Front wheels not even side to side

[Casper2584]

Just had Steeda extreme lowering springs and non adjustable struts and shocks installed.

Alignment came back good 1.3 camber on each side. 0 toe caster is 8.7 lf and 7.8 rf.

But if you look at the lf wheel it’s 1/2 inch further out under the fender than the rf wheel. We can’t find anything wrong in the front suspension or the way it drives but it’s a significant difference that you can see from the front of car and the side.

Is there something wrong? Is there anything we should look for?

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[o-man]

There is something going on up front. The Caster is pretty far off side to side; ought to be at most half degree difference Makes me wonder if suspension cradle has moved somehow. Has car been wrecked, curbed, or hit huge pothole?

 

[Casper2584]

car has 6000 miles on it. I bought it brand new, no wrecks and no curbs. Thats why I'm puzzled.

Both times had it aligned at two different places and they could not visually see anything thats bent.

Even the SAI measurement is correct and even side to side. What parts would need to be replaced other than the strut to possibly fix the caster amounts? control arms? This might be a good time to get the Steeda ones since the car is lowered a lot.

What could it be?!

 

[BmacIL]

It's possible but would be very unusual for the front subframe to be off that much for centering. Not a small ordeal to change unfortunately.

 

[Casper2584]

Is it something I should just live with or look else where?!

 

[Norm Peterson]

This was something you only noticed after the springs/struts/shocks mod?

Wheels and tires - are the widths and offsets the same, LF to RF? Could the installer have inadvertently mixed up a PP or similarly mild staggered setup?


Norm

 

[jacknifetoaswan]

Did you clock the suspension bushings after installing the springs and driving for about 50 miles, before the alignment?

JR

 

[Roadway 5.0]

This was something you only noticed after the springs/struts/shocks mod?

Wheels and tires - are the widths and offsets the same, LF to RF? Could the installer have inadvertently mixed up a PP or similarly mild staggered setup?


Norm

+1

 

[Casper2584]

Yes only after everything was installed. What do you mean clocked? I didn’t do the install. A shop did for me.

 

[GregP27]

Make sure your wheels have the same backspacing. I have seen it where the front wheels LOOKED good, but we different spacing.

To be sure, take them off, and measure the backspacing, then the distance from a vertical dropped from the front fender to the hub. Either the hub has different spacing or the wheels do. Has to be one or the other.

 

[jabrax]

Yes only after everything was installed. What do you mean clocked? I didn’t do the install. A shop did for me.

https://www.mustang6g.com/forums/th...hose-bushings-after-lowering-your-s550.44129/

 

[Casper2584]

The wheels are correct. I work for discount tire only one option in offset for this bolt pattern.

 

[Norm Peterson]

The wheels are correct. I work for discount tire only one option in offset for this bolt pattern.

Did you notice the 1/2" difference before the car was lowered?

Are the wheels stock base-level OE wheels, OE PP1 wheels, or are they aftermarket? Keep in mind that none of us know what you've got.

If aftermarket, was this done at the same time as the lowering and are all four wheels the same width? A 1" wider wheel with the same offset would push the outer face outward by . . . half an inch. What I'm getting at here is that once in a while mistakes slip through the cracks (and I'm not pointing any fingers here, simply noting that "poo happens"). As Greg has noted, you really should measure all four wheels for offset (and also for width). You've got an issue where the logical way to proceed is to either positively eliminate the wheel(s) as the possible cause and go from there, or discover that they are the problem. Simply assuming that they're all correct isn't good enough.


Norm

 

[Casper2584]

The car was lowered at the dealership before I bought it and had the aftermarket wheels as well. It had the Eibach pro kit on stock PP struts and shocks. Rode like crap. Come to find out after installing the Steeda extreme springs and non adjustable shocks and struts. The bump stops were not cut/ never replaced with eibach bump stops, on the Eibach kit.

I never noticed any of this until after the Steeda stuff was installed.

As for the aftermarket wheels. There. Each wheel is the correct offset and width. The car is causing the issue not the wheels.

The car is going back to ford collision to find out the root cause of all of this and hopefully fixed.

 

[Roadway 5.0]

Today I bolted my new summer wheels on the car. Sure enough the front right wheel was almost an inch further outward then the left wheel.

Alas, I knew why. I only hand tighten the lugs when no weight is on the wheel, so the wheel came off the the top of the hub a tad. I lifted the car back up, retightened, lowered the car, then torquered to spec. All is good and even.

Are you sure the wheel is seated flush to the hub? Did you scrub the hubs so they’re free of rust, corrosion, and debris?

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