Rear Camber Issue

[j0rd4n]

so I walked behind my car and glanced at the rear wheels and could see that driver side clearly has camber and the top of the tire is leaning slightly towards the diff. This was confirmed by looking at the tire and seeing is wearing badly along the inner edge (about a 1.5 inch patch) Also I thought it was strange that the car completely spins even in second gear and the car is pretty much stock. The passenger side doesn't seem to have this problem and from what I can tell and the tire seems to be wearing evenly although they're pretty bald

I just got the car a month or two ago and have hardly drove it but it needs new tires and I don't want to ruin them shortly after putting them on. The only ideas I have are that the idiot I bought it from has 1 inch or so wheel spacers on the rear because he had 20 inch rims on when I bought it, don't Ask me why, but maybe that is effecting the camber. I had him put the 17" inch ponies back on before I bought it. I haven't taken off the spacers because it seems like that's the only way the tire will sit flush with the fender. Do I need a wheel with a different offset to fix that problem? It looks the tires will be way inside the fender if I take them off. only other reason I can think of that could maybe effect camber is that it has adjustable rear control arms and just by looking at it i can see the passenger side is set a lot higher then the driver side.

Sorry if I'm rambling but let me know what you guys think. Thanks!

 

[Mustang5L5]

Impossible to adjust camber on a solid axle car. It's simply the nature of how the axle is a straight line.

There's nothing to adjust with one of these out back

You will need to take the wheel off and inspect. Could be broken spring causing car to lean, bad control arm bushings, bent axle, or another type of failure.

To be honest, I'd do this ASAP as depending on the failure, it could be unsafe.

 

[j0rd4n]

Impossible to adjust camber on a solid axle car. It's simply the nature of how the axle is a straight line.

There's nothing to adjust with one of these out back

You will need to take the wheel off and inspect. Could be broken spring causing car to lean, bad control arm bushings, bent axle, or another type of failure.

To be honest, I'd do this ASAP as depending on the failure, it could be unsafe.

Thanks for the reply.

With it only being one side I hope it's just the wheel spacer or something I've had enough problems with this car already. Could upper control arm bushings cause this ? The uppers are still stock and the bushings look worn but not unsafe, at least to me.

 

[Mustang5L5]

For one wheel to tilt in like that suggests a bent axle or something like that. If the wheel and spacer are tight, there shouldn't be any tilt. What I'd do is have someone follow you and see if the wheel is wobbling at all.

To be honest, I'm surprised you haven't pulled the wheel off yet to inspect. I've seen stressed wheel spacers fail sending a wheel flying past you on the highway. If you think something is truly off, take the spacer off. Wheel will be tucked in more, but you've gotta get to the bottom of it.

Pics would help us get a better understanding of what is going on though. Can you show any?

 

[jrichker]

If the springs are different heights you will have problems.

Or the control arms have the spring adjustable spring perch and the driver's side has been raised, that could also cause trouble. On drag strip cars, the passenger side rear tire is typically the one that spins the most.The trick to fix this is usually an air bag in the passenger side rear axle spring.
The other not so common thing is to jack the driver's side up so that the weight shifts more towards the passenger side. That fixes the spinning rear passenger side problem, but causes odd things to happen to the driver's side tire.

 

[a91what]

 

[j0rd4n]

If the springs are different heights you will have problems.

Or the control arms have the spring adjustable spring perch and the driver's side has been raised, that could also cause trouble. On drag strip cars, the passenger side rear tire is typically the one that spins the most.The trick to fix this is usually an air bag in the passenger side rear axle spring.
The other not so common thing is to jack the driver's side up so that the weight shifts more towards the passenger side. That fixes the spinning rear passenger side problem, but causes odd things to happen to the driver's side tire.

First thing I'll do is take the spacers off I don't want them on there anyway it just seems like a ghetto way to do things. Is that doesn't fix it I'll take detailed pics and go from there. The reason I haven't worried about it is because I haven't been driving it at all since I bought it because it needs tires badly and I have been saving money for them and other things.

The control arms do have the adjustable perch and the driver side is lower then the passenger so if he was trying to reduce spin on the passenger side like you're saying then he did it backwards. I want to adjust it Same height as the other side but don't really know how. I'll take pics of that too because even if my wheel is straight without the spacer I need to fix this issue because I'm sure it's throwing the suspension off.

Another thing I notice but might not be related is that when the clutch starts to engage it sounds like the rear end makes a banging noise and then stops once the clutch pedal is all the way out. This seems to have gotten worse since I bought it.

I'm going to fiddle with it but if I can't figure it out I'll take it to someone that actually knows what they're doing.

 

[Mustang5L5]

If the control arms are adjustable. Park it on a flat spot and measure from ground to fenderlip and see if there's a difference. One side might be higher than other causing the tire on the low side to sort of tilt into the wheel well a bit.

You'll want to adjust this

 

[j0rd4n]

If the control arms are adjustable. Park it on a flat spot and measure from ground to fenderlip and see if there's a difference. One side might be higher than other causing the tire on the low side to sort of tilt into the wheel well a bit.

