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Model specific boards => Golf mk2 => Topic started by: Goops on 23 October 2007, 23:37
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Hi People,
My steering has been quite horribly off for sometime so i got the wheel alignment done on sunday from a tire garage with the whole laser equipment etc,
the results are below:
(http://www.gsahota.com/gti/toe_cam.jpg)
My steering wheel is still not straight and the car veers to left if i dont hold the steering at a slight angle.
I am definitely going to go back this weekend, but was wondering if these results were ok??
My suspicion is, that the car had a probably prior accident on the right hand side (the fog light is slightly wonky and the bumper is scratched on this side) and this is a consequence etc
Look forward to your thoughts!
Thanks,
G
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your car is straight - the thrust angle tells you this
are you sure your steering wheel just isnt off centre? or your travelling along a badly cambered road?
also you shoulda got the camber set to at least -1 degree negative camber
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Cheers,
I tested this on the m25 motorway so doubt its the road itself to be honest.
I am not sure if the steering wheel is off centre, is there a way of determining this as opposed to the car wheel alignment?
Thanks,
G
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what about a perished wishbone bush? does it veer in the opposite direction when you reverse? :wink:
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No havent noticed any veering when reversing..
When i drive straight it does veer to the left, making me hold the wheel at a slight angle to steady her? :undecided:
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Most roads will tend to send your car to the left as they are cambered from the centre to help rain run off. A car park would be a better place to check maybe?
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looks like the rear beam is a bit out, i dunno how much difference it will make, but id be worried that the camber on the rear is different, its not adjustable! maybe has had a whack at some point?
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man that doesnt sound too good!
I rang up the tire place and they said come have a check on saturday so hopefully i can clear that up!
Yeah i can tell the car took a knock on the front right from the bumper and fog slightly damaged, hope the tire place can clarify this, fingers crossed she aint messed up! The rear beam scenario sounds messed up, surely there must be a solution?
Say the wheel alignment does not sort this, what would be the next step? Mechanic etc? Dunno much about wishbones/brushes/beam etc :sad:
Thanks for all the pointers by the way!
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im sitll sketchy that at one point i hit a big pothole jsut after lowering and m apssenger side might be sitting a litle lower.. i get the slightest drift to the left after getting the toe aligned.. havent had camber etc done. yet.
im hoping its jsut maybe the spring shifted, tho donts ee how due to the amount of compression on it.. it had new wishbones BBJs hubs and bearings in march then new struts and all the trimmings and springs in june..
time to get the tapemeasure to go from hub to wheelarch :undecided:
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the rears can simply be slack or worn wheel bearings. just tighten then up. easy check is to jack each rear up & then shake the wheel to see if there is any play in the bearings
as for finding if your steering wheel is straight dead centre - take yourself to a flat area (a car park as suggested) then driving slowly forward take your hands off the steering wheel. the car will now centre itself. if the steering wheel is not centred then take it off and re-adjust it there & then. its a big 24mm nut
also, if you get new wishbone bushes etc then the alignment will all need set again as it will defo be out
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Thanks for the input guys,
I tried the car in the car park, left the steering centre and drove off slowly, the wheel turned left and naturally she started pulling left.
I will deffo ask the car tyre place to have another look and hope they can check for slack/worn bearings... gona be running it quite close as I have an MRI scan on my knee in the morning.... everythings wonky in my world at the moment! :laugh:
Does anyone have rough costs associated with wishbones/brushes etc?
Thanks,
G
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if you measure your front wheel arch (between the rear of your tyre and the arch) on both sides this will show if wheel has been knocked back because there was no reading for castor on the print out but usually on wheel alignment green is good
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Hey peeps just an update,
Went back to tire place they checked it over again and sed the alignment was spot on.
The helpful chappy also checked the wishbones and sed everything was cool and not worn out..
He also checked for wheel bearings being worn etc and sed it was all steady....
guess this leaves the shocks??
