Rear end out of alignment...

[Colt]

Went to get my front end aligned and was told my rear end was off and they could not do the front as the back was out of spec and they would not mess with it. They said I needed to go to a body shop.

Went to a body shop and they sent me to another alignment place. Alignment place told me based on a solid axle odds are its the control arms...

I know I have slid the car hard a few times and done some J turns.

The rear specs showed camber left rear -0.1 and right 0 final
For the tow it showed left 0.35 and right 0.05 with a total of final 0.40.

Anyone had this and do most think its the control arms? Never wrecked the vehicle (unless Ford did) but have skidded rather well and hard sideways.

[Blk04MM]

Went to get my front end aligned and was told my rear end was off and they could not do the front as the back was out of spec and they would not mess with it. They said I needed to go to a body shop.

Went to a body shop and they sent me to another alignment place. Alignment place told me based on a solid axle odds are its the control arms...

I know I have slid the car hard a few times and done some J turns.

The rear specs showed camber left rear -0.1 and right 0 final
For the tow it showed left 0.35 and right 0.05 with a total of final 0.40.

Anyone had this and do most think its the control arms? Never wrecked the vehicle (unless Ford did) but have skidded rather well and hard sideways.


What were u doing ....drifting?

And what's a J turn

[03mmmonroe]

Went to get my front end aligned and was told my rear end was off and they could not do the front as the back was out of spec and they would not mess with it. They said I needed to go to a body shop.

Went to a body shop and they sent me to another alignment place. Alignment place told me based on a solid axle odds are its the control arms...

I know I have slid the car hard a few times and done some J turns.

The rear specs showed camber left rear -0.1 and right 0 final
For the tow it showed left 0.35 and right 0.05 with a total of final 0.40.

Anyone had this and do most think its the control arms? Never wrecked the vehicle (unless Ford did) but have skidded rather well and hard sideways.

The rear control arms have the bushing pressed in. Not much to the stock control arms stamp steal. Review some of the other post and why people upgrade. I think know is a good time to upgrade and at the same time get the rear axle tracking straight.

http://www.mercurymarauder.net/forums/showthread.php?t=87862

[Colt]

What were u doing ....drifting?

And what's a J turn


I was close to drifting, more power sliding and a few times over correcting.

J turn is going in reverse and then cutting the wheel and doing a 180, put in drive and go forward.

I was playing with my car on a police driving range and due to more power I am guessing I did more damage. But this was a while back and the car drives just fine to me, other than the front inside tire wear due to factory specs. After 3 sets of front tires in 65,000 miles I thought I needed to fix the front. I guess Metco upper and lowers will be ordered... Did not really want to go that way at this point in time. Hope that fixes it, unless something else is bent/tweaked.

[Blk04MM]

I was close to drifting, more power sliding and a few times over correcting.

J turn is going in reverse and then cutting the wheel and doing a 180, put in drive and go forward.

I was playing with my car on a police driving range and due to more power I am guessing I did more damage. But this was a while back and the car drives just fine to me, other than the front inside tire wear due to factory specs. After 3 sets of front tires in 65,000 miles I thought I needed to fix the front. I guess Metco upper and lowers will be ordered... Did not really want to go that way at this point in time. Hope that fixes it, unless something else is bent/tweaked.

Lol sounds like fun. Hope you get her back in order man

[RF Overlord]

Factory stamped control arms are pretty flimsy...not designed for doing J-turns or other emergency evasive maneuvers on a regular basis. Prolly one of them is bent or the bushings are displaced. Watt's link isn't the most rugged, either.

[Mr. Man]

Factory stamped control arms are pretty flimsy...not designed for doing J-turns or other emergency evasive maneuvers on a regular basis. Prolly one of them is bent or the bushings are displaced. Watt's link isn't the most rugged, either.
If either^^^^^ of these are bent or you smashed into a curb I'd buy into the alignment scenario but if they are in good shape I'd suspect your mechanic is under 20 yrs old and has no idea what a solid rear axle is.

[Krytin]

I guess Metco upper and lowers will be ordered... Did not really want to go that way at this point in time. Hope that fixes it, unless something else is bent/tweaked.

Or the ones in this post:

http://www.mercurymarauder.net/forums/showthread.php?t=87862

[babbage]

Factory stamped control arms are pretty flimsy...not designed for doing J-turns or other emergency evasive maneuvers on a regular basis. Prolly one of them is bent or the bushings are displaced. Watt's link isn't the most rugged, either.

This ^^^.

Henoius
Metco
or Sparta would be what to get.

Might want to get a new WATS link too!

[SpartaPerformance]

If you need a set of performance rear control arms I have them in stock.

https://id144237.webhosting.optonline. net/spartaperformance.com/merchantmanager/index.php?cPath=32_61

[burt ragio]

If you get the after market control arms you will ask yourself why you didn't do them soonEEEEERRRRRRRRR.

