Body not Centered on Chassis?

[Copley17]

I installed new wheels and tires today, and noticed that the observed offset on the drivers side of the car is less than the passengers side.

In other words, the tires stick out about 3/8 inch further on the passenger side. Passenger side is flush, and the drivers side tucked.

Before anyone suggests that the rear subframe is off: this is on BOTH the front and rear of the car. Also - I have the steeda alignment kit and bushings installed in the rear, so thats not the issue.

The car is lowered on steeda ultralite linears.

Is this an issue that anyone else has? Is there a fix? I'll get some photos tomorrow.

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[MasterCylinder]

I have a similar issue. The lockout cradle kit from BMR only helped a bit. Sometimes it goes back to the way it was. No idea why.

 

[Jetnoise]

Not suggesting anything but did you car have the issue before the new wheels?

 

[Norm Peterson]

Not suggesting anything but did you car have the issue before the new wheels?

This ↑↑↑


OP - can you re-install the original wheels & tires and make measurements with those? While you're at it, make some backspacing measurements of the new wheels and overall width measurements of new tires. This will at least determine whether the unsymmetry is a wheel/tire problem or a chassis matter.

I suppose if the cradle is 'off', the K-member could be 'off' as well.


Norm

 

[JCFoster]

We have an ‘01 GT that’s the same way. Never noticed it till we put 1” spacers on the rear.

 

[db252]

Had the same issue with my front. Unfortunately Ford spec has a wider tolerance than most of us OCD types prefer and it was definitely noticeable and caused some slight suspension compression rub when I moved up to wheels with less tolerance. My fix was taking the car to a body shop where the front subframe was loosened and adjusted. They use calipers that go from a center point to outside points supplied by Ford and showed me how far off it was before they centered it. That issue was fixed with the true centering of the subframe. On a side note, you’ll have to do another alignment as that adjustment affects all previous factors but not really a big deal when going for a true centered setup. My rear subframe had no issues with aftermarket parts already installed.

 

[Copley17]

This ↑↑↑


OP - can you re-install the original wheels & tires and make measurements with those? While you're at it, make some backspacing measurements of the new wheels and overall width measurements of new tires. This will at least determine whether the unsymmetry is a wheel/tire problem or a chassis matter.

I suppose if the cradle is 'off', the K-member could be 'off' as well.


Norm

Yes, it was like this with the stock wheels too. Wasn't noticeable until i added 1" spacers to get the stock PP wheels flush.

I have the Project 6GR wheels. The passenger side is a perfect fitment, but the drivers is a bit tucked.

Given that the car is off center anyways, im thinking of adding 1/4 spacers to the drivers side only. As long as the Trust Angle is zero after an alignment, this should be OK in theory, right?

 

[Nagare]

The Steeda subframe alignment kit helped fix that on my car: https://www.steeda.com/steeda-s550-mustang-alignment-kit-rear-subframe-for-bmr-cb005-555-4447.html

 

[Mazman]

I had a similar issue . As @Nagare mentioned the subframe alignment kit sorted it out for me as well and also re-clocking the bushings.

But you already have these installed. Have you done the re-clocking once your springs were installed?

 

[Norm Peterson]

Yes, it was like this with the stock wheels too. Wasn't noticeable until i added 1" spacers to get the stock PP wheels flush.

This seems to be a common observation, that errors in symmetry tend to show up more clearly when surfaces or lines get closer together. You see the differences being "more different" because they represent a bigger proportion of the empty space in between, if that makes any sense.

FWIW, what measures up as a 3/8" error side to side is only a 3/16" error in K-member or cradle location. This also means that the spacer thickness required to get exactly flush wasn't exactly 1" (probably needed to be more like 1-3/16" if you were being extra fussy).


Norm

 

[Copley17]

I had a similar issue . As @Nagare mentioned the subframe alignment kit sorted it out for me as well and also re-clocking the bushings.

But you already have these installed. Have you done the re-clocking once your springs were installed?

Good idea, have not clocked the bushings. I think this will be my next move.

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