Think I will get the shocks and alloys done together! (still sitting on the same original shocks for 15 years!) If anyone can recommend the best shocks/springs to keep the car at around 40mm drop that would be much appreciated!
On a side note my MRI scan results should be with me in a week, has anyone ever had ACL surgery done on their knee?! The results could mean no more football for me :cry:
Thanks for all the help, much appreciated
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have you fiddled with it since then? looking at that data its not spot on! you dont want more camber at the back than the front that will make it feel odd!
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Hi.
I just had my mk2 16V done on a rig that gave the same print out as you had. They locked the S/wheel in the ahead position before they set it up.
My story..
I've only had the car for two weeks and it was pulling all over the road, despite 6 months left on the MOT I found a load of probs. :rolleyes:
The first thing I found that made the biggest contribution was new shocks and top mounts, my top mounts were shot. I ran the car for a week and it still wasn't right. So on closer inspection I found some play in the bottom ball joints and track rod ends, also the drop link rods on the ARB were shot.
So in short I replaced the whole lot than had it aligned. Mines spot on now, the S/wheel is straight and no more strange pulling to one side.
Mine used to change direction on and off the throttle :laugh: a sure sign there's wear somewhere.
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I was plagued by this situation a while ago, and still a current problem, although the solution I hope will be quite an easy remedy, change the tyres!
The car came with Indonesian cheapo's on when I got it, and according to one of the tyre place chaps they are quite old and not perfect, so when I get some money I will change them. Had all the tracking sorted etc, balancing etc and they told me it was straight, my steering wheel is still at 12.15 not 12pm, but when the new tyres are fitted I'll get it all checked then.
Had lots of people look at it, including the Council's MOT people when it had the thorough MOT this month, which it sailed through, and even got complimented on, not bad for a daily run around!
Might actually have to spend some money on her and even get a service????
If I did have the money, I would do a total refurb, back to the original everything, but at the moment money dictates a little at a time, tyres next as there is no grip at all in the wet!
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had mine looked at today.. iirc it was the camber, but may have been toe, either way neither are adjustable at the rear are they..
the drivers side camber opr toe.. was COMPLETELY out of range.. well into the red.. my tyre sits 5mm closer to the arch that side to, but what i cant understand is if its the stub axle, or the actual beam thats bent, tried changing stub axle earlier, got through 3 bolts and the 4th was rounding at the head.. was a 12side socket tho, gotta try a 6 to be sure. :cry:
i ope it doesnt mean a beams needed, after all it has had an accident that side which could mean somethings up.. merf
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I bent a beam on a MK1 once. It's not as hard to change (or bend) as you would think, plus theyre cheap. Only trouble I had was with rusty brake lines. I bent the stub axle also. To be honest if youve bent the stub the beam must be suspect....
I would get the new one and the backing plates powder coated before it went on. Would look ace.
Ade
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i know i wrote some of this before but to sum it up now.. cant work out if its a bent stub axle or a bent beam now due to the new one not accepting the bearing.. it gets as far as the thread and no further.. atm, the wheels sitting 5mm closer to the wheel arch on the driver side, and has camber in the red on the laser alignment machine.. every other measurement, including the actual arch lip, the distance from the edge of arch to the strut, the bracket istance sill to bracket.. all even each side, but just not the tyre wall and how close it is.. thats not the same.. and i cant get why. the beams pushed over to the one side as it should be.
the only discrepancy other than that is the arch spat.. theres a small gap between spat and arch, as if where it got scraped has actually pushed the arch in slightly, but then, the measurements all add up equally so :huh:
so if the camber doesnt change with a new stub axle, its definately a bent beam does this mean? :cry:
and would a bent beam really cause the wheel to be 5mm closer to the arch :undecided:
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Hi Guys,
Thanks for all the feedback, scarily it is a comfort knowing that there are people out there with similar problems :rolleyes:
Right, I went back to the tire shop the guys were quite helpful and took the car back up the ramp for the laser treatment to check if everything was ok. The results are below:
(http://www.gsahota.com/gti/toe_cam2.jpg)
Apparently these are sound readings and should not contribute to the "steer to the left."
