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Adjustable Ride Height Issues and Noob Questions

Mootang

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Hi, I figure some of you suspension guru here may answer this dumb question I have. I have the Roush single adjustable coilovers and the car was sitting fine at 1.5" drop in the front and 1.0" drop in the rear (default ride height from Roush). Rest of the suspension was stock until I recently upgraded all of this in one sitting:

Installed all at once:
BMR Rear LCA Specirical Bushing
Steeda Rear Adjustable Camber Arms
Steeda Rear Adjustable Toe Rods (Upgraded Knuckle Bushing)
Steeda Rear Vertical Links
Steeda Rear Subframe Alignment and Bushing Lockout Kit
Steeda Rear Differential Bushing (Red)
Steeda Rear Subframe Braces
Steeda Front K-Member Brace
FPRP Halfshafts

UPR Engine Mount (lowered by 1/4")
DSS Carbon Driveshaft
MGW X-Spec Shifter
Whiteline Transmission Mount (will be removing this in a few hours)
Whiteline Front and Rear Adjustable Endlinks
Eibach Front and Rear Sway Bars (Both Middle Settings)

I expected more NVH and definitely got it, but I was fine with it and nothing sounded off or wrong during the test drive around the block. I hear the shifter more everytime I go into first and second and there is a metal clunking noise in the rear as I roll over bumps at 5-20 mph.

After all the upgrades to the suspension, is it normal to have the ride height affected? Meaning one corner raised or lowered than normal? My fronts and driver side rear all looks normal, but the rear passenger side dropped another 1/2" and looks like its on bags.

I will check my suspension and check the torque on all the bolts again. Planning on checking the axle bolts and clocking any rubber bushings (I think its is just the rear lower control arm left with a rubber bushing). I think I will ultimately conclude to raising the ride height, but I am a little worry that the balance will be off or is that normal for ride height adjustable suspensions? Meaning it is normal to have the springs more compressed to raised the height on one side or are you suppose to adjust all four corners equally?
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Gibbo205

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Hi there

Clunks when changing gear will be from Steeda "red" differential bushing inserts no doubt.

Remove the Whiteline transmission mount also as they cause terrible NVH for little to no gain.

Metal clunking noise, get car up on a ramp, re-torque every bolt with the car on the deck so you will need a scissor ramp, it is most likely a drop link not tight enough.

No idea why one corner is lower than rest, but in short inspect that corner for something installed wrong, this could also be the reason for the noise you are hearing and just check the height adjust collar is in same position as opposite side on the Roush. :)
 
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Mootang

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Hi there

Clunks when changing gear will be from Steeda "red" differential bushing inserts no doubt.

Remove the Whiteline transmission mount also as they cause terrible NVH for little to no gain.

Metal clunking noise, get car up on a ramp, re-torque every bolt with the car on the deck so you will need a scissor ramp, it is most likely a drop link not tight enough.

No idea why one corner is lower than rest, but in short inspect that corner for something installed wrong, this could also be the reason for the noise you are hearing and just check the height adjust collar is in same position as opposite side on the Roush. :)
Awesome info! Didn't think the Steeda red bushings was causing the shifter noise, but I guess that's fine lol. I figure the Whiteline trans mount is not going to do me any good anyways, so that's is now definitely coming off.

I don't have a lift, but can use jack stands and two jacks with some measurements on leveled ground lol. The height adjust collar will be checked since I didn't think of doing that either. Anymore more help is appreciated and I should be able to report back in a day or two after tomorrow (will be under the car again tomorrow).
 

Gibbo205

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Awesome info! Didn't think the Steeda red bushings was causing the shifter noise, but I guess that's fine lol. I figure the Whiteline trans mount is not going to do me any good anyways, so that's is now definitely coming off.

I don't have a lift, but can use jack stands and two jacks with some measurements on leveled ground lol. The height adjust collar will be checked since I didn't think of doing that either. Anymore more help is appreciated and I should be able to report back in a day or two after tomorrow (will be under the car again tomorrow).

