Thanks! :beer:
2003 Mustang Cobra convertible getting Accuair e-level setup!
- Thread starter Fastphil
- Start date
Thanks! :beer:
Have a chance to see what caused the bent arm?
No. I do have some time today, I might take a stab at disassembling it to straighten the arm. I talked it over with Michel (the guy I did the install with) yesterday, and we agree that it might have been a freak occurrence. i.e. wheelhop combined with squishy bushing deflection or something like that. I plan to just set everything straight and see if it happens again.
Today I disassembled the ride height sensor on the left rear corner. As shown previously, it was somehow damaged and became disconnected from the upper A-arm. So I removed it and took a stab at getting the arm straight. Here's what I started with:
Disassembled. If you look very closely on the top of the sensor's shaft, there's a small dot molded in to it. This dot must be aligned with the arm when you reassemble the sensor. The square shaft reduces the chance of getting it wrong, but I wouldn't want to do it over and over to get it right.
Took the first bend nearest the shaft out easily enough with a couple pairs of pliers. You can also see a convenient hole in the surface of my workbench that came in handy to remove the second bend.
The ball on the end of the arm is metal and pretty sturdy, but I was worried about snapping it off if I grabbed it wrong with the pliers while trying to straighten the arm. If that happened, I'd have been S.O.L. and would have had to buy and wait for a new sensor. As I mentioned, my workbench had a perfectly-sized hole in it that the ball fit into. I then whacked it a few times with a hammer until it was pretty much straight. I also removed a bit of a twist that was in the arm.
This is as good as it's gonna get.
I also lengthened the pushrod about 1/4 inch when I put it back on the car. I haven't driven it yet since I fixed it, but I don't see why it won't work properly. All this took maybe 40 minutes, including jacking the car and setting it on a jackstand, and removing and reinstalling the wheel. If this happens to you, don't spend $100 or more on a new sensor before trying this.
Disassembled. If you look very closely on the top of the sensor's shaft, there's a small dot molded in to it. This dot must be aligned with the arm when you reassemble the sensor. The square shaft reduces the chance of getting it wrong, but I wouldn't want to do it over and over to get it right.
Took the first bend nearest the shaft out easily enough with a couple pairs of pliers. You can also see a convenient hole in the surface of my workbench that came in handy to remove the second bend.
The ball on the end of the arm is metal and pretty sturdy, but I was worried about snapping it off if I grabbed it wrong with the pliers while trying to straighten the arm. If that happened, I'd have been S.O.L. and would have had to buy and wait for a new sensor. As I mentioned, my workbench had a perfectly-sized hole in it that the ball fit into. I then whacked it a few times with a hammer until it was pretty much straight. I also removed a bit of a twist that was in the arm.
This is as good as it's gonna get.
I also lengthened the pushrod about 1/4 inch when I put it back on the car. I haven't driven it yet since I fixed it, but I don't see why it won't work properly. All this took maybe 40 minutes, including jacking the car and setting it on a jackstand, and removing and reinstalling the wheel. If this happens to you, don't spend $100 or more on a new sensor before trying this.
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