Why does the rear passenger wheels stick out more?
 

Me, nor Martin, or Chris have ever noticed this before until my younger brother pointed it out on my car. The rear passenger side is out more than the driver side. I have new bushings in the back end, Moser axles and eibach springs, Martin is all stock, and Chris has Racing beat springs with new bushings. Like I said all 3 of them hare more offset one way. Its more noticeable with my wider wheels now. If anybody has any clue of why it is that way let us know.

if ur positive that both rear rims have the same offset/backspace, maybe ur rear end is cock-eyed, bent arms etc etc.

Too many mods?

is it lowered a lot?

when i measured mine in the front it was different too, but thats because the alignment IS different with no driver

If you lower the rear, the watts linkage will cause a slight shift to one side. But I'm about as low as it gets, and I can't see any offset at all. Maybe someone slid into a curb at one point?

mine is lowered as well and my rear end is a c hair to the drivers side. Very hard to see, didn't see it with stock SE wheels but with the 225/50r15 you can barely see it.

i noticed this on mine too... lowered it to about 25 inches? (top of the rear wheel well)

I have slid into a curb, which would explain my car having the issue, but not the other two. Our cars have the axle sitting more towards the passenger side. It's an oddity that I believe could be attributed to the watts linkage, or perhaps has something to do with the offset angle of the drivetrain. If anyone has noticed the engine/ trans sit a little angled and this may have something to do with the odd positioning of the rear axle. I've been drinking a bit so this may all be total BS. Sam just pointed this out to me today and I thought it was very very strange.

it annoys me. i thought it was just an optical illusion

Mine and Chris's cars are the only 2 lowered ... Martin's suspension is all stock but yet all 3 have them, Mine more than Martin's car I'll see how chris' compares to mine tomorrow. I'll take some measurements too while I'm at it. Its just really odd

the watts link is the lateral axle locator on the 1st gen. our watts link is built wrong - the links are not equal length, and the pivot is not centrally located. thus the damn thing will not perfectly locate the rear end like a watts should. As the rear suspension compresses, the rear end will shift to one side. Conclusion: no suprise to me it shifts to passenger side.

But this is noticeable when the car isn't even moving. I checked mine when I was parked, when Sam called me and asked me about it. I went outside and sure as shit there's a noticeable difference. Definitely makes sense that it's the stupid watts link causing the problem though. How did Mazda manage to make a halfway awesome sports car? I mean, a poorly designed rear end linkage setup, and a steering box out of a pickup truck. Come on, I thought those boys in Hiroshima were smarter than that.

hmm considering i'm always on the full line of gas , and knowing that martin is usually on the lower end of gas tank that might make up for a bit of a difference.

would the mazda trix watts link part fix it?

if you're refering to the watts link re-inforcement piece , then no that is only there to not break that piece off. Orion just installed that on his car actually.

yeah.. i kinna figured that out once i posted it

orion did you notice any difference from the feel of the car after you installed teh mazda trix piece? I'd expect the less flex there is in the link the more solid feedback you'd get.

I noticed this problem also when I installed my 15x8 rota rbs in the rear....... It made it close enough it'd rub more on one side than the other...... I put the same wheels on my newer 7 and they don't rub.... yet. I'm still yet to install the 1.25 inch drop springs.. :)

Yep, just went out and measured my SA. Its 1/4 inch further out on the passenger side. I have the RB springs which didn't seem to affect my ride height that much when I installed them. I guess the old springs sagged almost as much as the new springs lowered things.

I wonder if you had it at stock ride height if it would even out?

hmmmm i've got the same thing. i never noticed it until you brought it up, but yeah, the passenger side is off...

my OCD makes me want to go buy a new wheel with an offset difference to correct it...

25 inches!!!! you must be close to scraping your door handles off.

So would the g-force Tri-link and panhard bar fix all this?

i would like to know the answer to this as well.

lmao, mine sticks out to the drivers side!

mine's like 25" from the top of the wheel arch to the ground too

Mine does it too, towards the passenger side. Not a biggy. just more incentive to go 3-link and panhard when I get the cash.