Question- How far between leafsprings and tire is OK.

[LoneWolf2U 136]

Prayers, been following this and your post of diag measure to yoke is centerd leaves me to think the front bushing of the leaf springs are your problem.

Never did see that they were replaced.

With this slight off set your dealing with you could try hanging the rear loose to see if it will move enough to bring the wheel in.

Support the rear by the frame in front of the springs so the tires are off the ground. Remove the shocks from the lower mounts.

LOOSEN ALL of the U bolt nuts down to the thread is even with the nut. This will allow some movement and still hold the axle.

You may have to pry on the spring plate but there is wiggle room for adjustment.

[prayers1 153]

Nice to hear from ya Mach1Rider- The springs are original as well as the front bushings.  The rear bushings have been replaced and I need to buy a new set of leaf springs. With that said, I thought that's when I'll get new front bushings.

 

I've already tried what you suggested when I switched the shock plate to Comp Engineering Traction Bars. There was no wiggle room.

 

Also, it will be a difficult task to get all the measurements by myself as buening suggested, because of all the parts that are hanging down and in the way, but I did confirm cross angle yoke measurment to be the same.

 

Its too bad the shop didn't even look at the Mustang Spec Diagram book I gave them.  IMO, I believe the offset is in the installation of the whole wheel well and 1/4 panel.

 

The 275/60's fit fine, w/ no noticable difference, but I don't like the tall tire look and I really like the 295/50 & Magnum 500 look.

 

If I can get the whole rear to move over a 3/16's then I would be even on both sides and will be able to us 5.5bs on each wheel.  The only alternative I see, is filling in the axle tube spring perch hole and redrilling another hole.

 

Question?- Would oblonging the perch pad hole work or would that allow movement.  How much leeway can you move the position of the yoke side to side.  Would 3/16's be too much????

 

Thanks all for your input!

[LoneWolf2U 136]

What I would do is run a string line from the tip of the trans tail out back past the bumper on a block of wood.

next measure between the leaf springs and move the string line to the center of the measurement and see it the rear yoke is close to being centered.

Next would be grinding off the locator pins to allow me to move the housing to center. These pins were for assembly line workers to install without stopping to measure each unit as it past by.

I would NOT mismatch wheel backspacing.

[det0326 179]

What I would do is run a string line from the tip of the trans tail out back past the bumper on a block of wood.

next measure between the leaf springs and move the string line to the center of the measurement and see it the rear yoke is close to being centered.

Next would be grinding off the locator pins to allow me to move the housing to center. These pins were for assembly line workers to install without stopping to measure each unit as it past by.

I would NOT mismatch wheel backspacing.

Hey Mach1Rider

 

I agree with your measurement to find if the pinon is centered or not between the leaf springs, but that would be assuming the frame rails was parallel to the car.

In paryers first post he said the quarters and frame rails were replaced so at this point i don't think he knows if they are correct or not. If the measurement from the edge of the spring to the flange on the rear end is the same on both sides and from center of the perches is 43" then one could assume the rear end is right and correct. Then if you want to try to correct the problem you would have to start looking at frame rails or quarters. I'm with prayers on this tho that changing the rails or quarters at this point would be almost nonexistent without messing something up.   Doglegging or a car going down the road sideways usually means that the rear is not parallel with the front but I don't think this is his trouble or someone that has been following him in the past would have probable noticed. Without knowing some of these measurements tho I would not have a clue how to help.

Dave 

[buening 63]

I personally wouldn't oblong the hole in the perch, as it will allow the axle to shift around on the leaf. You could oblong the hole and then add some weld to the original side of the hole to make it round again (essentially shifting the hole in the direction you need without a full plug weld and re-drill). Also, take a measurement of the clearance between the U-bolt and the perch to make sure you have enough room to move it over. If you picture the locating pin missing and moving the axle to one side, you can see how the U-bolt would eventually hit the side of the perch.  If the U-bolt is physically touching the side of the perch on any side, then you have zero room for plugging and redrilling the hole and the only option would be to bust the welds on the perches and reweld once the axle is centered.

