While upgrading my Chevelle to Power Disk Brakes I placed my jack stands about one foot behind the front wheels. When I opened the passenger door the inside of the door rubbed against the front fender and chipped the paint. When I removed the jack stands the door opened and cleared the front fender just fine.

My neighbor thinks the body bushings are worn which he believes allowed the front end to sag when the weight is supported by jack stands.

Is it possible to replace the body bushings one at a time with the body still attached to the frame?

Thanks
Brad Howard
1970 Chevelle BB402

i'm sorry to hear that.And replacing the body bushings one at a time is the easiest way to do it,if you are not doing a frame off.You might have to loosen them all up and the remove them one at a time.It would hepl to have a extra set of hands incase you have to pry up on any of them.It is fairly easy to do,the hardest part is breaking the bolts loose,it is bes to get some PB blaster and spray all the body bolts good for a couple days before you start.You could use WD-40 or something like that but nothing I have seen compares to PB blaster.Good luck. graemlins/thumbsup.gif

Brad... Don't think that you can open the doors just because you replaced the body bushings. The car will "bend" with new bushings. Mine does. When I support the car with jack stands, I but them in front of the front wheels or under the control arms. This way the weight of the motor won't bend the car in the middle. Any time I have the car raised I open the door slooooowly to make sure they won't hit...

Think about it, the body bushings have NOTHING to do with frame flex. The body simply "floats" on top of the frame on the bushings. They are ONLY isolators so the frame isn't bolted metal to metal on the frame, that's all.

You can get some misalignment to body panels do to worn out bushings simply because they are thinner and that portion of the body may sit lower. But if your panels fit and then on jack stands it didn't and now it does again, it is ALL frame flex that caused it.

It is very normal for this to happen, you are putting some pretty heavy forces on the frame when you teeter totter two and a half tons on the center :eek:

I keep the floor jack under the frame where it runs under the oil pan and lower it just enough to put some weight on the jack stands behind the front tires. This eliminates most of the frame flex from the weight of the engine/trans/radiator, etc.

Hey guys, thanks a lot. I had not considered the flex in the frame. I will find a better place to place the jack stands in the future.

I think I will also attempt to replace the body bushings (just beacause they are cheep)

Thanks again for your posts.

Brad Howard