Packard Forum Index » V-8 (1955-56)

Guys, my 55 clipper is leaning to the passenger side by an 1" or 1 1/2". I thought it might be the rear coil over shocks so I changed them to what they should be and there is no change. What could be causing this? Upper control arm busings? torsion ride? I saw I could change the vertical bar in the front control arm (Panther project) but his was machined specifically for that applications, is there any other way of doing it without machining new ones?

The car does not porpouse down the road if that helps

Thanks
bill

The bushings and bearings do have to be in good condition and relatively friction free so that is worth investigating.

If your vertical link has 4 grooves, that is the longest factory offering and a special one would have to be made. If not 4 grooves then find one of those and that will raise it a bit -- bulletin says approx 3/8 inch per groove. It conceivably could be that a shorter one on the high side is needed.

While it is highly unlikely after all these years that yours was never corrected, the symptom is exactly as described in tech bulletin 55T-1.https://www.packardinfo.com/xoops/html/downloads/STB/55T-1.pdf It gives the dimensions and other things to check for uneven height.

Maybe a look under to see exactly what or how your car is put together. Perhaps some repairs were made with improper parts or assembly at one time. Also, the bar could have weakened or if one of the transverse links is bent, it could also be affecting the height of one side.

My car did this when I first got it, although I've forgotten which side. Like Howard says, the probable fix is to work on the front torsion bar pegs. I've now got a four groove peg on one side and a two groove on the other, and it looks pretty level. This hasn't changed anything else about ride and handling that I can tell. Regards, John

someone used to make adjustabe pegs I have them they are great. my disk coversion and silvertown radials moved the tires slightly out board, they would scub the outer fender at full turn and i used them to lift the entire front end an inch, which solved the problem, then adjusted torsion to keep level.

Thanks guys, I am going to get under there today to see if I have a slotted pin or not, I am not really sure what I am looking for though, would anyone have a picture of what it looks like? Is it just a bar with four slots cut in the side of it?

If I don't have one, where can I buy one of these?

Thanks
Bill

No, it's not a bar. It's a section of steel round stock with an end cap at each end, and 1, 2, 3 or 4 grooves machines in it nearer one end that the other. It is located between the lower A-frame and the large forging on the end of the torsion rod. Just from memory, it's about 3/4 inch diameter and around 4+ inches long?

I've never had a problem just buying them from the usual Packard vendors though you can easily make one from hardened drill rod of an appropriate diameter; cut to length desired and drill and attach the end caps. Again trusting my memory, if they are for 1955 they are supposed to be lubricated before installation, not so for 1956. Also the 55 and 56 versions have different end caps. Though you could make (or use an adjustable one) one longer than 4 grooves, there is a limit before you throw the front end geometry out of whack.

Here's one, minus the end caps. Sorry for the quality, I just laid it on the scanner. The copper appearance is not actual, just the result of the scanner light source.

A good picture of the location of the pin is shown in this instruction sheet for the J6065 special tool used to hold the torsion bar load while installing the pin. It's about a 15 minute job to change a pin.

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I had the same situation. Car rode level for 5 years then all of a sudden the passenger side sat lower than the drivers side. Turns out the clip on the drivers side that holds the end of the sway bar in place had popped off and the end of the sway bar was resting on top of the lower control arm. Once I put the end of the sway bar back in place the car settled level and I got my smooth ride back. Now I'm looking for a replacement retainer clip.

Incidently, your 55 will not have grooves in the pin; they added those in 56 for ready identification.

Just measure the length of your pin between end cap to end cap and let us know.

Thank you, I will measure it when I get home. Thanks again

Quote:

Thanks for clarifying 55s didn't have grooves. Since that bulletin 55T-1 linked above gave the actual dimensions of the 4 links instead of just saying how many grooves, now I know why.

Aside from the seats being different and the grooves, any other differences such as dimension changes between 55-6?