Re: TL System on a '55 Caribbean

Posted by HH56 On 2021/2/23 15:01:18

I would carefully examine all of the A arm bushings and check condition. Make sure the rubber in the upper bushings is intact and has not deteriorated enough to have big chunks missing allowing metal to metal contact. If the car pushed down equally well on both sides then doubt there is any friction issues caused by a damaged or frozen needle bearing. Condition on those cannot be seen without a teardown but problems have been noted by others.

As someone else mentioned, if there is significant sag on one side then the most likely reason is either the bar has lost some strength or maybe the front load pins need to be unequal in length. It could also be that it was a corrected problem using different pins long ago. Possibly some work was done on the suspension and maybe the pins got swapped. It could be the one on the low side needs to be longer or the high side shorter -- as long as the high side is not sitting close to a rubber cushion too. After the bushings, those would be the next thing to check.

You might also download the tech bulletin 55T-1 which mentions the front pins as well as an issue that was on early cars where one of the compensator bars was incorrectly installed. After all these years it is doubtful the lever orientation is a problem but still worth looking at. One other thing to check would be the condition of the transverse bars. If one has been bent or otherwise damaged so it is significantly shorter than normal the compensator bars might be pulling one side more than the other.

You can also look at the birds eye view of the TL bar and compensator setup at figure 21 in the section on the TL suspension in the SM. Verify all the bars and components in the car are positioned as the photo shows. Check the orientation of the Vee shape on the ball connection at the output of the compensator where the transverse bars attach. The open side of the Vee should be pointing to the passenger side.

Note when checking the 55 load pins. Early ones did not have the notches to indicate length so you will need to measure them and without some work, 55 and 56 pins will not interchange nor will the 56 adjustable pins that someone made work in a 55 without mods.