1970s How to change ride height by adjusting torsion bars?

[KWirth]

Members,

So many of you were helpful when I was restoring my 1975 Cadillac Eldorado convertible.  As always, there are a few items that I would still like to do. I have noticed that the ride height on the front passenger side is lower than the drivers side.  I would like to raise the passenger side and I understand that there might be a way to do that with an adjustment to the torsion bar.  Does anyone have any experience and instructions as to how I could do that?

Thanks in advance for any and all suggestions.

Ken

[TJ Hopland]

Each side has a big bolt in the cross member at the end of the bars. Jack it up to ease the tension and give em a turn.  You should be able to eyeball their existing settings for how far the bolt is threaded in and decide if you are gonna lower the high side or raise the low side or a combination of the two.  If its off by much I have found swapping the rear springs side to side helps.  If it was off my much you may have to tweak it again after a few months as things settle and twist. 

The adjusting bolts have been exposed to much moisture or any salt at any point they could be pretty stuck. Going loose will have a better chance of getting the bolt to move because you won't be fighting the tension.  Get it to move and get some lube in there and they should loosen up assuming you can get it to move at all.

I think what causes this (besides being a kinda mushy convertible) is at some point in its life it spent some time on an uneven surface or with a flat tire.         

[J. Skelly]

If you don't know the history of the car, possibly there was some frame damage in the past.

[Big Fins]

Also know that any adjustment in the ride height will change the caster, camber and toe.

Until I can find someone that still has the original shocks on the front of a 1976 Eldorado, that is the only way to get a correct ride height measurement. Some moron at GM decided to set the height according to the distance from the bottom of the shock absorber sleeve, like everyone will put factory shocks back on their cars and take it to the dealer with every problem.

[The Tassie Devil(le)]

....... Some moron at GM decided to set the height according to the distance from the bottom of the shock absorber sleeve, like everyone will put factory shocks back on their cars and take it to the dealer with every problem.     

You have to realise that the measurements given in the Factory Shop Manual is for Factor-built vehicles.   The Factory does not recommend fitting aftermarket parts to replace anything.   Plus, these cars were never designed to last longer than the expiration of the warranty period.  

Bruce.

[Big Fins]

I need to crawl under one of those 9 mile Bicentennial cars and get my figures. Anyone have one?

I don't really want to touch it because the alignment is perfect. Any change will result in it needing an alignment.

[tcom2027]

Good evening,

To say these cars were designed for failure after three years and thirty thousand miles if driven an average of ten thousand miles a year is disingenuous to the designers and builders. The late sixties and early seventies ELdos were ahead of their time with front wheel drive ahead of big power engines along with an innovative design for the convertible tops and torsion bar suspensions. 

It's a testament to the design and execution that they have lasted upwards of forty years. When they were new they had affluent owners who took their cars to the selling dealers for service. Many of the big sedans and professional cars were chauffeur or employee driven and maintained to a high standard using dealer service and OEM parts. 

A local funeral home purchased three hearses in 1968 and operated them until a few years ago. THey were dealership maintained in spite of having to make a two hundred ten mile round trip for dealer service after we lost our local Cadillac agency. They were fairly low mileage and pristine. I had the opportunity to see the engine bay and listen to one run. THe former was as clean as the rear compartment and the engine was as smooth as an electric motor.

It was in the secondary, tertiary and subsequent markets when they "were just used cars" that they degraded. It's the "cigarette lighter quit working" syndrome. Pretty soon the right rear window won't go down, it gets ignored, THen the speedo gets noisy and fails six months later. It gets ignored. Then it begins to run on seven cylinders and the cheapest plugs and leads are installed. After a few more failures the car is virtually worthless and in the iron worm belt they became salt rides, then discarded..

 They were  expensive to maintain correctly and many buyers while affording to buy one in the secondary markets couldn't or wouldn't maintain them properly. For example using the cheapest aftermarket parts and employing mechanics who were like blacksmiths working on Swiss watches with crowbars or doing the work themselves with a hammer, screwdriver and a pair of ViseGrips. Anyone who has restored one of the Cadillacs of the seventies can attest to very creative workarounds particularly in the A/C components. It's a testament to the cars' design and execution that they survived to this day and have a fairly large cadre of collector/owners who are willing to do quality work and maintain the cars properly. I know how difficult it is to get quality replacement parts and how expensive they are when they are avaiable. I also know every owner is not a lottery winner and has to compromise from time to time. I know I have to.

THere are examples of relatively low mileage one and two owner  cars which have been maintained by  their owners  cars to a high standard. Many are in the garages of affluent families or in collections or museums.  They appear from time to time at National shows or at auction where they garner very high prices. Others are sold word of mouth to other Cadillac owners. It's seldom they show up on Marketplace or Craigslist. When they are right, there is nothing like them. Large. powerful, fast and comfortable. The seventies....... a time it was. A time it was.

tony