bushes and either a new spring or replacement buttons for the one I've got