Ideally with suspension, bolts should be torqued with car on the ground, to prevent clocking of bushes, of course near impossible if doing it in the driveway unless of course you can jack the car up really high, put some slabs/ramps under the wheels and then lower it off the jacks onto those.

Otherwise a shop with a scissor style ramp is a good shout to do it properly.
 
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Mootang

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Ideally with suspension, bolts should be torqued with car on the ground, to prevent clocking of bushes, of course near impossible if doing it in the driveway unless of course you can jack the car up really high, put some slabs/ramps under the wheels and then lower it off the jacks onto those.

Otherwise a shop with a scissor style ramp is a good shout to do it properly.
Cool, I think the only rubber bushing I have left in the rear suspension is the rear LCA because the front LCA is pressed in with the BMR ones already. I remember clocking that one during the installation, but will re clock it again to see if there is a difference. I don;t mind going to a shop to do this, but I want to try it first before setting an appointment up.

As for the ride height on the passenger side, should I be touching that at all? I feel like the preload on the springs should be set to where it is suppose to be at. No clue as to why it dropped only on that side, but I sure do hope that re-clocking and torque checking everything will correct it again.
 

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Mootang

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Update on what I found. I realized don't have any bushings to clock in the rear anymore, so thats not a big issue lol. I took the Whiteline transmission mount out and it made a small difference during my test drive. I did re-torqued all the bolts and found only the Steeda vertical to be a little loose. All other bolts were still torqued as before.

As for the ride height, it was boiled down to the swaybar endlinks. It was the only thing I adjusted and when I put the car back down and rolled it a few feet to get the suspension to settled, the ride height was affected. I only had the fender to tire gap to go off by and definitely notice a difference there. Then for the next few hours, I spent my time jacking and adjusting the endlinks like a mad man. I ended up not succeeding and got the entire driver side lower than the passenger side lol. Looks like I have a lot of binding in the swaybars right now.

Its as you side, nearly impossible to do this on the driveway. I setup an appointment for an alignment already will will be calling back to see if they can include a swaybay leveling to before the alignment. Will update this again if it helps anyone in the future.
 

slink914

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What the if you disconnect all the end links , let the car settle on the ground and then adjust the link to the sway bar at each corner .
 
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Mootang

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What the if you disconnect all the end links , let the car settle on the ground and then adjust the link to the sway bar at each corner .
Unfortunately, I would still need a scissor lift. The car is lowered and clearance under there is minimal lol.
 

slink914

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Unfortunately, I would still need a scissor lift. The car is lowered and clearance under there is minimal lol.
I use 3 2by12 boards stacked to make a ramp I drive up on as ramps, one for each wheel , relatively cheap to make , it will by you 6 inch's or so.
 
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Mootang

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I use 3 2by12 boards stacked to make a ramp I drive up on as ramps, one for each wheel , relatively cheap to make , it will by you 6 inch's or so.
That would work, but kinda late now since I am set for an appointment tomorrow lol. Plus its raining out right now. Will probably consider it down the line later when I need to adjust them again. Thanks!
 
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So, I went to the auto shop today for the endlinks adjustment and alignment. Neither of them happen. They dropped the endlinks and the ride height was still off. They said they would have to adjust the ride height on the coilovers.

This brings me back to the original post and I am wondering if that is normal? Wouldn't raising one side and not the other compresses the spring on one side too much or am I over thinking this? Also, Roush lock and mark their default adjustment, I would like to keep it that way, but looks like I may have to break it open for adjustment. I am still new to this and am thinking how this will affect performance of the coilovers if the default ride height from Roush is tempered with.

Any insight from suspension gurus will help. If not, I will try to tweak it tomorrow again, but it looks like I will eventually adjust ride height from the coilovers and ride with some concerns (some one ease it pleaseeee).
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