okay, here's the scoop. i cannot keep my wheels centered in the rear wells for nothing. we've tightened the LCA's a couple of times and they eventually migrate to where you see them now. seems like the drive shaft pulls out of the tranny tail shaft an inch or so at the same time. This doesnt happen all at once, I've checked it from interstate, to romping the red lights. It usually takes about 4 days and they go back to where they are. I've just got it back on the road from a long down-time overhaul of the suspension and whatnot, so this is a work in progress. I'me very concerned that the driveshaft is gonna come out, or worse, I lose the rearend @90mph. So, here's what I've done related, we're tearing it down this weekend to hunt the problem of the migrating wheels...

ls1 rear swap 3.42 outta 01 trans am (@20,000 miles)
16" OEM rims
kyb gr2 shocks
eibach pro 1"
adjustable LCA and relocation brackets (bolt in)
aluminum driveshaft
jegster adjustable torque arm

I was wondering if these parts were compatible??? it all matched/bolted right in like it was supposed to. Didnt know or think I should have ordered parts for a ls1 car (like shocks or whatever) I havent set the pinion angle yet, or verified it anyway.

It is very bouncy, almost like riding soley on the spring and no absorption from the shock is occurring, and it is hard on bumps, and damn near slings you across the interstate (when crossing a bridge with a significant bump where the pavement transitions to concrete and back). Minimal vibration and no shimmy-ing at all. The whole rear of the car in general seems unlevel too. Tire to fender height is off a good 1.5" as you can see with the pack of cigarettes on top of the tires, upright and laying down for comparison on each. Other than that, it bites/grabs like a champ and gets down the road straight and healthy. I noticed today that the spring on the right side is hitting something (panhard maybe, I'll have to look again), and it looks like it is kicked out at a slight angle (spring), still seated properly on the perch of the axle though, just "aimed" toward the rear of the car. The only thing I can think of right off (other than the obvious of not hooking or bolting something down properly) is that the axle perch is bent, or the spring is in there incorrectly, in that, the last coil (partial coil) is at a different position than the left side and is flexed incorrectly (loaded, otherwise, in the opposite direction). who knows. Maybe I got a faulty shock or something. I installed the rear end as it came, and didnt change the swaybar or anything, just added the relocation brackets and changed brake pads.

Any ideas??

check out the pics.

 

make sure you don't have a broken or bent torque arm, also check to make sure your LCARBS are both installed correctly and you didnt get one backwards or something. its also possible your torque arm is not adjusted correctly

 

the panhard bar/panhard support bar are the two things that helps a lot to center the rear end, might wanna dink around with those and check for possible bending/tweaking.

 

Weld those bolt-in LCARBs on. If they are slipping & rotating any, they'll "push" the rear end backwards.

Bolt ins are not a good choice to begin with.

 

i've installed the panhard bar... is the support bar what is just below the panhard bar?? anyway, you can see in this pic that the spring is flexed toward the rear (right side in pic).. and is making contact on the 3rd true coil of the spring (3.5 really, it's hidden behind the panhard bar). who knows... just wondering if any one else has ran into this, cause it's driving me nuts without being able to immediately tear into it and get it fixed for good.

guess that's what happens when you get into mass replacement all at once.

I havent adjusted the torque arm at all, so that is making me wonder big time now. i do have the angle finder so **** on me for being an idiot and not verifying.

The LCARB's do need welded too, like he says, and if I remember right, we had to cut something to get them to fit... maybe just a small peice of metal on the rearend itself. will they allow that much movement not being welded??

I'm going to verify upper shock mounting, spring placement, and then weld the LCARBS and set the pinion angle. I cant believed it moved that much though. Will i continually have to adjust the control arms, or once i get them set, they shouldnt move??

 

The lower of the 2 sideways bars..That;s the Panhard Bar. The other is just a brace for the bars mount on the passenger side.

But...Your torque arm is adjustable? Bad adjustment WILL rotate the axle and cause bad pinion angle & poor axle alignment.

For GODS SAKE!!! ADJUST THAT THING...It certainly set "right", right out of the box. I'll bet $$$ THAT is the main cause of your axle problem.

 

haha, yeah, that's a big 10-4. I think you're totally right... You know how it is, you get such a boner for putting on the go-fast-parts, and then expect miracles from then on. haha, we're all guilty I guess. My panhard is adjustable too, and looking at this pic, two things jump out. First, the spring is hitting the support for the panhard (which the whole rear is 2" or better moved toward the rear), and second, my panhard bar was never adjusted either---the freak'n nut on the threaded end isnt even tightened down. The rear seems centered, though, left and right--the front to back is what is wayyyyyy WAY off. haha

I've got a good hit list now--we'll get it all set and go from there.

haha, boner for go fast parts!!!!