twisted chassis? car is leaning to the right!

[mark_1000]

Hey, in the past few months i noticed that my VN was really leaning alot to the right hand side. I figured that my shocks were totally gone, and i wanted to get it lowered soon so i let i go for a few months. Anyhow, i got it lowered, got the shocks replaced etc, and now my car is still on the lean.

rewind back to 2003 when the car was still my brothers, an australia post truck rear ended the car at a set of lights. The damage was fixed etc, but the rear right door still had to be shut a litter harder than it used to close properly, and it sounds different when its opened. Obviously the chassis isnt 100% straight, but the car was repaired and has been running for 4 years since, and if it was to be written off it would have been done so at the time of the accident.

back to my point, my car is on a lean, but ive only really noticed it the past few months, is this because the chassis is twisted and i havnt noticed it for 3 years, or may it still be something else that is making it lean to the right?

here are some photos of the car after it was hit and how it is now. as you can see in the damage photo, the right rear quarterpanel is rippled etc.

any help would be great, thanks.

[JD]

i would get your suspension checked out by pedders or someone, they could probably tell also wheather the chassis is twisted or not.

[mark_1000]

hmm.. i got my suspension etc done at tyrepower. do you think they would have picked up at the time if anything else was wrong?

[JD]

they should've, i used to work at bob janes as a wheel aligner and their was a car that came in that had just been fixed after being in a rear ender and you could easily tell that the chassis was screwed, right side was bent the other wasn't and the alignment on the right side was ****ed!

[samuels]

Hey, in the past few months i noticed that my VN was really leaning alot to the right hand side. I figured that my shocks were totally gone, and i wanted to get it lowered soon so i let i go for a few months. Anyhow, i got it lowered, got the shocks replaced etc, and now my car is still on the lean.

rewind back to 2003 when the car was still my brothers, an australia post truck rear ended the car at a set of lights. The damage was fixed etc, but the rear right door still had to be shut a litter harder than it used to close properly, and it sounds different when its opened. Obviously the chassis isnt 100% straight, but the car was repaired and has been running for 4 years since, and if it was to be written off it would have been done so at the time of the accident.

back to my point, my car is on a lean, but ive only really noticed it the past few months, is this because the chassis is twisted and i havnt noticed it for 3 years, or may it still be something else that is making it lean to the right?

here are some photos of the car after it was hit and how it is now. as you can see in the damage photo, the right rear quarterpanel is rippled etc.

any help would be great, thanks.

VN's don't have chassis as such,the impact that i can see in your pic doesn't look enough to bend the rail that is under the commodore,but i may be wrong,kack it right up,place stands under vehicle(all this to be done on level concrete-not grass ...) slide under and look at the rail on the repaired side,you will see if it has been damaged,bent,kinked etc,if not take a good look at it and compare to other side,then check your wheel gaps between bumper and tyre,and rear door to tyre,both sides.
looking at the damage i'd of thought they would of written it off,just thinking back to 4 years ago,even that far back it would of been at least a couple of grand to repair,so yeah i'd of thought they would of written it off,the insurance go off the little red book(unless you have agreed value with them)and VN's value has really only been around the $1200-$2000,even though care yards try their luck and double up the price

[AttaBoy]

That kind of damage wouldn't bend or twist your chassis. I reckon it could be the suspension that needed a look. Is your fuel tank full?? Some cars lean when its full.

[Joey_21]

did u get ur springs compressed if u did mayb they sagged on that side?

[vt1538]

Just get a tape measure & measure the springs compressed height in the vehicle while sitting on level ground. This will tell you if the right hand springs are shagged or not.

[Not_An_Abba_Fan]

Just by looking at the photo it seems the rhf spring has sagged. To check them jack the rhr so the back is exactly the same measurement from the bottom edge of the rim the the guard, measure the fronts to see if they are different. Then jack the rhf so the front is level and measure the rear. The measurement that is different by more than 5mm would be where your problem lies, be it springs or something else.

[mark_1000]

I forgot to mention that i got the car lowerered, so i got the springs replaced too, so its sitting on king springs super lows, so i dont think its a compressed spring problem.

If i remember the damage repair cost was around $2.5k at the time. I didnt even have to pay a cent for the repair cost, i guess it got lucky. I think australia posts insurance paid for it all.

im guessing that tyrepower maybe have seen if it was bent of not, but is it their job to tell me if its bent? maybe they just assumed that i knew. I have to take it back after 1000km etc for a check up to see if everything is alright and i'll ask them then.

the fuel tank isnt full either, its just under half. there are some amps on the right hand side in the boot, but they're no where near heavy enough to make a difference, especially with the tyre on the left hand side.

i'll jack it up on the weekend when i get time and i'll measure everything then..

thanks for the help guys.

