Mongrel Apache 2.2 SSL

I have an Apache2.2 SSL setup with vhosts on my server with fastCGI
running several applications. The applications all work except IE
hangs any time the network traffic isn’t perfect. I have very few
problems with firefox.

When I run native Mongrel on a port and point the browser to that port
it runs much much better. When I try pointing Apache to that port
either using ProxyPass or mod_proxy_balancer I get a 403 forbidden
area when trying to access my app through the virtual host.

Is this a permissions issue? Do I need different permissions on my
public folder if running through proxy instead of just through apache
or directly accessing the Mongrel port?

Thanks!

Jake