Front ride height - The Ghost of the General Lee

[CairnsGeneral]

Hi,guys this is my first ever post so I thought I'd say G'day from Cairns, Australia before I begin 

Over the last few months, I have adjusted the torsion bars on my 68 GL as per the great instructions found on this forum, to a front ride height (and alignment) that was just right. I work away, and last week, while at work, the wife took the car for a spin and told me that there is a "squealing" noise coming from up front somewhere, which wasn't there before.

Upon returning home, I have found that the car is sitting up about four inches on both sides at the front, from where it has been for the last two months (since I last adjusted it). Obviously, in turn, this has given the front wheels a lot of positive camber and going by the chaffing of the outsides of both front tyres, this is where the squealing was coming from.
I am familiar with the Ghost of the General Lee, but this is just plain weird. Has anyone else come across a B Body that has "self Raised" before ?

I thought I'd ask before I lower it back down again.

[charger Downunder]

Welcome.    When you adjusted it did you take the weight of the front while you did it. Maybe you have striped the adjuster threads.

[CairnsGeneral]

Yep sure did, jacked the front up till wheels just left the ground and then adjusted each side bit by bit, with lowering, bouncing and rolling in between each adjustment. I didn't loosen LCA pivots though, but I honestly cant see how this would raise the front all of a sudden. The car has been driven several times since I did the final adjustment a couple of months ago.

All of a sudden, she looks like a seventies drag car up front lol.  The adjuster threads are fine, I'll have a good look tomorrow, measure everything up as it is, then lower it back down and monitor it. 

[charger Downunder]

Well better check out the back maybe the  back dropped down somehow.

[ws23rt]

This is an odd one.  Did the car bounce much when you pushed it up and down? Or did it seem to be very little movement?
I have had struts that were very tight before. Although it is hard to imagine they could hold the preload needed on the torsion bars.
I think it is a combination of items that were holding the lower control arm while you were loading the torsion bars. And those items let go when your wife jumped the car I mean drove it.
Try loosening the control arm pivot, lower shock nut, and the strut nut at the crossmember end. (both sides) Now the car should bounce easly.
Adjust the ride height then tighten all nuts to the correct torque.

[CairnsGeneral]

Thanks very much for your advise guys, and I apologize for the late reply, the car does bounce nicely when performing the adjustment. Rear is fine & hasnt dropped at all. I checked every nut bolt and ball joint and found nothing loose. I did find a couple of things though which are funnily enough, in line with the possibility of some jumping  I think wifey has caught the rh front sway bar mount u-bracket on the drive way as the car has dropped down the curb slope, due to not enough reversing angle maybe. I found a fresh scuff mark under the bracket and it has been pushed over on an angle. I also noticed before making any changes, that the front wheels had positive camber from the higher ride height and also, excessive toe in, which again would have added/caused the tire squeal.

Funnily enough, when I rolled the car back to access the front, it lowered back down an inch or two !  I know I have a very tired manual steering box, which creates some play but not much, I also know even though each individual ball joint, tie rod and rubber has no noticeable movement, it is definitely time for a full front rebuild kit as well.
So...... still a slight mystery, even though the damaged sway bar bracket and slight overall movement "could" be have caused the excessive toe in. Which could have "possibly" had some effect on the overall height/alignment, I still don't have a definitive answer.  For the record, the tie rod adjuster tubes are not damaged and were tightly locked before I made adjustments. Also I didn't touch the torsion bar adjustment because for what ever reason it nestled back down after rolling it backwards, and hasn't changed since correcting the toe-in, using the old tape measure across the front and rear of the tires, just for road testing purposes. I asked exactly when the squealing started and she said just round the corner from home, which to me points at the damage done when backing out.

I have a new power steering set up on the way, including box, I will put a full front end rebuild kit through her and then take it in to a suspension/alignment specialist, I have been told has magic fingers. Until then the General has been stood down for safety reasons, and Daisy has had a good old smack on the butt as well ha ha. Will keep you posted, probably same time next month due to working away. Thanks again.

[CairnsGeneral]

Hi guys, .........Found it !!  It was the tie rod adjuster sleeve clamps. They are stretched and even though the bolts & nuts were tight they were  obviously not clamping hard enough, allowing the tie rod end threads to slip inside the sleeves.

I took the car for a cautious drive or two, and found after a few hard turns into corners, all hell broke loose up front. Nose came up and tyres began to squeal.

I pulled over and saw straight away that the LH sleeve had moved on the tie rod threads causing massive toe in, which in turn caused the front suspension to kinda "climb" itself. I reversed back and the front sat back down. After a few swings on the woodgrain while going backwards, the wheels realined enough to limp back home round the corner.

New parts are on their way. Thanks again for all of your great advise and points to check. 

[charger Downunder]

Good you found it