really starting to think my car is twisted. how to check for car being straight?

[bcam347]

any major insurance body shop will be able to measure it. normal charge for this is around 2 hours to set up and measure. you'll get a printout showing any deviations from spec at 10-12 points along the frame rails. I'd look for one that uses chief or car-o-liner equipment.

getting them to fix it will be pretty expensive...

edit-I will add it sounds like you have a suspension issue more than anything. frame sway and height issues show more in the body panel gaps, not how the car sits with relation to the ground. figure out where the problem is and hit it with the BFH a few times....

 

[fivespeedsteed]

i know it sounds like the accident i had has caused it, but it was doing this before that, and just as bad. it was probably the previous owner or just old age. that concrete was poured like a month ago, its level, the tire psi is all equal, the adjustable lca's are even, theres nothing inside the car, and every bushing almost under the car is new. its always sat like this. when i spun out and hit a 45 degree curb, it was on the passenger side, going to the driver side, so if anything the back axle should be shoved over to the driver side, but its the other way. im confused in every way, this boggles my mind.

i know its goign to cost allot, but seing it sit all crazy drives me crazy in turn. ill pay to fix it and have it done right.

 

[Noobz347]

Have the car check to see if it's square. That should not cost a mint.

How were the subframe connectors installed?

 

[fivespeedsteed]

Subframe connectors were installed like they should have been with the car on its wheels on a drive on lift.

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[fivespeedsteed]

But I think the balk half was twisted before they were installed which has just frozen it twisted

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[Noobz347]

Hmmm... I'd probably have it checked first. Most Ford service centers should be able to check it. If it's screwed up then remove the connectors and have it checked again.

If when it's checked sans sub-frame connectors, you find that it's off then THAT's when you want to make the corrections. All of your suspension components would need to be the same on each side of course.

What LCAs do you have installed? Yours would not be the first case of a set of LCAs from company X that were screwed up out of the box or bent/twisted after some miles.

 

[fivespeedsteed]

What's the best way to get subframes off just grind them off? I was thinking about upgrading to mm full lenth anyways I have reg length griggs ones in there now. The control arms are maximum motorsports extreme duty adjustable lca's with the sway bar mount. I checked them over good before installing them they looked identical in all forms of measurement, that's why I think its chassis related, because at one point I had the passenger side bottomed out (as low as possible) and the driver side maxed out (as high as possible) and it still was crooked low on the driver side. I can figure it out, I've swapped springs side for side and put new ones in, I've looked over where the spring isolator is on the top of the car and that looks fine, I only weigh 175 and the guy that owned it before me (one owner) was definatly sub 200 pounds if not lighter than me. Im starting to think it was rear ended hard at some point in its life.

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[foxbodymike87]

my car is also twisted..my passenger side is 1.5 inches lower than the left. I also found my right rear quater was hit because its all shrivled underneath. My caster and camber are maxed out and still arn't right.

 

[Noobz347]

What's the best way to get subframes off just grind them off? I was thinking about upgrading to mm full lenth anyways I have reg length griggs ones in there now. The control arms are maximum motorsports extreme duty adjustable lca's with the sway bar mount. I checked them over good before installing them they looked identical in all forms of measurement, that's why I think its chassis related, because at one point I had the passenger side bottomed out (as low as possible) and the driver side maxed out (as high as possible) and it still was crooked low on the driver side. I can figure it out, I've swapped springs side for side and put new ones in, I've looked over where the spring isolator is on the top of the car and that looks fine, I only weigh 175 and the guy that owned it before me (one owner) was definatly sub 200 pounds if not lighter than me. Im starting to think it was rear ended hard at some point in its life.

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Yep... cutting wheel and angle grinder. Don't cut the subframes (of course)... just the connectors.

 

[fivespeedsteed]

took it to a shop today that has decent experience with american iron track cars and such, he didnt really have many answers. im getting discouraged, im about ready to find a clean 4 cyl roller lx hatch and swap stuff if this continues on. the whole driver side is lower so im thinking its more than the back half. ill probably just fix the damage to the front, and see whats going on then, then pay big bucks to get it checked out. i think it would look better with a panhard bar pushing the axle over where it should be. how would you go about moving the axle back over without one? im afriad putting in a PHB and shoving the axle over 3/8ths of an inch is going to cause binding.

 

[bcam347]

why haven't you taken it to an insurance body shop for measurement? every one has a measuring system that will tell you whats up in less than an hour.

 

[Noobz347]

why haven't you taken it to an insurance body shop for measurement? every one has a measuring system that will tell you whats up in less than an hour.

^THIS^ You can't tip toe around the problem hoping for a a miracle discovery. It needs to be put on the rack and measured properly. If it measures correctly then you have a suspension problem. It really is that simple.

 

[SublimeRT]

I leveled my Cobra out on some jackstands on a level concrete pad then used plumb bobs hung from various points on the frame/suspension mounting points plotted out on the floor then took measurements front to rear, side to side, and criss-crossed. All measurements are within, or more importantly, all the criss-crossed measurements, are within 1/4" of each other.

I did it this way because the car is completely gutted and is not driveable and I do not have a trailer to take it to a shop that could check it on a machine/jig/frame rack. If it were running or I had a trailer I would have taken it to a shop though. I'd probably trust their fancy machines more than I'd trust my plumb bobs, tape measures, and 6 foot long rulers. But I'm content with my method and my results. I'm not building a F1 car here.

There were never any problems with the car not driving right or problems aligning it, getting it to sit level, or inconsistent panel gaps; it was just for peace of mind that it is in fact straight before putting in some through-the-floor subframe connectors, torque box reinforcements, and a little stitch welding of the seams.

 

[nine3cobra]

A buddy of mine had this same problem on his 88 vert, after replacing springs, control arms, shocks/struts and just about every other thing. we found it was a bad front and rear sway bar were both twisted. the rear sitting level was twisted almost 2 1/2" sitting on level ground. the car had been through 4 alignment shops and that was never noticed since it looks fine installed.

 

[Icecold]

Just gonna start setting aside money for a bodyshop to go through this car and fix it, it is twisted I can see it. I think the back half is sagged to the driver side and the subframe connectors froze it there. I got all the springs and iso's all straight and it sits a half inch higher in the right rear. If you look at it though the entire cars twisted

I think that is your best bet, I'm about to do the same thing to mine.

I think mine was caused by all the years of dragging and banging on it with out any type of sub frame connectors or braces. But I can definitely see I have some sort of "flex" that has happened as well as the ride height issues you have. I also see different gap sizes between my doors and front quarter panels and around my windshield A pillars plus some slight waves in the roof as someone else mentioned.

I think maybe some of it could have been caused by improper jacking of one side of the car too, to get better clearance underneath to change out starters, tranny, exhaust, etc...

I going to put a roll cage in mine, so before I do I want the car straight. So I will cut off my subframe connectors and have a body shop put it on their frame straightener and see what they can do.

 

[PipeHitter]

+10 on taking it to a body shop that has a frame alignment machine. At the very least you will finally have a definitive answer. Here is a .pdf copy of the specs for my car (92 Coupe), as you can see it has various points to take measurements from. You can do it, but the body shop can prob do it much faster/more accurate as the better frame machines use a laser system.

 

[fivespeedsteed]

Good stuff to check. I will definatly get this car to a shop soon. I was just rear ended in it actually, not bad but might be enough to warrant getting it on a Machiene and getting it checked out.

The swaybar thing is interesting ill have to look into that for sure.

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