You'll want to adjust this

That makes sense I'll take pics of it when I get off work and maybe someone can tell me how to adjust it.

 

[j0rd4n]

If the control arms are adjustable. Park it on a flat spot and measure from ground to fenderlip and see if there's a difference. One side might be higher than other causing the tire on the low side to sort of tilt into the wheel well a bit.

You'll want to adjust this

Here is some pics showing the spring perches and the frame mounts of the lower control arms. The brake cable got in the way but the second picture (passenger side) had about 8 threads showing and the driver side (first pic) had three. So I lowered the passenger side to match the diver side and as far as I can tell the camber issue went away. I'll need to check in the daylight it was dark by the time I finished. I measured before I adjusted it and the passenger side was a quarter inch taller, when I matched the control arms at 3 threads showing it was about 3/16 lower on passenger side. Should I match the heighth of the car from the ground or match the threads showing?

Another thing I just noticed is that these control arms have the spherical bushing and from what I read that's meant for the drag strip which I don't do, I mostly just cruise in it and do roll races or dig races where I'm not endangering other people. What's the benefit/drawbacks of these and should I just.change them all together? The passenger side seemed to be contorted (check pics) when the car was just jacked up a few inches evenly right in the middle of the pumpkin

Let me know what you guys think or if I need to take more/better pics

 

[Mustang5L5]

Match height of car on the ground.

I have similar adjustable control arms, and the thread count between the two is not the same. need to adjust on level ground based on the weight distribution of car so that rear fender height is the same on both sides (and equal or higher than front)

 

[j0rd4n]

Match height of car on the ground.

I have similar adjustable control arms, and the thread count between the two is not the same. need to adjust on level ground based on the weight distribution of car so that rear fender height is the same on both sides (and equal or higher than front)

Ok will do thanks. I also need to check around and look at the suspension because this chattering/shaking noise/feeling has seemed to get worse.when I start to Engage the clutch the whole back of the car shakes like something is extremely loose. But once I get passed the point where it shakes and the car is moving its fine and drives normal. I spoke with a technician at my work and he seems to think that's what it is and if not he thinks it could be an issue with the clutch being loose. When I bought the car 2 months ago it did not do that and seems to have started happening the more I drove it and has gotten progressively worse. Any ideas what else may be causing this?

If need be I could take a video because the sound it makes is pretty loud and should be audible on Camera.

 

[General karthief]

Have you checked the mounting area where your control arms connect to the body? Those solid joints can raise cane with those mounting locations when abused.
There are several things that can make the clutch chatter if thats what is happening,

 

[j0rd4n]

Have you checked the mounting area where your control arms connect to the body? Those solid joints can raise cane with those mounting locations when abused.
There are several things that can make the clutch chatter if thats what is happening,

I've checked where the control arms mount everything looks fine. Maximum motorsports claims on there website that the solid mounts actually prevent anything from happening to the torque boxes.

The only thing I could see possibly making some noise was the weight that gets attatched to the bottom of the differential. It was literally just hanging from the mounting bolts and very loose. I never see anyone with this still attached to there car so i assume it's not needed and took it off. I meant to take pics of it but my phone died. The battery on my car was also dead so I wasn't able to see if that made a difference. I will test it tonight when I get off work

 

[General karthief]

My 89 gt still has that ugly thing stuck to the rear, not really sure what it does, vibration damper? I don't know.
MM may claim they prevent damage but I've seen it with sticky tires and wheels up hole shots, extreme I know and had catastrophic consequences. Classic example of not preparing for the inevitable. Probably ok for street use and occasional drag day.
I just beat on my crap in the street on cheap azz tires so I can go sideways when I want too.

 

[Mustang5L5]

Mine isn't there. Still have it but not in a hurry to put it back on

 

[General karthief]

But what does it do?
Ballast?
Vibration?
So someone can ask wtf?

 

[j0rd4n]

Mine isn't there. Still have it but not in a hurry to put it back on

But what does it do?
Ballast?
Vibration?
So someone can ask wtf?

I've read that it's suppose to stop driveline vibration so I'm going to put it back now that I've noticed it wasn't making this noise/shaking I'm having.
Whoever did the exhaust on my car **** something up. Because the driver side exhaust tip that goes over the axle is rubbing on the upper control arm and the passenger side is rubbing on my tire without the wheel spacers on. So for now I'm just going to take the tips off and have it coming right off the muffler until I figure out how to fix that.

I really want to fix this shaking noise tho and I'm certain now it's someone in the rear end or suspension. I took my back seats out and now I can hear it clear as day

 

[General karthief]

What your hearing could be that exhaust rub'n, you'll find out when you move the pipe, can you loosen up the connection in front of the muffler and kinda tweek it over enough to clear ?
Good muffler shop can tweek it for ya,

 

[j0rd4n]

What your hearing could be that exhaust rub'n, you'll find out when you move the pipe, can you loosen up the connection in front of the muffler and kinda tweek it over enough to clear ?
Good muffler shop can tweek it for ya,

Ya I hope that's all it is. I'll take that part of the exhaust out tonight and see what happens.