[J_D]

Well if you didnt ask them to specifically look over the car for any problems they might of just thrown the suspension gear at it and not noticed the problem.
When I get mine suspension done next week I will ask them to check the car over for any other problems. Mine also has the sag on the RHR like yours but I think its just the spring is shagged. Apparently the RHR is the first to go in VN's as it bears the weight of the driver and the fuel tank is on that side as well(mine is the 80ltr tank too which only exacerbates the problem).

[samuels]

I forgot to mention that i got the car lowerered, so i got the springs replaced too, so its sitting on king springs super lows, so i dont think its a compressed spring problem.

If i remember the damage repair cost was around $2.5k at the time. I didnt even have to pay a cent for the repair cost, i guess it got lucky. I think australia posts insurance paid for it all.

im guessing that tyrepower maybe have seen if it was bent of not, but is it their job to tell me if its bent? maybe they just assumed that i knew. I have to take it back after 1000km etc for a check up to see if everything is alright and i'll ask them then.

the fuel tank isnt full either, its just under half. there are some amps on the right hand side in the boot, but they're no where near heavy enough to make a difference, especially with the tyre on the left hand side.

i'll jack it up on the weekend when i get time and i'll measure everything then..

thanks for the help guys.

sorry...being lazy tonight did you say the shocks were replaced to? maybe it's a dicky shock,you will be able to see if its the springs ,you will see just by looking at them,other things to check is panhard rod,suspension arm.
the company in concern would /should of informed you if the rear rail was bent,as a courtesy.are you running air in your tyres or nitrogen?

[mark_1000]

sorry...being lazy tonight did you say the shocks were replaced to? maybe it's a dicky shock,you will be able to see if its the springs ,you will see just by looking at them,other things to check is panhard rod,suspension arm.
the company in concern would /should of informed you if the rear rail was bent,as a courtesy.are you running air in your tyres or nitrogen?

yeah the shocks were replaced too. i think they are GT gas shocks or something. i know, not the best, but you think brand new they should be perfectly fine.

yeah, they should probably inform their customers, and i intend to ask them to check over everything. As for air or nitrogen in my tyres, it would be whatever the tyrepower put in them because i got new tyres at the same time, along with an adjustable panhard rod.

[JD]

it would be air the as theres a surcharge for nitrogen, also you can tell if it has nitrogen because it will have red valve caps.

[mark_1000]

well i have boring old air then

[Reaper]

Have a check that they didn't fit springs of two different ride heights by mistake.

Reaper

[VTSSDUDE]

Check the spring mounts on the diff and see if the right hand side has been bent down.

[Penguin732]

hey man my vu ute has the same problem wen i bought it i have done the the suspenison all round new everything but its a twisted body u can get it retwisted to the right way

[db_notso]

hmm i would check spring loaded height is the same l/h to r/h
and all your rear suspension parts with a long flat ruler too see if bent
then you could measure kerb height and take it to a suspension specialist and see what he says about it
they may just be able to fit a different spring to the rhr rarther than tell you its all rooted
but vn's have a bad habit of "flexing" at the rear welds and the only way i know to check these chasis properly is to go to a BODY SHOP and get them to check the chasis (the hard welded non existant one) and clamp it to straighten it

[azzfox]

Doods, 2007.

[Benboy]

yeah the shocks were replaced too. i think they are GT gas shocks or something. i know, not the best, but you think brand new they should be perfectly fine.

yeah, they should probably inform their customers, and i intend to ask them to check over everything. As for air or nitrogen in my tyres, it would be whatever the tyrepower put in them because i got new tyres at the same time, along with an adjustable panhard rod.

Why would anyone want to pay more to have 'nitrogen' used to inflate their tyres.
Dry air contains roughly (by volume) 78.09% nitrogen, 20.95% oxygen, 0.93% argon, 0.039% carbon dioxide, and small amounts of other gases. Air also contains a variable amount of water vapor, on average around 1%.

[joe seinfeld]

not sure how noticeable it would be or how low youve gone with your car, but if you go too low and dont get an adjustable panhard, im pretty sure it leans to one side?

[wamboin23]

Doods, 2007.

is anybody reading??

[joe seinfeld]

is anybody reading??

i stand corrected.

Missed that bit about the adjustable up there