Uneven ride height

[Mark99GT]

I got the car back on the ground with an eyeball alignment so I could take it around the block. Looks really good lowered now. However, the ride height is off side to side. In the rear the passenger side is about 3/4" higher than the driver side rear.

The rear is new MM extreme duty adjustable height LCAs, springs, and shocks. When I adjust the LCA height on the driver side the body barely moves. It's like something is binding and the spring just compresses. I noticed that particular control arm seemed like a "tighter" fit when installing it, but it also didn't seem like it would be anything totally abnormal. There's no evidence of accidents, body work, major abuse, and the car has 56k miles. I'm assuming this height adjustment issue is related to binding. Any ideas on what to do about it? The LCA is installed correctly. Maybe just put some miles on it and see if it loosens up? A few pics of it lowered below:

 

[robvas]

Are the springs in the cups right? Isolators all there?

 

[Mark99GT]

Are the springs in the cups right? Isolators all there?

Yeah triple checked the spring, isos, etc. I just re-read the instructions and the last paragraph says the spherical bearings are "special close tolerance" and need 100-200 miles to break in. I didn't notice that before, so maybe that's the issue. I guess I'll put a couple hundred miles on it and see.

 

[Blkkbgt]

The binding could cause your issue.

Did you torque everything with the car at ride height/suspension loaded?

Also if one control arm fit tightly you may need to gently open that torque box up to relieve the binding.

You can do this with some wood blocks and a pry bar so you don't damage anything.

 

[Mark99GT]

I torqued everything with the car on jack stands. Ride height was even, based in the spring perch heights (not final ride height). Jack stands were placed according to MM's instructions.

When I installed that driver side arm the chassis end went in without an issue. When I went to the axle end it was out of alignment with the axle mounting bracket by maybe a 1/4 inch. I had to pull a little on the arm in an outboard direction to get the arm to align with the mount and then jack it up into place to get the pivot bolt through. I didn't think much of it, figured it was loose Ford production tolerance.

I suppose an option is to adjust the panhard bar to shift the axle toward the passenger side maybe like 1/8 inch to relive some of this binding? But that probably creates an issue on the passenger side? Also, hanging a plumb bob off the 1/4 panel and measuring to the wheel center I get 3 and 13/16 on each side, so based on the body it's dead nuts on. Maybe I just have to live with it.

 

[DSG2003Mach1]

I’d email MM and see what they say

 

[Mark99GT]

I’d email MM and see what they say

Yeah, good idea, I'll try calling them on Monday. I emailed them a question about their panhard bar and never heard back. Not a lot of confidence in them responding to my emails. Hopefully they take phone calls.

Edit: I called MM and their customer service was great.

 

[DSG2003Mach1]

Yeah, good idea, I'll try calling them on Monday. I emailed them a question about their panhard bar and never heard back. Not a lot of confidence in them responding to my emails. Hopefully they take phone calls.

I emailed em in the past and their support was good, might be worth trying again but they were always helpful

 

[Mark99GT]

I emailed em in the past and their support was good, might be worth trying again but they were always helpful

Good to know; I know they have a great rep and make great products. I just seem to have a dark cloud following me lately (now the battery is dead, lol)...

 

[Blkkbgt]

I torqued everything with the car on jack stands. Ride height was even, based in the spring perch heights (not final ride height). Jack stands were placed according to MM's instructions.

When I installed that driver side arm the chassis end went in without an issue. When I went to the axle end it was out of alignment with the axle mounting bracket by maybe a 1/4 inch. I had to pull a little on the arm in an outboard direction to get the arm to align with the mount and then jack it up into place to get the pivot bolt through. I didn't think much of it, figured it was loose Ford production tolerance.

I suppose an option is to adjust the panhard bar to shift the axle toward the passenger side maybe like 1/8 inch to relive some of this binding? But that probably creates an issue on the passenger side? Also, hanging a plumb bob off the 1/4 panel and measuring to the wheel center I get 3 and 13/16 on each side, so based on the body it's dead nuts on. Maybe I just have to live with it.

If I understand you correctly the suspension was torqued un loaded i.e. on jackstands not in the ground or ramps.

You also had to shift the axle over to get the passenger side control arm in which also indicates a bind.

I'd loosen the control arm bolts, set the car on the ground and see what it does for your issue.

I'd also go through the MM instructions for your panhard bar and re-centet the axle.

 

[Mark99GT]

If I understand you correctly the suspension was torqued un loaded i.e. on jackstands not in the ground or ramps.

You also had to shift the axle over to get the passenger side control arm in which also indicates a bind.

I'd loosen the control arm bolts, set the car on the ground and see what it does for your issue.

I'd also go through the MM instructions for your panhard bar and re-centet the axle.

Right, the suspension was not fully loaded when I torqued everything. I didn't shift the axle, I pulled the control arm to line up it with the axle mount, flexing the LCA chassis end bushing. Measuring after the LCAs and panhard bar install the axle location did not move, the measurements are the same as before I did anything. So the bushing on that side is like preloaded now, and probably was with the factory LCA too. I like your idea of loosening things putting the full weight on the suspension then retorquing.

 

[Mark99GT]

Figured I'd update in case anyone reads this in the future. I called Maximum Motorsports and their customer service was great. I believe it was Mike I spoke to, he explained a lot of things to me.

He said it's not abnormal for the control arms to not line up perfectly with the axle mounts. So if you have to give it a little pull or push one way or another, it's generally not a big deal. Unless it's really excessive.

Second, he said that if the front ride height is not even, it will affect the ability to adjust the rear. For example, if the passenger front is higher than the driver side front, even by a small amount, it will put leveraged pressure on the driver side rear and restrict the ability to adjust the rear height. This is something they see a fair amount of.

So I re-checked the front, and was off about 1/4" side-to-side. I disassembled the front, adjusted the front spring placement in the control arm spring cups, making sure they were as side-to-side even as possible and put it back together. The front is now very close to even (not gonna get it any closer). I took it for a spin to settle the suspension. It still feels good but very stiff. Unfortunately the rear ride height is off side-to-side by about 3/8". Im going to put some miles on it and see if things loosen up a bit. MM agreed that the tightness in the new bushings could be part of the problem.

If that does not solve the problem, MM suggested getting it back up on jack stands, loosening the control arm pivot bolts (front and back), and putting it back on the ground to torque with full weight. Like Blkkbgt suggested. I'll bring it to a shop with a lift if it comes to this.

On a side note the SS springs and Koni yellows feel great overall. Much more compliant than I expected. There's a tiny bit of springy bounce over bumps, but that probably normal for lowered/high spring rates?

 

[Mark99GT]

Still dealing with this issue. I put about 115 miles on the car, rear driver side is about 1/2 to 3/8 lower than passenger rear. I'm measuring from the edge of the wheel/bead (not the tire) to the bottom of the 1/4 panel. I realize there can be some tolerances between sides just from production. Should I measure the ride height with different points? Maybe the body is off?