Somethings wierd in my rear end

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timothyr

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The title is wierd as is the problem...I have never seen anything like this/

Okay, just bought this mark knowing it needed the rear suspensioned overhauled...that didnt scare me away, but I got real concerned when it seemed like the trans was slipping like crazy. So I flatbeded it to where I can work on it, unload it no problem, drive it down the alley to make a 3 point turn into the garage...all goes well until I put it in reverse....every other time I had backed the car up I heard a rubbing sound and it felt like it was slipping, but it would move, this time it would not...so I pushed it back. Put it in drive, strange rubbing noise again, but wont move forward. Put it in park and it freely rolls on the incline about 2 feet back....at this point the wife comments that the right rear tire was spinning freely while I was gassing it.

long story short that is the case....totally level it will move, ANYTHING off level and the right rear fails to hook up (the only way I can think of to describe it).....I am going to lift and inspect it on monday, but in the meantime; WTF???...big time
 
that sounds like the wheel isn't touching the ground?

is the suspension slammed?
when you put in in park..and it rolled, that says the passenger side tire (drive wheel) was not in contact with the ground.

I had a similar thing happen
there was a steep drive, I had to almost come to a complete stop, to keep from dragging the nose of the car.
When I turned into this drive, the front wheels went up the incline and when the back tires got to the curb, the passenger side tire wasn't touching the ground.... the tire freewheeled and my car rolled backwards.

Slowly I tried again, each time the tire would get to the curb it'd lift off the ground and freewheel.

I had to roll back about 10 feet, get a run at the incline and then I got up the driveway.

It was a combination of the steep incline and the sharp turn to get into the driveway.

Your issue sounds similar, but I'm still having a hard time determining what has happened with your car.

is the suspension slammed down?
 
slammed as in sitting on the ground no...there was about 1" of clearance between the bottom tf the fender and the top of the tire (they dont touch, just given as reference...when it drops all the way you cannot see the top of the tire)

I know the body of the car was not touching the ground at any point, but with the odd incline it is as you decribe in your experience. The only was I can think of to describe it is like there was not enough weight distributed to the rear wheel. As crazy as it sound, from my 4 wheeling experience it would be like a total lack of articulation....it raised the question in my mind of could a shot rear suspension cause a lack of articulation and weight distribution to the tire.
 
timothyr said:
it would be like a total lack of articulation....it raised the question in my mind of could a shot rear suspension cause a lack of articulation and weight distribution to the tire..
Click to expand...

that is the exact thing I was trying to say..my cars suspension had a definate lack of articulation and it was pulling the passenger side rear off the ground.

your clearance between the fender and the tire is...WAY WAY to little.

1 inch is about 1/3 the normal gap.

Usually I can put between 3-4 fingers in the gap.

Why is your car so low?

the proper way to measure the ride height is to measure from TDC of the fender arch to BDC of the wheel rim

That takes tire pressure, tire height and unlevel ground out of the equation.

If I rememember correctly it's supposed to be something like 23 inches from TDC on the fender to BDC on the wheel.

grab a tape measure and get those measurements described above and post them here
 
thats happened to me........lowered, stiff suspension = 3 wheelies here and there......

ive seen new SRT-8 Dodges/Chyslers do it too.........
 
Just so we are all on the same page (based on the comment about height being so low)

The rear suspension is shot...if left to sit overnight it will totally bottom out. When I bought the car I thought this was the only problem, however when I drove it it seemed like the transmission was slipping occasionally. Looking at it now it seems like the trans could be fine, and it is just the suspension not keeping the tires in contect with the ground.

I guess the real question now is could a blown rear suspension cause the right rear wheel to VERY EASILY loose contact?
 
catmech...yeah, like I said never had a problem with my rear end before....and this aint much fun, but in my true mechanic spirit aint no one allowed to work on my rear end but me.
 
im wondering if the shock bound up? never seen it but thats all i can guess. i agree with xlrviii that it sounds like the tire isnt touching the ground........
 
okay; just went and checked it out...the curiosity was killing me.

Rear left air spring was full, right was not....air system try to stabilize, and the right rear holds no pressure whatsoever, and is clearly not raising to full height (you can lift the car from the rear fender another 4").

Based on this and the skid marks I made last night (which were thick, black, and confirmed this morning) it looks like the only thing keeping the right rear in contact with the ground is the sway bar...

I am seriously thinking what looked like a trans problem is really a suspension problem (or at least I need to deal with that first to see where I really stand.
 
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