Rear Axle Centering

Killerdave8813

Dragway Regular
Jan 16, 2008
904
2
18
Cincinnati,Ohio
Is it just me or has anyone else noticed the rear axle on a Malibu seems to be off center toward the passenger side by about a half inch or so? I have an 81 Bu,supposidly a Moser 9" rear,Edelbrock adjustible upper arms,Southside machine lowers,15X8 Crager Street Lights w/ 4" backspace 1/4" spacers,275/60 15's,sitting pretty low and I have about 3/4" between the tire and fender lip on the driver's side and maybe 1/4" if I'm lucky on the passenger side,I was wondering if this is normal or do I have a problem? I saw a much modified G-body Monte
Carlo in a magazine a while back and it appeared to be the same as the right side rear tire looked like it was out of the fenderwell a bit further than the left was,Any info or observations would be appreciated,
Thanks,KillerDave
 

GreenDragginBu

MalibuRacing Junkie
Jul 10, 2003
6,293
0
0
N.E. Ohio
mine was the same with the 12 bolt. not with the 9".
 

t5montecarlo

MalibuRacing Junkie
Oct 21, 2007
4,632
31
48
Lederach, PA
garage-scene.com
With stock control arms, it can partly be explained. The arms are not left/right specific and the bushings are not centered in the control arm. This pushes the rear to one side.
 

ScotSea

Frequent Racer
Sep 21, 2003
381
0
0
I have an 82 wagon, and a 79 2 door. The 79 rear end is about 3/8 of an inch off to the drivers side. I recently put 4th gen 17x9 Camaro SS wheels on it, with 275-40-17 tires. The drivers side fit perfect with a 2 inch wheel adapter. On the passenger side, the tire hit the frame. I went with a couple of small spacers, one between the wheel adapter and the drum, and another spacer between the adapter and the wheel. The car still has the original V6, and never gets driven, so it is OK to look at... I am nervous about driving it though. There is a GN rear waiting to go into it when it gets an engine transplant.

On the 82 wagon, the rear end appears to be perfectly centered. Still has the stock 14 inch wheels on it, and the 229 V6.

Scot
 

406Monte

Dragway Regular
Nov 30, 2007
1,019
0
0
Hubert, NC
I am glad that i am not the only one suffering from this problem. I noticed it along time ago when i had to take out my driveshaft for the first time when i replaced the 305. I was stumped for the longest time thinking that i had done something to it. Cause when i put in back to gether with the new motor i was completely lost thinking the transmission and motor was way out of wack. i must have stared at it under the car for a good 20 minutes. I finally said oh well and finished it up and was like i hope that it holds on the road. Well, i now know that i am not the only one with this problem. cool.gif
 

chevy406

Weekend Racer
Oct 11, 2008
84
0
0
ft pierce,fl
I have a 1968 nova with the same problem, with the stock 10 bolt there was 1/2 in clearance between the tire and fender on the pass side, i then bought a dana 60 from DTS and it was the same exact problem, it just the way they are i guess.
 

Killerdave8813

Dragway Regular
Thread starter
Jan 16, 2008
904
2
18
Cincinnati,Ohio
Well thanks guys,at least it isn't just me,I'm thinking it's just the way these cars are,when they left the factory with little skinny tires no one would ever notice but stuff some big meat up in there and it's a whole new ball game,I did put new frame to body bushings in last summer so maybe I'll try loosening them up and see if I can scoot the body over a bit,as best as I can tell the rearend is where it should be as best as I can measure it anyway,3 degree pinoin angle etc. maybe I'll look at that as well,I'll get back if I figure anything out,may be a while though as I'm all involved with my guage project and a bunch of other wiring & stuff,Later,KillerDave
 

Barry 85 SS

Frequent Racer
Aug 8, 2005
662
0
0
Newport News, Va
Check the distance between the tire and the frame, if that is the same then the rear is centered with the frame but the body is not centered on the frame.
 

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