[Mebot]

Lol sounds like fun. Hope you get her back in order man

Haha exactly my thoughts too!

Hey get in touch with Tommy from Sparta. He'll hook you up! :thumbup:

sent from a Samsung Galaxy far far away...

[Colt]

I will have to think about the Sparta ones. I know in the end I also want the watts link and like things to match.

If its not my control arms, then I have invested more money.

Trying to keep up with my vehicles is becoming tuff in this economy...

[Invader]

If its not my control arms, then I have invested more money.

Trying to keep up with my vehicles is becoming tuff in this economy...

Key word there bud "Invested" that's what these cars are! Investments! The inevitable is our numbers will drop and our cars will rise in value.... But we have to say on the upkeep of them in the meantime. I started with a basket case, slowly I'm getting it sorted out. But when it's all minty fresh it will be well worth the effort. Keep your head up my friend, and good luck on fixing it cheaply....

[Stranger in the Black Sedan]

Bent axle housing. Control arms can't affect total rear toe, think about it. If you had a thrust angle issue (thrust angle being a difference in centerline between front and rear wheels), that could be bent control arms, but having 0.4 TOTAL TOE means that the rear wheels are toed relative to one another on the axle housing itself. A thrust angle issue would show up as one rear wheel being toed in, and the other being toed out, relative to vehicle centerline, but the total toe would be near-zero from one side cancelling the other out (axle shifted in the body, by such as bent control arms or bent control arm mounts). The only possibility with your scenario is a bent axle housing. If you didn't bend it, it's possible Ford made it this way.

[larryo340]

Maybe worn rear axle bearings allowing the shaft to move about??

[Stranger in the Black Sedan]

^Interesting point, since these cars do have the infamous problem of the wheel bearings eating the axle shafts (my 03 has gone through 2 sets of genuine ford axles already and is on its third set and I have 55,000 miles !). It is definitely worth pulling and checking both shafts. Although, to note, a bent axle housing will accelerate wheel bearing/axle shaft wear, so if you did find chewed up bearings, it could still be the housing.

[03mmmonroe]

^Interesting point, since these cars do have the infamous problem of the wheel bearings eating the axle shafts (my 03 has gone through 2 sets of genuine ford axles already and is on its third set and I have 55,000 miles !). It is definitely worth pulling and checking both shafts. Although, to note, a bent axle housing will accelerate wheel bearing/axle shaft wear, so if you did find chewed up bearings, it could still be the housing.

If you are on your third set of axle and bearings someone is missing something like lube in your rear axle. All the unit I have rebuilt I have to add fluid thru the vent tube to top off and they have not had any other concerns. I also have recommend this on a few CV police unit and they also have not returned.

[Stranger in the Black Sedan]

I build my own rears and am not missing any lube, filling them to stock capacity. I am always running full synthetic and have changed the lube a bunch of times. The first axle failure was under warranty w/ the dealer working on it but since then I've had it. I am not the only low mileage car I've seen w/ axle failures, but that's off topic from this post. I have not tried over-filling the rear through the vent tube, since it's not in a service manual and I know when I have slightly over-filled 8.8s they quickly burp the excess out through the vent.

[Krytin]

I know when I have slightly over-filled 8.8s they quickly burp the excess out through the vent.
+1 on that^^!!!!
What doesn't come back out the vent will blow a seal! I had it happen to me after the shop I used to use did me a favor w/out telling me. When I went to change a leaking axle seal I found an extra quart of oil in the rear that I didn't put in there when in was rebuilt!

[Stranger in the Black Sedan]

Yeah, agreed. I'm not interested in getting this guy's thread off track re: common 8.8 problems. I only came on here to make a point about what a nonzero total toe reading means on a solid axle car.

[Invader]

Just throwing this out there. But I'm in the middle of doing a rear end swap. And I'm shipping the replacement housing to Mark Williams Enterprises to have the axel alignment checked and the tubes welded before I start to install my new parts. They're located in Colorado. This might be the way to go for you. This is the only place that I have found, that has the proper equipment to perform this task in the whole country!

[sailsmen]

Something ain't right - I had 70K 450RWHP S/C miles on the OEMs and over 150 passes on DRs and Cheater Slicks.
Replaced them when I upgraded the RWHP to 540 and they showed no signs of excessive wear.

[lifespeed]

Yeah, agreed. I'm not interested in getting this guy's thread off track re: common 8.8 problems. I only came on here to make a point about what a nonzero total toe reading means on a solid axle car.

Right, keep your eye on the ball. If a competent alignment shop with accurate equipment measures a total toe other than zero for a solid axle, that is the place to start looking for problems. Doesn't mean you shouldn't replace the control arms and Watts also, but that is just good practice.