Xida install questions...One corner lower
I have a dilemma that I believe is out of my knowledge base. I installed my Xida coilovers last night. The install went pretty easily with no major hiccups. All bolts came out without to much of a fight, the coilovers went in easy, they look might purrttty.
My issue is that the passenger rear corner sits visibly and measurably lower. I never noticed it in stock form but was not paying attention. I set the spring perch heights at the same height for the two rears before the install and verified once on the car as well but when on the ground and after driving it for around 60 miles, the passenger rear sits .75" lower then the driver rear. I have measured hub to fender as well as pinch weld and they show the same result. If I was to make it to where both rear pinch welds matched at 5.0" the passenger rear spring perch will have to be tightened much more than the driver side. Will that effect handling in the long run? Also what could be causing such a difference? I could understand a quarter of an inch but not three quarters. I verified both sets of springs between both rear assemblies are the same part numbers. I did not assemble them, they came pre-assembled from 949. Any help would be welcomed. |
Pics are sometimes helpful...
Simple experiment, swap rear setups (this if you cannot see anything different between them). Have you verified that the two front ones are identical (I assume that you don't have control over the crossweight)? |
Originally Posted by NiklasFalk
(Post 1230088)
Pics are sometimes helpful...
Simple experiment, swap rear setups (this if you cannot see anything different between them). Have you verified that the two front ones are identical (I assume that you don't have control over the crossweight)? |
Did you tighten the lower shock bolts on the rear with the vehicles weight on the tires? If not, that could be your problem.
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Originally Posted by wannafbody
(Post 1230095)
Did you tighten the lower shock bolts on the rear with the vehicles weight on the tires? If not, that could be your problem.
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They come pre-assembled, but not pre-setup. Once they are installed you have to adjust them. The adjustment will be different from side to side. This is part of setting the ride height and corner weight. If you just put them in as assembled then they will be way off.
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Originally Posted by Satisaii
(Post 1230098)
They come pre-assembled, but not pre-setup. Once they are installed you have to adjust them. The adjustment will be different from side to side. This is part of setting the ride height and corner weight. If you just put them in as assembled then they will be way off.
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Which side sits higher? Given the same perch position, the passenger side rear should be measuring higher.
.75" difference in ride height seems like a lot. I haven't ever seen a stock shock with a fixed perch showing that much difference side to side. My guess is that the shock collars are actually not adjusted equally. The other possibility is that your driveway or garage isn't level side to side. |
Ground must be perfectly, flawlessly level. Lower shock bolt will have nothing to do with it since that's a spherical. If you have OE bushings, make sure those aren't bound up.
I hate to ask, but are there any signs of a major crash in the tub? Wrinkled framerails, etc? |
Originally Posted by Savington
(Post 1230180)
Ground must be perfectly, flawlessly level. Lower shock bolt will have nothing to do with it since that's a spherical. If you have OE bushings, make sure those aren't bound up.
I hate to ask, but are there any signs of a major crash in the tub? Wrinkled framerails, etc? I have not taken a thorough look to see if I see any major damage. The car is completely under coated so it will hide it's flaws to some degree if there is any damage. It had crossed my mind but never noticed it with the own suspension. |
Originally Posted by Savington
(Post 1230180)
Ground must be perfectly, flawlessly level. Lower shock bolt will have nothing to do with it since that's a spherical. If you have OE bushings, make sure those aren't bound up.
I hate to ask, but are there any signs of a major crash in the tub? Wrinkled framerails, etc? I have not taken a thorough look to see if I see any major damage. The car is completely under coated so it will hide it's flaws to some degree if there is any damage. It had crossed my mind but never noticed it with the oem suspension. |
You can level out contact patch areas with a bucket and 1/2" clear tubing like this:
1) Fill bucket halfway with water and place it in a central location so its easy to reach each corner (you want to mark where the tires go and then move the car). 2) Tape a long length of clear plastic hose to a yard stick with the open end facing up. You want to tape it in at least two spots so there is a linear section that won't move on the yard stick. 3) Siphon water into the tube to create a water level somewhere along the yard stick. 4) Place the yard stick at each corner and note where the water line is on the tubing. 5) Write down the measurements and use some kind of shims at each corner until all four patches are level. |
Take the car out for a roll for a few blocks and back (check for loose things first!) - I've had things settle dramatically after a short cruise.
Edit; Also, rubber control arm bushings can bind and hold the car up, make sure every moving bolt is loose until you torque it down with weight on the joint(s). |
Originally Posted by Der_Idiot
(Post 1230422)
Take the car out for a roll for a few blocks and back (check for loose things first!) - I've had things settle dramatically after a short cruise.
