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Just upgraded the suspension, but my front suspension has shifted over?

UnkTob

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Hi all! I do not know how I did this, but after installing my Air Lift Performance kit on my 2018 Mustang GT Convertible, and the front suspension has noticeably shifted over to the driver's side.
IMG_2644-2.JPG

IMG_2645-2.JPG


Any ideas what could have caused that, and very importantly, how do I fix it?
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Nagare

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How's your alignment?
 
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Nagare

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After the install, you need an alignment was more my point. The other part is how are the struts aligned in the tower? If one is far off center, that could also explain it. Maybe a mount is backwards or you just have to pull things apart and try to get it in more straight.
 
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UnkTob

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After the install, you need an alignment was more my point. The other part is how are the struts aligned in the tower? If one is far off center, that could also explain it. Maybe a mount is backwards or you just have to pull things apart and try to get it in more straight.
Gotcha. Well the right side is so out of whack and so little clearance, Iā€™m afraid to drive it to the shop to get the wheels aligned. I pulled the wheels back off and it isnā€™t anything obvious like not mounting things right. Itā€™s really crazy. I did goof up on the drivers side when installing it the first time, and really was yarding on the sway bar trying to make the connection. That plus it is the only thing I can thing of that directly connects the left and right side. In the morning when I have good light again Iā€˜m going to take a closer look at the sway bar to see if it might have shifted over during all that. (Thinking I might see a clean spot where the bar shifted over out of the brackets.)

If it isnā€™t that I have no idea what else it could be. (And to me, the sway bar shifting over seems really unlikely.)
 

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Nagare

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I'm thinking more like unmounting the strut at the tower on both sides, move it around and then get it back in position. The closer to center on the strut tower opening, the better you might be in terms of obvious appearance from the start.

Are there camber plates involved? They might be upside down or facing the wrong direction (that happened my first time installing mine).
 
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UnkTob

UnkTob

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The camber plates came preinstalled and they both look the same. Thereā€™s really not much wiggle room so i canā€™t really ā€œmove it aroundā€. Iā€™m going to call Air Lift Performance and see if they have any suggestions. Nothing obvious seems wrong. (Nothing mounted in the wrong position, backwards, etc.)
 
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UnkTob

UnkTob

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Update-
I think I figured it out. Good news, it wasnā€™t me being stupid. lol There was a VERY important thing the left out of the instructions, and wasnā€™t mentioned in ant of the install videos I watched. I will post the details along with some tips and tricks in my build blog, but I might even post that here in the suspension area.

ā€œThinkā€ because I am 2 bolts away from having the front end back together... again! lol The nuts that came with the sway bar end links seems to be made out of some butter type of material, and canā€™t be taken off and reinstalled. With all the trouble Iā€™ve had, once the front end is up in the air on jackstands, I can probably uninstall the struts, calipers and rotors on both sides in less than 30 minutes.

Hopefully today is the day this is finished! (Appointment at the Schwabbyā€™s this afternoon for alignment, so I better have it done!)
 
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Btm5oh

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Update-
I think I figured it out. Good news, it wasnā€™t me being stupid. lol There was a VERY important thing the left out of the instructions, and wasnā€™t mentioned in ant of the install videos I watched. I will post the details along with some tips and tricks in my build blog, but I might even post that here in the suspension area.

ā€œThinkā€ because I am 2 bolts away from having the front end back together... again! lol The nuts that came with the sway bar end links seems to be made out of some butter type of material, and canā€™t be taken off and reinstalled. With all the trouble Iā€™ve had, once the front end is up in the air on jackstands, I can probably uninstall the struts, calipers and rotors on both sides in less than 30 minutes.

Hopefully today is the day this is finished! (Appointment at the Schwabbyā€™s this afternoon for alignment, so I better have it done!)
what did you do to fix this? Iā€™m having the same issue with my air lift
 
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UnkTob

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what did you do to fix this? Iā€™m having the same issue with my air lift
Hey Btm5.0. Sorry. I havenā€™t updated my build thread yet as I said I would.

The thing they donā€™t frickin tell you in the instructions or in any video Iā€™ve seen, the top bolt hole on the lower strut mount (the splines bolts) is oblong. So thereā€™s extra camber adjustments in that hole which will cause things to be waaaaaay out of whack if you donā€™t pay attention. I essentially had one side cambered all the way in and the other side all the way out. Grrrr.... days wasted trying to figure out what was wrong, while stressed out I maybe really screwed something up that Would be a pain and/or expensive to fix.

Other thing I do now when I take it apart and reassemble- I do each step to each side and leave things a bit loose till I have it all back together, then I tighten everything up, again each step on each side before moving to next step. Also had some binding in the steering that doing it this way seemed to resolve.
Good luck!
 
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Btm5oh

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Okay sweet! Iā€™ll give it a try and see what happens. Thanks for the reply man!
 
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UnkTob

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Okay sweet! Iā€™ll give it a try and see what happens. Thanks for the reply man!
If you can, please post after to let me know how it goes.

I have to take the whole front end apart again (I think this will be the 4ht or 5th time now?) so I can adjust the ride height. My aftermarket wheels and tires are too wide, so I canā€™t quite zero the bags out. The front fenders hit the tires at about 8-9 psi. Iā€™m going to set the ride height a little higher so it is hopefully close to the tire with no pressure but not touching. I hate driving it now knowing if something happens and I lose pressure I could mushroom my fenders. :facepalm:

Iā€™m planning on taking more photos of the process so I can add more detail when I post on my build thread about this. Make sure I pass along as many tips as I can. WHat a pain in the butt this has been, and Iā€™m hoping to help others not have the same issues I had.
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