some help please

[youknowmyname67]

Ok so I am new here and I couldnt find a post that really answered my question and not really sure if this is the right spot for it but with you guys knowing about suspension here goes.... I have a 95' yukon 5.7L 4 door 4x4 and i know the drivers side usually isnt level to the passenger side but in my case my driver side frame from front to back (measured in 3 different spots, front middle and rear) is 1" lower then the passenger side. I measured with the vehicle empty on level ground. I could not find any broken leafs and this is a noticeable lean when looking from the rear.... I made sure my tires were all at the same psi all the tread is worn evenly (same depth on all tires etc) i replaced the shocks so my question is could the torsion bars be off..... I just bought the car about 4 days ago and i am unsure if maybe they had a lift on it they took off and just didnt even out the torsion bars etc.... Also I am uncertain if the torsion bars only lift the body of it they will lift the frame also.... either way I am looking for some help and advice as to get this fixed.... i have new bilstein shocks on it like i said tires are all the same with tread depth psi and size....measured fron of frame middle of frame and rear frame all points are 1" lower then the passenger side...... any help would be appreciated.

 

[96ProCompTahoe]

assuming its a 4-door you may have a little lean from where the gas tank is located (driver side) depending on how much fuel is in it. you could crank the T-bar up to level the front, but thats not going to fix the driver side rear.

 

[youknowmyname67]

ive eliminated the gas tank lean... the whole frame itself is off by an inch from drive side to pass front to rear..... i dont know what is making the whole things off called a few places they all said torsion bar or spring...... i couldnt find a broken leaf or anything and i dont know much about the torsion bar.... front end and back end are level just a lop sided left lean i took a pic but it doesnt show the lean too well

 

[96ProCompTahoe]

its off an inch from the frame to the ground? how did you eliminate the gas tank?

 

[youknowmyname67]

its off an inch from the frame to the ground? how did you eliminate the gas tank?

Ran it out of gas and measured it again before filling up again..... and yes from the frame to the ground..... here is the kicker which makes it more confusing to me.... i have a bar level its 5' and when i placed that on the rear bumper it sits on almost the whole bumper..... shows that its perfectly level.....using a tape measure to the bottom of the bumper and top of the bumper from the ground its the same measurement..... now from the ground to the mid top peak of the wheel well its off on the measurement and then measuring from the frame to the ground is off by an inch at all 3 points of the frame i measured

 

[99Yuk]

Wait... you measured all four fenders to the ground over the center of each weheel, and the drivers side was consistantly 1" lower? And when you put a level across the rear bumper it was level? That can't be a factory setup then... The rear bumper is directly bolted to the frame, so if the frame is lower on one side, so should the bumper.
Look at where the rear bumper bolts to the frame....is there a custom braket only on the driver's side to lift it? Any torch marks or welds? If your not sure, post up pics. We'll tell you...

My first thought was that the PO was a very heavy person to cause a 1" lean like that. But the bumper being level threw me off.

The TB's will lift/lower the frame, not the body.
Can you look underneath to see if the TB bolts have the same amount of thread showing on each? Pics to see what they look like HERE.

Sounds like you tried to think of everything that may cause that already. So I'm with you, that it may have had a lift on it at some point with a bad removal.

 

[bowtiefreak]

I also say gas tank. it is a 95 and that is many years of sitting with a full tank of gas. The leaf spring and torsion bar could just be sagging a little. It is a rather common thing when the tank sits off to one side

Edit: I just went back and read this and all the comments also. So it sounds like the frame is level and the body is leaning? Quickly check your body mounts to make sure somethign isn't going wrong. That's the only thig that can cause something like that if the frame is level and the body is not.

 

[youknowmyname67]

Wait... you measured all four fenders to the ground over the center of each weheel, and the drivers side was consistantly 1" lower? And when you put a level across the rear bumper it was level? That can't be a factory setup then... The rear bumper is directly bolted to the frame, so if the frame is lower on one side, so should the bumper.
Look at where the rear bumper bolts to the frame....is there a custom braket only on the driver's side to lift it? Any torch marks or welds? If your not sure, post up pics. We'll tell you...

My first thought was that the PO was a very heavy person to cause a 1" lean like that. But the bumper being level threw me off.

The TB's will lift/lower the frame, not the body.
Can you look underneath to see if the TB bolts have the same amount of thread showing on each? Pics to see what they look like HERE.

Sounds like you tried to think of everything that may cause that already. So I'm with you, that it may have had a lift on it at some point with a bad removal.

I am confused about it too lol I did not know if torsion bars lifted the body or the frame but now you say they lift the frame i will climb under and check them out.... is there a specific procedure to adjusting them or do i just crank the bolt in.....when i get under there i will crank on the leaning side a few times then measure the frame to make sure that is it.... I am not sure if the pic you posted was the bolts i looked at under there the other day but i do know there were 2 larger bolts under there in the center and no they were not even close to being threaded the same 1 was way out the other was in and could see anti sieze or lock thread not sure which it was you could just see somethin had been applied to the bolt. If i can get to it here soon I will get under there and get some pics of the underside see if anyone can help figure it out if its not the tb's

---------- Post added at 11:18 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:17 AM ----------

I also say gas tank. it is a 95 and that is many years of sitting with a full tank of gas. The leaf spring and torsion bar could just be sagging a little. It is a rather common thing when the tank sits off to one side

Edit: I just went back and read this and all the comments also. So it sounds like the frame is level and the body is leaning? Quickly check your body mounts to make sure somethign isn't going wrong. That's the only thig that can cause something like that if the frame is level and the body is not.

frame and body is unlevel....I checked the body mounts looking to see if there was a puck or wedge in there but everything looked fine

---------- Post added at 11:25 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:18 AM ----------

Wait... you measured all four fenders to the ground over the center of each weheel, and the drivers side was consistantly 1" lower? And when you put a level across the rear bumper it was level? That can't be a factory setup then... The rear bumper is directly bolted to the frame, so if the frame is lower on one side, so should the bumper.
Look at where the rear bumper bolts to the frame....is there a custom braket only on the driver's side to lift it? Any torch marks or welds? If your not sure, post up pics. We'll tell you...

My first thought was that the PO was a very heavy person to cause a 1" lean like that. But the bumper being level threw me off.

The TB's will lift/lower the frame, not the body.
Can you look underneath to see if the TB bolts have the same amount of thread showing on each? Pics to see what they look like HERE.

Sounds like you tried to think of everything that may cause that already. So I'm with you, that it may have had a lift on it at some point with a bad removal.

also if i adjust the tb will that bring up only the front or should it bring the rear up too?

 

[96ProCompTahoe]

if you crank the TB it will raise the front not the rear as it has nothing to do with the rear suspension, just controls the front.

body and frame move together....

 

[youknowmyname67]

if you crank the TB it will raise the front not the rear as it has nothing to do with the rear suspension, just controls the front.

body and frame move together....

alright so i was out messin with the yukon a bit decided to measure the frame again and from the ground to the fender and i just get more and more frustrated with it..... so the car is still leaning i have gotten the frame to all be at 11 inches from the ground to the frame the problem is front driver fender is 35.5" from ground driver rear is now at 33.75" passanger rear is at 34.75" and the passenger front at 35.5" the frame measured at 3 diff points again all measurements are at 11" from the ground driver and pass side.....still dont see a broken leaf measured from the ground to the bottom of the leaf and its the same on driver and pass side..... so i ask what the hell do i do now any ideas? also the passanger side has .5" clearance from the bumper to the exhaust but the driver side is resting on the exhuast dont know if its due to the lean but i believe it is.....I just dont have the money to take it into a shop