Edit; Also, rubber control arm bushings can bind and hold the car up, make sure every moving bolt is loose until you torque it down with weight on the joint(s). Didn't think I needed to loosen every control arm bolt but the binding makes sense. I saw some cracked bushings my 3rd look over everything. |
Uh, I wouldn't throw more parts at it until you fix the problem. That's only if your stock bushings are the one and only failure on that one corner. And they're known to not be a failure point.
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Originally Posted by curly
(Post 1230557)
Uh, I wouldn't throw more parts at it until you fix the problem. That's only if your stock bushings are the one and only failure on that one corner. And they're known to not be a failure point.
I will loosen every moving parts bolts and re tighten them on then ground and see if it helps. If not it will just come apart sooner, so I can figure out what the real issue is. |
raise rear corner .75"
/thread. |
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Noticed she is leaning front and rear heavily to the passenger side. This morning I had it up on the lift, loosened every moving bolt on the suspension. Drove it around and put around 4 miles on it. Brought it back, tightened everything and went and had an alignment. I have 2 more weeks to get a free alignment and after the body work I had done, the repair shop had the passenger rear out of whack.
I had the alignment shop align it to the 949 Dual Duty alignment settings. The guy doing the work said he had a hard time with the rear and getting them to 949s settings. He said he felt like some alignment bolts were getting stuck or something was binding up in the suspension. You can see the leaning the pictures. Again don't see any frame damage, atleast from the parts of the frame I can see. So unless it is damaged where it goes into the actually body, I am just at a lost. I have read where most cars have a slight lean almost built in to them from the factory but I wouldn't think it is this severe. Sounds like I will be pulling it all back out and measure it and then pulling pieces off to see if there is any damage to bolts, or bushings. https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1431464554 https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1431464554 |
So there was crash repair? Did it damage the wheels? If you damaged the wheels, you most likely bent the hubs, control arms, subframe, and alignment bolts.
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Originally Posted by curly
(Post 1230818)
So there was crash repair? Did it damage the wheels? If you damaged the wheels, you most likely bent the hubs, control arms, subframe, and alignment bolts.
My tech noticed that when i sit in the car it levels out. Did Mazda have a factory built in lean to compensate for the driver at all? https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1431466950 |
No.
I'd look at the top hat mounting flange. Did they damage it punching out the rear quarter? |
Originally Posted by curly
(Post 1230835)
No.
I'd look at the top hat mounting flange. Did they damage it punching out the rear quarter? Before I took it in, I used my factory jack to push the fender out so it would stop cutting into my tire when i drove it with a piece of would on both sides of the jack to even out pressure. |
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Here is a better angle. It wasn't severe. Per carfax this car was in no accidents before me, but the body shop said someone had previously done work to that side. But who ever had done it had done a really nice job because of the minimal amount of bondo used. So who knows how bad the accident before that was and how well of a job.
So I will just pull the suspension back out, pull some control arms out. Measure both sides really closely and then re-assemble to see how it goes. After that if I am still having issues, I will just say to hell with it and deal with it. https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1431468363 |
TL;DR
are you measuring from pinch welds or just visually gauging from the fender? |
The only thing I have to add is that I'm glad I didn't sell my FFD's. They're a great-looking wheel.
Hope you can get your alignment stuff sorted soon. |
Originally Posted by psyber_0ptix
(Post 1231123)
TL;DR
are you measuring from pinch welds or just visually gauging from the fender?
Originally Posted by turbofan
(Post 1231127)
The only thing I have to add is that I'm glad I didn't sell my FFD's. They're a great-looking wheel.
Hope you can get your alignment stuff sorted soon. |
I would also suspect something in the suspension arms, subframe, upright, etc. Sure the techs said it was all straight, but there's pretty clear evidence that it's most likely not.
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Another obvious possibility- Did you see the springs side by side to see if they are the same? I know sometimes 949 drop ships springs when their stock is low. It's possible the the spring manufacturer goofed your order.
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I would not over think this. Adjust the coilovers and be done with it. That's why you got height adjustable suspension!
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I just installed mine a few weeks ago. I pre-measured both sides before install and the ride height differed by about 1/4" after the install. I would just adjust the perches until you have a height you are satisfied with. Also, something to note is that when you adjust one side it effects the other corners as well.
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Do you care about looks or performance? Because unless you've put the car on scales to corner balance then it's all pretty meaningless. As good as the Miata balance is from the factory, the driver, fuel level and other optional equipment makes a difference in how the car will sit at each corner. Even when corner balanced properly I would still expect there to be a slight and measurable difference in ride height at each wheel end.
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