This rear suspension has me scratching my head

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This rear suspension has me scratching my head

March 13, 2011, 08:02:09 PM

OK here is the rundown. Pretty much all of the rear suspension has been replaced. All New Bushings, New mach springs, new che upper and lower adjustable controls arms, new Strange 10way adju shocks. Here is the problem. On the drivers side the car seems to sit lower. low enough that the tire rubs the fender when going through a dip. The other strange thing is that the drivers side tire sits closer to the front of the car too like 1/2" or more. I have looked at all the mounting points on the car and it doesn't look to me like anything is out of wack. Could my axel housing be bent enough to cause this?

This rear suspension has me scratching my head

Reply #1 – March 13, 2011, 08:39:39 PM

are all your control arms adjusted out the same amout of turns some manufacurs dont make them even from factory my friend found that out

This rear suspension has me scratching my head

Reply #2 – March 13, 2011, 08:45:07 PM

Ya I have measured them over and over the upper are adjusted to the same lenght. The lowers are just ride height adjustable and are adjusted to the same height.

This rear suspension has me scratching my head

Reply #3 – March 13, 2011, 09:00:50 PM

I'd be examining the torque boxes very closely and see if they're starting to separate anywhere.

This rear suspension has me scratching my head

Reply #4 – March 14, 2011, 06:47:33 AM

I'm sure this isn't the problem, but. it's not a Mustang control arm is it? Show a pic or two of the wheels as they are on the car right now.

This rear suspension has me scratching my head

Reply #5 – March 14, 2011, 09:00:15 AM

No I dont beleive they are Mustang I ordered thunderbird control arms from CHE I will get some pic on here sometime in the next day or two.

This rear suspension has me scratching my head

Reply #6 – March 14, 2011, 11:09:43 AM

Prior to replacing everything did the car sit at the same height on both sides and was the axle perpendicular to the body i.e. same spacing front to back on each side?

Darren

This rear suspension has me scratching my head

Reply #7 – March 14, 2011, 11:24:48 AM

The car always did seem to sit a little lower on the drivers side. I need to jack up the drivers side and level it out it might just be the fact that the car is sitting lower on the drivers side as to why it looks like the wheel is sitting closer to the front part of the fender.

This rear suspension has me scratching my head

Reply #8 – March 14, 2011, 12:18:18 PM

Okay, this is somewhat common with the Fox Mustangs so I would assume it could also be a problem with our Fox Birds and Cats. Here are a few threads on the Corral that I have run across when my Coupe had about a 0.25" lean.

http://forums.corral.net/forums/general-mustang-tech/959240-why-does-my-stang-sit-uneven.html

http://forums.corral.net/forums/general-mustang-tech/899231-got-leaner.html

http://forums.corral.net/forums/general-mustang-tech/817833-car-leans-left-after-5-lug-swap.html

http://forums.corral.net/forums/general-mustang-tech/64573-what-if-your-car-leans-one-side.html

I think you get the idea now. Basically I have seen two ways which have corrected the problem. One is to get coil overs all the way around and "adjust" it out. The other is to take the car to a body shop and get the frame realigned with a frame jack but this can also cause the sheet metal to misalign. This can also be fixed by a body guy as the gap between the doors, trunk or hatch, and fenders to the body can move around when the frame is tweaked back to where it should be.

If you have the frame realigned then I would strongly suggest sub frames be installed immediately after to help keep the correct geometry.

Darren

This rear suspension has me scratching my head

Reply #9 – March 17, 2011, 11:18:57 AM

OK i've figured out a little more on this. After measuring all 4 corners the whole car sits lower on the drivers side. if I jack up the front drivers side enough to level out the front end the entire drivers side comes up but not enough to level out the rear. I am going to first try and loosen up the drivers side sway bar to raise that corner. The other thing that seemed to help with the rubbing is I adjusted the rear shocks down from 10 to 6 I guess that with the strange shocks set at 10 it wasn't letting the springs lift the car to its ride height.

This rear suspension has me scratching my head

Reply #10 – March 17, 2011, 02:42:18 PM

One thing to check is that when you installed the UCA's and LCA's is that you torqued the control arm mounting bolts with the suspension loaded and not hanging. This will cause all kinds of weird ride height issues and not to mention binding unless both ends of the control arms are the rod end or spherical bearing type. It sounds like you are pretty familiar with this stuff but I thought I would throw it out there just in case.

Darren

This rear suspension has me scratching my head

Reply #11 – March 17, 2011, 07:28:23 PM

Ya before I go jacking around with spacers and the front end im going to jack it up loosen up all the UCA and LCA preload the suspensision and tighten everything back up. I've been meaning to do this for a while now I just cant seem to find time to get it all done.

This rear suspension has me scratching my head

Reply #12 – March 18, 2011, 01:36:47 AM

That's what I was gonna say...when I put my CHE's in, ChuckW and a coupla others reminded me to torque the bolts down ONLY after the weight of the car was on the wheels, nothing just hanging.

Hopin' this is your issue, since it would be the quickest and cheapest lol.

Not to hijack...but have been wanting to get back down to pickNpull...if I can get something figured out, I'll give ya a holler and maybe we can meet in the ford section lol

This rear suspension has me scratching my head

Reply #13 – March 27, 2011, 01:19:13 PM

Interesting.

So one thing I'd try since you mentioned the entire side is lower, is to jack up the front on jack stands (to get it completely level), then look at the rear. My thinking is this will eliminate any lean caused by the front suspension. If it still leans, it has to be the rear end. If it doesn't lean, well then focus on the front end. Might be a blown out strut or something.

Another thing I'd look in to is crash damage. Since the car is unibody, a rear end crash repair requires cutting and welding. If not completed correctly, well, a lean could result.

Best,
--Mark

http://www.marksatterfield.com

This rear suspension has me scratching my head

Reply #14 – March 27, 2011, 02:57:52 PM

If you do this make sure you measure the wheel lip to the ground height on the front of the car before jacking it up. This will give you a reference height which the car will need to be put back to when you "level" the front. If you just jack it up and level it from side to side you now have introduced another unknown into the equation by changing the front ride height which will translate into the rear suspension.

Darren