Suspension misalignment

[jaguar&mg]

At the risk of obsessing about this matter, I have recently corrected the 1/2 inch low on the LH (driver side) front of my 3.8S which after 170K miles has all its original springs. I found on the internet these hard rubber spacers and being quite inexpensive, ordered a set.

I think it's quite easy to over-think. Every time I look at the car I notice the suspension height. I actually think that the turning circle diagram (posted some time ago by Glyn) doesn't quite work with my car. I think that, in this photo taken this evening, it seems that my front wheels are too far back — the gap in front of the wheel is not the same as that behind it. It should be the same, I think. I thought this was related to suspension misalignment but now wonder if it is related to the after-market power steering that was installed a few years ago with rack and pinion conversion. It's possibly positioned not quite correctly. Any thoughts?
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Church 01.jpeg (3.72 MiB) Viewed 1202 times

At a different angle it doesn't show as much — but I am very aware of it. And I know that the back is slightly too low, too. I don't think John's hard rubber spacers would work on the IRS (?).

Church 02 copy.jpeg (3.8 MiB) Viewed 1202 times

[Glyn Ruck]

Has someone messed with your subframe mounting?

This is a good reference ~ take the shadow into account:

c487-leftside-remote.jpg (103.24 KiB) Viewed 1183 times

IMG_0825.jpg (1.84 MiB) Viewed 1182 times

[John Quilter]

I don't think John's hard rubber spacers would work on the IRS (?).

They might, but you might have to cut down their thickness a bit to get them to squeeze between the coils of the rear springs even when the spring is fully extended. I had to do a bit of that with the ones I fitted to the LH front coil spring.

[John Quilter]

At the risk of obsessing about this matter, I have recently corrected the 1/2 inch low on the LH (driver side) front of my 3.8S which after 170K miles has all its original springs. I found on the internet these hard rubber spacers and being quite inexpensive, ordered a set.

I think it's quite easy to over-think. Every time I look at the car I notice the suspension height. I actually think that the turning circle diagram (posted some time ago by Glyn) doesn't quite work with my car. I think that, in this photo taken this evening, it seems that my front wheels are too far back — the gap in front of the wheel is not the same as that behind it. It should be the same, I think. I thought this was related to suspension misalignment but now wonder if it is related to the after-market power steering that was installed a few years ago with rack and pinion conversion. It's possibly positioned not quite correctly. Any thoughts?
.
Church 01.jpeg


At a different angle it doesn't show as much — but I am very aware of it. And I know that the back is slightly too low, too. I don't think John's hard rubber spacers would work on the IRS (?).


Church 02 copy.jpeg

I really do not think the installation of the rack & pinon system would have any effect on the fore and aft wheel relation to the fender wheel opening. It does not change the A frames upper or lower or the upright that the stub axle attaches to. It certainly did not on my car when I had the R & P system fitted.

[jaguar&mg]

Has someone messed with your subframe mounting?

Quite possibly, but probably before I owned the car I think. Extensive work had been carried out 'underneath' by a very reputable firm and, more recently, I have had some work done on the power steering—including r&p conversion.

So how would I/a garage be able to tell? And what sort of work—if any is possible—would rectify the situation? Big/prohibitively expensive, or not so bad?!

[jaguar&mg]

I really do not think the installation of the rack & pinon system would have any effect on the fore and aft wheel relation to the fender wheel opening. It does not change the A frames upper or lower or the upright that the stub axle attaches to. It certainly did not on my car when I had the R & P system fitted.

It's useful to be able to write that idea [of mine] off. Thank you. I do need to solve this, though, as the road-holding is not what it should be (I have had an S-type before) but this being an impossibly expensive job (subframe mounting?) will, sadly, at the very least have to delay anything being resolved imminently.