Packard Forum Index » V-8 (1955-56)

Good evening! After having my 1955 Packard Patrician towed on a flatbed truck to the repair shop, the front end seems to be hunkering down lower than the rear of the car. Is there something I can do to remedy it?

If the suspension is turned off the body is essentially free to move if pressure is put on one end or the other. The entire operation of the TL system has been described as the body is sitting balanced on the center of a teeter-totter. Once a car is moved and one end is pushed down it can remain unlevel if the suspension is turned off or inoperative. Have you ensured the under dash switch is on and if it is then the compensator should level again. If the suspension is off or inoperative then you may be able to push down on the rear to get it more or less level again but as soon as you drive or move the car and weight shifts, the car will more than likely be off level again.

If the suspension is inoperative but worked before, the TL electrical control items in a 55 are under the car and sometimes if the car bottoms out in getting up on a trailer the bracket holding the controls can get bent and possibly cause the suspension to not work. Inconvenient failures of the brake light switch is also a well known issue and that or a blown fuse could also be preventing the suspension from operating.

If the rear is extremely high and won't move down it is possible the car was loaded on the flatbed and the suspension was left turned on. If that was the case it is also possible the car tried to level during the loading and activated the limit switch which for some reason is stuck and not allowing the compensator to operate. If that is the case you would need to crawl under and examine the position of the transverse bars and verify the limit switch actuator is free to move./

The bushings on these wear out and will cause the suspension to "stick" at a spot different than the neutral position. But like Howard said, if you have battery power and the switch is on, it should level itself.

Replacement bushings are available.