I have a '69 Malibu with a 454. I recently hit a dip and bottomed out on the the passenger side only. Immediately after and for about a day following the passenger side front was about 1/2" lower than the driver's front -- you could tell by looking at the car head on as well as the front passenger fender was nearer to the top of the tire.

Then the front came up to even and has been that way since.

I assume that something in front is tired and got compressed from the dip, then slowly expanded to normal. Would this more likely be the shock or the spring?

Thanks for any insights.

Inspect the spring very closely. Look for the coils touching, indicating a broken spring. If you need new ones consider Moog 5536 - I've got them on my 68 convetible and they are outstanding (perfect).

I'm guessing that the bushings slipped and then held in the lower position and it just took a little more driving for them to go back to their old position.

Getmore,

Excuse my mechanical ignorance, but which bushings do you mean? The front end? Or are there any sort of bushings for the shocks or springs?

Thanks.

The bushings in the upper and lower control arms.

When someone rebuilds their suspension they are not supposed to tighten everything down until they have the vehicle's weight on the tires. This ensures everything is at ride height.

The rubber bushings bind instead of allowing suspension parts to slip. It is the fact that they are able to twist that allows the parts to move without doing damage.

If the suspension was tightened while the front end was in the air it would sit high, because the bushings are holding it up.


It's the only reason I can think of for why your car would temporarily sit 1/2 inch lower on one side. Shocks would have recovered by the next bump, a broken spring should not recover.

The bushings are the only thing I could think of.

Thanks for your insight!