Alignment Off.. Guess Why?

Slo5Oh89 · Sep 5, 2012

My car is pulling to the right and I am not sure why? I performed some mods and it got way worse. In the last 6 months I have had MM Subframe connectors welded on, MM K member brace, new sway bar end links and each time got worse. Is it just from getting the car more stable? Ideas? Should I just get the alignment done after the plates and see where we are? It is a an '89 LX Convertible with 72K miles.

Also I am looking to add adjustable caster camber plates so I can add the MM strut tower brace. Are the MM plates suggested? Then I would like to do the springs and shocks/struts.

madspeed · Sep 5, 2012

Was the car sitting on level surface when the subframes were installed? When putting on the enlinks, are they even? I had a car in the past the pulled to one side after endlink install.

Sent from my rooted, rommed Galaxy Nexus....

Slo5Oh89 · Sep 10, 2012

Well when the sub frames were welded it was on a lift the garage. And I put the end links on in the garage. But it was like before these mods then it has just started to get off more and more. This winter I am looking at new springs, adj shocks struts and caster camber plates

madspeed · Sep 10, 2012

I would say you need to have it at an alignment shop for evaluation

Sent from my rooted, rommed Galaxy Nexus....

Noobz347 · Sep 10, 2012

Slo5Oh89 said:
Well when the sub frames were welded it was on a lift the garage. And I put the end links on in the garage. But it was like before these mods then it has just started to get off more and more. This winter I am looking at new springs, adj shocks struts and caster camber plates

Ok, it was on a lift. What kind of lift? Was the suspension loaded?

...and why is this in the tuning forum????

moved to tech

88LX5.Oh · Sep 10, 2012

I bet it was a 2 post lift and it was lifted by the sub frames. Thus not having the suspension loaded. Causing the body to tweak and when you welded in the sub frame connectors, the car remained in this tweaked position.

Or you had it on a drive-on lift and my previous statement is entirely wrong.

95Vert383AOD · Sep 10, 2012

Time to grind the welds and find a roll on lift.

MFE92 · Sep 10, 2012

How the subframes were welded isn't causing the pull. What are the current alignment settings? Tire pressures? Is there more brake dust on one wheel than the other? Does it pull only when the brakes are on? Does it do it worse with the brakes on? Tried switching tires from side to side? There's half a dozen things that can cause it to pull, subframes aren't one of them.

95Vert383AOD · Sep 10, 2012

MFE92 said:
How the subframes were welded isn't causing the pull. What are the current alignment settings? Tire pressures? Is there more brake dust on one wheel than the other? Does it pull only when the brakes are on? Does it do it worse with the brakes on? Tried switching tires from side to side? There's half a dozen things that can cause it to pull, subframes aren't one of them.

How do we know when he hasn't told us how the subframes were put on yet? Welding subframes in without the suspension loaded can surely leave the frame frozen in the "tweaked" position it was lifted at.

MFE92 · Sep 11, 2012

Well, maybe because we haven't heard jack about the things that really make a difference, like say, oh, I don't know, the alignment, or several other things that actually contribute to a car pulling in one direction. The ohmigodthesubframeconnectorswereweldedonwrong bugaboo is WAY overstated. If you think that anything short of putting connectors on a tree-wrapped totaled wreck actually makes a difference that causes the car to pull noticeably in one direction, then I've got some prime south-central florida property you need to look at. Let's stick to the real basics that make real differences, people.

95Vert383AOD · Sep 11, 2012

He said it got "Way worse" after the mods. So while he needed an alignment possibly at some point in the past the list of mods has made matters worse.

Wait what mods are those?

and i quote...

"In the last 6 months I have had MM Subframe connectors welded on, MM K member brace, new sway bar end links and each time got worse."

end quote.

So yes what you advise may have held some weight some 6 months ago, but if he wants this car to start driving correctly he needs to work backwards from the last thing he did.

READ the OP...If he said Subframes and a K member made it worse then thats the word i'm taking as gold.

MFE92 · Sep 11, 2012

And the alignment is? The alignment IS....? The brakes are...? The tire pressures are....? The tires have been switched side to side? In other words, have any of the stuff that really makes a difference, rather than exacerbating a difference, been eliminated? We don't know, because he hasn't said. In the meantime, in the absence of actual facts that might inform the situation, let's blame subframe connector installation while we buy some eye of newt and some tiger balls on our way to hearing the real truth from the palm reader at the carnival, because what she says makes perfect sense. It's gold.

Noobz347 · Sep 11, 2012

MFE92 said:
Well, maybe because we haven't heard jack **** about the things that really make a difference, like say, oh, I don't know, the alignment, or several other things that actually contribute to a car pulling in one direction. The ohmigodthesubframeconnectorswereweldedonwrong bugaboo is WAY overstated. If you think that anything short of putting connectors on a tree-wrapped totaled wreck actually makes a difference that causes the car to pull noticeably in one direction, then I've got some prime south-central florida property you need to look at. Let's stick to the real basics that make real differences, people.