 

I do like Machrider's suggestion of looking at the front bushings. If the bushing is offset to one side in both springs, it will shove both leaf springs to one side of the car. I can't say I've ever seen this happen, but anything is possible.

[barnett468 418]

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moving it over will have basically 0 effect and will not cause vibration in your case.

[BuckeyeDemon 211]

on a side note, i'm not sure it's necessarily fair to blame the bodyshop.  the wheelhouse fits against the trunk floor and the quarter has to align with the rocker and connect to the wheelhouse.

[LoneWolf2U 136]

Well dog legging has not been brought up yet and worn front bushing on one side or the other will cause this problem. 

The locator pins do help from movement sideways but for street car they are not that important. I f your cornering that hard the typical street tire will break traction before the rear moves if the u bolts are tightened properly.

The point most are missing is the amount of movement needed. His measurements are 3/16 out and an 1/8 in. So it only needs to move over half of the 3/16 as the 1/8 in side will decrease(moving outward) with the movement to the right. 

 

I don't recall the size of the pin but a simple grinding of an 1/8 on both left sides of the pin would allow the amount needed to move the housing right.

The spring plate may bet the only interference with the u bolts but they usually have some play to work with.

[det0326 179]

Well dog legging has not been brought up yet and worn front bushing on one side or the other will cause this problem. 

The locator pins do help from movement sideways but for street car they are not that important. I f your cornering that hard the typical street tire will break traction before the rear moves if the u bolts are tightened properly.

The point most are missing is the amount of movement needed. His measurements are 3/16 out and an 1/8 in. So it only needs to move over half of the 3/16 as the 1/8 in side will decrease(moving outward) with the movement to the right. 

 

I don't recall the size of the pin but a simple grinding of an 1/8 on both left sides of the pin would allow the amount needed to move the housing right.

The spring plate may bet the only interference with the u bolts but they usually have some play to work with.

Doglegging was brought up in prayers post # 21 . I was just making a general statement it was not directed at you or your reply. Also mentioned to more detail on VMF but I was just stating that this is very noticeable and if he had a friend that was following behind him at some point they would have probably noticed.  Sorry should have been more clear.

Dave 

[prayers1 153]

Since the rebuild I've put over a 1000 miles on the car.  I've driven to shows 45 min to a 1/2 hour away and never experienced any doglegging.  On one trip my wife followed and she reported nothing.

 

Also, I've driven the car with a set of Weld wheels 15x10x5.5bs w/ 295/50/15's and haven't experienced any problems with tracking or rubbing.

 

I agree with you BuckeyeDemon- It may not be the shops fault and as of today I don't blame them, but I do reacall when this was brought up many threads post ago. It was discovered at the shop before painting. I asked them if the followed the Spec Booklet that I provided and they said they just did it by eye. For their sake, both guys have a ton of Bodywork experience.

It might be the Dynacore full 1/4 is out of shape????

 

Also, as soon as I got the car back from the Bodyshop, I put on 275/60/15's so the subject was dropped.

 

Because of the Snow Storm here today, I haven't had time to look at the car.  I still need to measure per Mach1Riders suggestion and I also think its a good ideal to shave an 1/8 off the pins.  Keep in mind that I have traction bars, the hole is more like a 1/2" vs. the shock plate hole at 1".

 

I am dead set to get the 295's to fit and I appreciate everyone's help and opinion.

Thanks for your time!

[buening 63]

His axle will need to move 1/4" (7/32" to be exact) to the passenger side.  The bolt head/pin diameter is 1/2" IIRC, so you'll be grinding half the diameter off and leaving very little of the head attached to the bolt shaft. True the clamping force would likely be enough to hold the axle in place on the street, but is not something I personally would risk. They are there for a reason and not because of the track. That is entirely up to Prayers though.  If so, either get a drill bit 1/2" larger diameter than the hole (half is the 1/4") or use a die grinder to enlarge one side of the hole on the spring perch.

 

Even after all this work the tires still won't clear the quarter lips, so you will have tire shredders if the suspension travel is greater than the vertical gap between the quarter and tire. Thus is the fun of maximizing the tire in a stock wheelwell!