Rear wheels are tracking funny

[thaywood]

FWIW, that part y'all are discussing is called "Toe Compensator Link", "Alignment Toe Adjuster", "Toe Link", or "Toe Adjuster".

Personally, I think Ford put it there just to add more stability to the whole rear IRS system; "stiffen it up" so to speak.

You're all saying the same thing...

Pretty much

 

[NetKeym]

Pretty much

Also, to get back on the original thread posting, I doubt that part is causing his problem.

 

[manish]

This post was extremely helpful!

 

[thaywood]

Okay, just for sh!ts and giggles, here's the link:

http://www.sccoa.com/articles/roadtrack89.html

Joe Cesarz, Ford's specialty-car suspension guru for midsize cars, detailed the philosophy behind the car's neutral handling. "When I tune a car's suspension, I don't want any funnies,..."Sure we could have tuned a bit more oversteer character into the car's handling, and I could take about two seconds off my times on the handling course. But that'd be the type of suspension that would get most drivers in trouble. Instead, we installed our special toe link."

"This extra bit of hardware between the lower H-arm and the subframe and a soft bushing in the H-arm's front pivot point help steer the rear wheels in the same direction as the front wheels during braking or acceleration. This helps eliminate the rear suspension's natural propensity to toe out-which would cause the back of the car to swing out. "

"Poor man's 4-wheel-steering" indeed

 

[DLF]

Okay, just for sh!ts and giggles, here's the link:

http://www.sccoa.com/articles/roadtrack89.html

Joe Cesarz, Ford's specialty-car suspension guru for midsize cars, detailed the philosophy behind the car's neutral handling. "When I tune a car's suspension, I don't want any funnies,..."Sure we could have tuned a bit more oversteer character into the car's handling, and I could take about two seconds off my times on the handling course. But that'd be the type of suspension that would get most drivers in trouble. Instead, we installed our special toe link."

"This extra bit of hardware between the lower H-arm and the subframe and a soft bushing in the H-arm's front pivot point help steer the rear wheels in the same direction as the front wheels during braking or acceleration. This helps eliminate the rear suspension's natural propensity to toe out-which would cause the back of the car to swing out. "

"Poor man's 4-wheel-steering" indeed

All the toe link does is minimize excessive toe changes during acceleration and deceleration due to the soft OEM bushings.

All that means is that is does exactly what I stated earlier.

They just tried to present their band-aid in a positive light. You're falling for the marketing hype.

 

[thaywood]

It also says exactly the same thing I said. So we're both right. They put the soft bushing in there on purpose to work with the toe link.

 

[isaiah3g]

Soooo.............????

This doesn't cause the wheels to track further forward than the other?

I puller the wheels off and they do need replacing. Bushings at little to nothing there. Also, tire tread wear is equal. Should I not worry about this?

 

[NetKeym]

Soooo.............????

This doesn't cause the wheels to track further forward than the other?

I puller the wheels off and they do need replacing. Bushings at little to nothing there. Also, tire tread wear is equal. Should I not worry about this?

Next time you have an alignment done, make sure it's a 4 wheel alignment (the cheapest around here is the Ford dealership, it's 69.95), and the tech will tell you if something needs replacing - he'll know when he tries to adjust it.

 

[DLF]

Is your sub-frame aligned correctly? There are alignment holes just behind the rear support bushings on both sides.

 

[isaiah3g]

Ahhh.... thats what those holes are for!

The car has a good 4 wheel alignment on it. I know for sure. He gave me the read out sheet and explained it, I brought it to another guy and he said
"That's one hell of an alignment"

I'll check the alignment of the sub frame.

 

[NetKeym]

Ahhh.... thats what those holes are for!

The car has a good 4 wheel alignment on it. I know for sure. He gave me the read out sheet and explained it, I brought it to another guy and he said
"That's one hell of an alignment"

I'll check the alignment of the sub frame.

Well, one of the shops is filling you full of BS. If your rear tire is wearing, sounds like the first one that did the alignment, IMHO.

 

[isaiah3g]

Its normal wear on the tires. Which I don't understand. I rolled them next to each other when I took them off and it was equal wear.

I'm checking the subframe alignment tomorrow.

 

[mespock]

With Mark VIII suspension ... I always say when in doubt give Eddie a call.

 

[NetKeym]

Its normal wear on the tires. Which I don't understand. I rolled them next to each other when I took them off and it was equal wear.

I'm checking the subframe alignment tomorrow.

So you're saying the car runs "dog tailed" down the road? That means the rear tires don't follow the front tires and thus wear on one side faster.

 

[isaiah3g]

Oh I know what your thinking, no, it doesn't do that one bit. I had my pops follow me and he said the car tracks straight.

I even wet the concrete and rolled through it and nothing was off track following the front.

Its as if someone just moved the pass rear forward about 1/2-3/4 an inch. Nothing is out of the ordinary except that and its easier to turn left.

 

[isaiah3g]

I do know the car took a hit to the passenger side and that whole side was repainted. The wheel could have been like this for the past year or so. I really don't know how long. I was just cleaning the wheels and messin around and noticed it.

 

[NetKeym]

My Thunderbird used to be like that after I lost control one time, spun out and did a couple of 360's down the highway (it went from pavement - grass - pavement). After that happened, I noticed the passenger side rear wheel was "leaning out" excessively and like a couple inches forward of the other rear wheel.

When I went to have it aligned, they couldn't do it because something was bent. To make the car look "normal" the tech put about 1.5* positive camber on the driver's side rear wheel so they matched - lol. I took it apart and it turned out to be the upper control arm that was bent.

I had trouble with the right rear tire wearing out prematurely after that until I fixed it. I've since swapped in an LSC rear sub-frame so EVERYTHING has been changed now.

 

[DLF]

I do know the car took a hit to the passenger side and that whole side was repainted. The wheel could have been like this for the past year or so. I really don't know how long. I was just cleaning the wheels and messin around and noticed it.

Now you mention that the car was "tweaked". That would have been good info to put in your first post.

All sorts of thing could be wrong, the sub-frame might even be bent.