Ummmm.... yes. Improperly welded sub-frames do cause some wonky steering effects. I'm no suspension expert by any means but I've been there, done that, and have the t-shirt.

95Vert383AOD · Sep 11, 2012

You guys scare the people away just looking for answers. lol.....

Dust up on the reading comprehension when helping someone diagnose. I know no more about his car than anyone else replying. What i do know is whats said. Without Subframes damn near every fox car i owned had doors that didn't correctly line up by merely lifting the front wheels off the ground.

When Slo5Oh89 says the connectors made things worse i'm not going to ignore that. I'm going to tell him to remove the sub frames, Get a good alignment and reweld them with the car sitting on all 4 wheels.

But i guess he could just get an alignment with a tweaked frame and see how that may work.

Once again or 3 more times....
"In the last 6 months I have had MM Subframe connectors welded on, MM K member brace, new sway bar end links and each time got worse. "
"In the last 6 months I have had MM Subframe connectors welded on, MM K member brace, new sway bar end links and each time got worse. "
"In the last 6 months I have had MM Subframe connectors welded on, MM K member brace, new sway bar end links and each time got worse. "

What do you gather from that statement Sir?

Noobz347 · Sep 11, 2012

Honestly... I'd be half suprised if the OP even found his way back to his own post. It was initially filed in the tuning area.

Those of us that are asking about the sub-frame connectors are asking because it appears that, that was the first point where things went wrong. If that were not corrected before moving on to the next hacked modification, then it's no wonder why things got progressively worse.

I think the turn that the thread took is not the result of anyone's lack of "reading comprehension". It's a lack of input from the OP to answer questions that were asked as early as the second post in the thread.

I can say without reservation that MFE is someone I consider to be a "go to" guy for suspension but after seeing an 89 go down the road like a crab (no chit... I could see the driver's side door handle as I drove down the road behind him) after having sub-frames welded in, well.... I cannot discount their effect after having been installed wrong. LOL

MFE92 · Sep 11, 2012

95Vert383AOD said:
You guys scare the people away just looking for answers. lol.....

Dust up on the reading comprehension when helping someone diagnose. I know no more about his car than anyone else replying. What i do know is whats said. Without Subframes damn near every fox car i owned had doors that didn't correctly line up by merely lifting the front wheels off the ground.

When Slo5Oh89 says the connectors made things worse i'm not going to ignore that. I'm going to tell him to remove the sub frames, Get a good alignment and reweld them with the car sitting on all 4 wheels.

But i guess he could just get an alignment with a tweaked frame and see how that may work.

Once again or 3 more times....
"In the last 6 months I have had MM Subframe connectors welded on, MM K member brace, new sway bar end links and each time got worse. "
"In the last 6 months I have had MM Subframe connectors welded on, MM K member brace, new sway bar end links and each time got worse. "
"In the last 6 months I have had MM Subframe connectors welded on, MM K member brace, new sway bar end links and each time got worse. "

What do you gather from that statement Sir?

So a guy says he keeps getting heatstroke.
In the last 6 months he changed to Nike shirts, Nike shorts, and Nike shoes, and each time he keeps getting heatstroke.
In the last 6 months he changed to Nike shirts, Nike shorts, and Nike shoes, and each time he keeps getting heatstroke.
In the last 6 months he changed to Nike shirts, Nike shorts, and Nike shoes, and each time he keeps getting heatstroke.

Has he had any water to drink? Has he tried to find shade? Is he overweight? DO YOU GET IT NOW?

91TwighlightGT · Sep 11, 2012

I don't know the condition of this guy's sub-frame connectors or how they were welded on, but I have to agree with MFE that I would rather check my alignment and basic things before I grab my grinder to go after the SFC's. That would only be a last resort with some real evidence that they are a problem.

Noobz347 · Sep 11, 2012

I wouldn't grind it off right away either. You can bet that I'd be checking to see if it's tweaked though.

jibloni · Sep 11, 2012

Bud what i would advice you to do is grind off the sub frame rails get you wheels alligned and then drive it and see if it worked. If it does then weld the sub frams back on (while on a role on car lift). If it doesnt, back to square one.

95Vert383AOD · Sep 11, 2012

Go to a body shop and have them take measurements on a frame machine. But then again it would probably be off anyways because its an 89 fox....Especially because its a convertible.

I've done crap wrong in life and sometimes the answer is time consuming and or costly. Some lessons have no easy fix some do.

Woman has a bad back.....Then she gets a breast implant and it gets worse. Do we toss her more aspirin and send her to a chiropractor? Sure why not lol

Alignment Off.. Guess Why?

Slo5Oh89

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madspeed

Colonel Mustard

Slo5Oh89

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