Ma gear heads! need ur help
 

are there any fellow mass-holes in here that could help me diagnose my chassis problem? I need a real fbody guru thats good with suspension and drivetrains cause every single shop I've brought it to has no clue whats wrong with it. I'm willing to drive anywhere in mass to meet you if you could give it a look over and take it for a test drive. I made a post on ls1tech about my problem but I dont think anyone is going to be able to figure it out with out actually seeing the car and witnessing the problem. I've spent nearly $2000 so far trying to fix this with no avail, its drive-able but if I cant get it tight again..im gonna have to get rid of it before it totally self destructs on me:cry:
Please help!

Well, I hope you find someone to come check it out... but on the chance that it doesn't happen, why don't you describe the problem here?

hm where to begin.. when cruising along with a steady throttle when I hit uneven pavement or bumps the DS tunnel, console, shifter and probably my rear too will get into a steady shaking up and down even when im back on smooth pavement. the only thing that stops it from shaking is to either throw it out of gear or to accelerate. when taking off from a stop you need to be swift with the clutch or the WHOLE car shudders violently and I believe my cat slaps my floor pan? from the sounds of it although there is a good amount of clearence. the opposite holds true for taking off from a stop in reverse, if im swift with the clutch the car will shudder but for a fraction of the time it does if I dont launch right in 1st, if I slip the clutch out easy and just right it will take off fine in reverse but if I dont slip it just right the car will shake like a dog fresh out of the watter. all my problems started after I snapped a tq arm a couple of years ago, I would of gone with an after market piece but I came in from fishing to find out the shop I had it towed to threw in a stocker tq arm. the next year when it went back on the road I started getting slight occasional shaking feelings and figured it was from the blown tranny mount I discovered, that year I had my t56 rebuilt, new clutch and re-surfaced the flywheel along with a poly tranny mount. the slight occasional shaking was still there tho. then last year it got to the point it is now, every shop I brought it to scratched there heads until I finally found a performance orientated shop that was 100% confident it was coming from my exhaust, I had new headers I was going to put in over the winter so I said what the hey and had them re-do the entire exhaust. but my exhaust was cracked up from the shaking and def wasnt the cause of it cause it was still horrible. so I took it off the road early and attacked it this spring with new motor mounts, tq arm mounts and a new LS1 DS and u-joints. it made an improvement and made the shaking less occasional(when cruising, launching is still violent as ever)but its still not good enough at all. I know my shocks are tired and there next on my mod list but im doubtful they could be behind all of this..? and I dont want to spend any more modding if I cant get this solved in which case..I'l have to get rid of my beloved camaro :(
RI, NH border people will work too! I'l drive as far as I have to, I really dont want to sell it...

How did you break the torque arm? Also make sure one of your shocks isn't seized. The two could be related.

Since its the only thing left(if the shocks aren't seized) I would say something in the rear-end is the culprit(warped axle, broken teeth on the ring/pinion gear). Which may also tie into why the torque arm is broken.

Shuddering while launching may be wheel-hop which could be caused by seized shocks. I would check those out. Do you have a stock rear suspension?(LCA's, Panhard rod, etc.)

So all your motor mounts and trans mount are good now? It really sounds like a tranny mount.You get the shaking at low speed while backing check it again.

John

i'd check all the mounts....... if i were u

I broke the tq arm mashing the gas in 1st one day, it snapped it right in half and the ds was hitting the tunnel. I stopped driving immediately but it still blew out that rear seal in the tranny. ..I dont think I have a seized shock cause they both compress equally when you push down on the back end.? if it was a warped axle it would be a constant shaking/wobbling wouldn't it? my problems are pretty intermittent. but I have noticed that its more likely to act up when im cruising right around 23-2400rpm..? my rear suspension is stock besides for hotchkis LCA's. ..I also have a set of 3.73's waiting to be installed but like I said im putting the modding on hold til this gets resolved, if it was missing teeth it would be pretty constant aswell right?
all my mounts are fine. I guess I'l take a gamble and get some new shocks once I get the coin together. maybe a tq arm relo kit too.

well once im moving in reverse its fine, but getting it moving can be pretty hairy. I was in a dirt driveway the other day and had to back up but I didnt want to spin tire and rip it up so I was trying to ease out the clutch and..wow, stuff is going to break. :no:I've never seen a car shake so violently and for some reason it seems like it shakes the worst on the passenger side.

So the shaking is the worst, and the most consistent, when you're in the process of engaging the clutch. Right?

Does it ever shake when the clutch isn't engaged?

If none of these other possibilities pan out, I'd take a really close look at the clutch/flywheel and make sure they're aligned correctly and properly bolted down.

What clutch did you get when you had the tranny rebuilt?

its a stocker.. I had gotten a new disc for my centerforce df but the mechanic threw in a stock one when I was out fishing and he said he couldnt get it together but I dont think he even tried. I should of told him to send it back but I was to eager to drive it cause it was getting late in the summer. I figured I should try and get my $400 out of it but I guess its a good time to put my df back in.. do you think its possible he screwed up re-surfacing the flywheel? but if that was the case wouldnt it be constant aswell?
edit: the ds tunnel will shake a bit on bumps and rough surfaces but it wont get into a steady rhythm.

What year is your camaro?

its a '96.
my pinion angle was at 0 so hopefully thats the only culprit here. I've read that manuals like a -2 or-3 angle, my question is if theres any way to adjust this angle on a stock t/a? or do I have to buy an adjustable piece? money is tight right now so I hope not.

I think the only way to adjust it is with the adjustable torque arm.

I seriously don't think an adjustable T/A is going to help you. I mean these cars don't shake themselves to death with the stock T/A. I think your problem is somewhere else but you said you checked all the mounts and the clutch is fine. hmmm....

Hope you figure it out man.
John