Further to your comments I requested the chap to give a once over to the wishbones and these were ok, he also checked the wheel bearings and said everything was solid and there was no give etc...
Guess this leaves, tyres/shocks/brakes ??
I am running budget tyres for the moment and am looking to get new alloys......come februrary will get :
new alloys/tyres/shocks and springs!! Then get the wheel aligment done once again and hope and pray for some symmetry :grin:
Digging through the forum I have found that most recommend Boge Turbo Shocks with Eibach springs?? Is this the best setup?
Thanks for all the help,
G
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Removed the driver side stub today and replaced it..
It was visibly warped and buckled on the backplate of it.. and the tihngs definately bent to a very slight angle.. :grin:
hoping i can get it checked out agian tomorrow and it have a green reading on the rear :cool:
if not..? then.. :angry:
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Then welcome to my world :grin:
I was going through the cars history from reciepts and found that last year it had a steering rack gaiter kit fitted?
Could this have anything to do with the drift??
Thanks!
G
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If your talking about a gentle drift to the left, this is completely natural on any car that spends most of its life on a cambered road, even on a flat car park surface, your car may still drift to the left, LHD cars will drift to the right!
Before you make any changes, you must start with the basics, otherwise its all a complete waste of time and money
1 Your front tyres must be in perfect condition, and inflated to the correct pressure, and have equal tread, one tire at 8k miles, and the other at 12k miles it not good enough!
if your tyres are directional, make sure they're fitted the rotation correct! also same brand per axle is essential
2 check that you havn't got broken springs! Shot shock absorbers, will not cause drifting, unless braking. also check brake calipers are not sticking.
3 Drive your car in a straight line, firmly holding the steering wheel, is the steering wheel in straight ahead position? if not, either get the tracking adjusted so it is, or refit the steering wheel
If your still not happy, then you have to start replacing,bushes and bearings etc
Tom
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The stub straightened it all up :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
Only thing now is it needs a new oil seal in the back of the drum.. oh and the tyres still sitting closer to teh arch :angry:
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Glad you made progress mattneck!
Thanks Thom89, it is a gentle drift to the left!
I will keep your list in mind and you are most probably right regarding tyres (runing budget ones at the front).
Should get new alloys/tyres/shocks/springs in februrary time so lets see what happens after i get the alignment etc done then!
Thanks for all your help guys,
G
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Getting some new tyres this weekend, so hopefully a full set of Pirelli P6000 should do the trick, for :angry: £175 I bloody hope they would do!
Looking forward to the results - any suggestions for other tyres and I'd consider getting them, but I'm doing it Saturday morning so be quick! Tyres sizes are 185/60/R14 (speed rating H - it's only an 8v) Running on classic steel wheels - it's a good look! :wink:
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Your bound to have a slight change side to side in arch clearance to wheel. The springs settle with age, the rubber top caps could be perished, the springs could be seated wrong into the top caps. Cars not on level ground etc. etc.
Unless it's miles out and the car doesn't fell right I wouldn't worry.
Take the springs out and measure them side to side, inspect everything and shove it all back in.
17mm spanners and sockets for the shocks and a 10mm socket for the shelf 1/4 panels, it's not that hard.
If you haven't had the shocks off for a while you can sort any other probs out at the same time (bump stops, top plates,rubber spring cap)
Ade
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did a full overhaul on all 4 corners in june :smiley:
insurance paid out that well - it desrved it.. it's ahd rear beam bushes 3 or 4 years ago IIRC..
had all brand new boge turbo gas shocks.. -40mm kilen springs brand new up front was everything.. nuts into top mount top mount boot bumpstop the lot, out back everything that wasnt a metal washer or somesuch was renewed to.. apart from the rear beam bushes.. but they werent cracked or anything so!
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show off :grin:
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burn all the rubber and fit some polyurethane :wink:
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burn all the rubber and fit some polyurethane :wink:
legalities.
:tongue: