Bump Steer - Thoughts on upside-down track rod ends?

[Supercharged 2]

I'm still getting fairly bad bump steer on my TDI, other than this I am very happy with the setup / handling... it's just poor roads really that throw it...

 

On the R32 / LCR and other newer VAG cars with sports suspension the track rod ends point up rather than down... this keeps the rods themselves more parallel and (I think) less prone to the effect known as bump-steer

 

Obviously it would throw the tracking out I would think but what do people think about lowered Corrado's running like this - anyone tried it or have a reasons why it wouldn't work??

[Toad 0]

The taper for the ball joint would be the wrong way up in the hub?

[Supercharged 2]

There isn't a taper tho mate just flat both sides

[Toad 0]

The hole is tapered though. I'm sure of it.

[coolrado 0]

This is quite common with the air cooled scene on the camper front axles, they drill the hole in the end of the arm out and then fit a tapered sleeve and flip the track rods over, not sure if the tapers are the same size as the camper ones.

[pete_griff 0]

The hole is tapered though. I'm sure of it.

 

the holes for the track rod ends in the hub carriers for a VR are DEFINITELY tapered; unsure about the hub carriers on earlier cars, but i would imagine they are too...

 

as for how much of a difference putting the track rods on the other way round on a rado if you could - i have absolutely no idea! - maybe you should pioneer it for the rest of us! :)

[Supercharged 2]

Arsebiscuits...

 

Yeah just ha a look at my spare bearing carriers and they are tapered, the TRE is not tho but I guess the taper just allows the ball joint to move with the hub at the right angle... either way it must be needed.

 

Still maybe worth investigating but not as easy as I first thought...

[paul20v 0]

all track rod end are either tappered with a nut

or on other stuff including some vag cars straight but clamped with a pinch bolt arrangement theres no way its straight with a nut on the bottom as they would work loose over time

not all tapers are obvious some are only slight.

[Kevin Bacon 5]

Good idea steve!

 

In addition, I think it would be worthwhile to restore the car's factory roll centre by lowering the outboard end of the wishbones. Maybe make up some spacers to bolt the ball joints onto?

 

It's just finding the time to do this stuff!

[herisites 0]

Good idea steve!

 

In addition, I think it would be worthwhile to restore the car's factory roll centre by lowering the outboard end of the wishbones. Maybe make up some spacers to bolt the ball joints onto?

 

It's just finding the time to do this stuff!

 

They already do these ball joint extenders apparently, i cant seem to find them though :?

[Kevin Bacon 5]

Me neither. Whiteline do spacer blocks for Jap hubs, which push the hub up 20mm (or effectively lowering the wishbone back to the factory angle, depending how you look at it) which is what you want for lowered cars.

 

But our hubs being from the Bronze age, we can't use such trickery.

 

Being as Steve is a walking ETKA catalogue, it won't be long before he finds some taller ball joints off another VAG car.

 

What would be nice is an offset ball joint for more caster, aswell as taller to push the hub angle up..... awesome.

[herisites 0]

Yeah i saw the Whiteline ones when googling, would be great to find ones for ours which dont cost stupid money! Is it as simple as just lowering the ball joing though, wouldnt the TRE end need doing as well so they still move together?

[GVK 0]

 

This is one way to do it. ( a friends mk2 Golf )

[nemesis360 0]

Is that a CV joint/hub bolt with some nuts and a rose joint? that certainly is one way of doing it :)

[paul20v 0]

is there a taper adapter to make the hole straight or is that through the tapered hole still

if the later it will work loose eventually.

[nemesis360 0]

That crossed my mind aswell It looks like there is one in place though

[Kevin Bacon 5]

I'd rather use the factory TRE. Rose Joints don't last at all...... but it is a good workaround.

 

This will work to some extent, but you still need to restore the correct roll centre by dropping the wishbones aswell.

[Supercharged 2]

As above, that solution looks ok for the track but it needs to be OE for road use...

 

The BJ's need boots or you'll be changing them every year... this is the main problem with Corrado's, they seem to put so much more strain / wear on parts, especially when lowered that it's hard to find aftermarket solutions for things that actually last more than a year or two...

[boost monkey 0]

Maybe someone should make some....

[GVK 0]

I'm sure in the grand scheme of things with VR6 turbo conversions using bespoke parts.... replacing a rose joint or two periodically won't break the bank...

 

Tapered hole was drilled out IIRC.

[mrbeige 0]

Found this on another forum, could this set-up be what you're looking for Steve? Note the bottom ball joint extension..

 

[Kevin Bacon 5]

I'm sure in the grand scheme of things with VR6 turbo conversions using bespoke parts.... replacing a rose joint or two periodically won't break the bank...

 

It's got nothing to do with money.

 

Being a daily driver, I don't fancy redoing them every couple of thousand miles, which is all you'll get out of a decent ZF bearing.

[nemesis360 0]

Im liking the look of that setup...I might have to talk to my friendly local engineer :)

[Kevin Bacon 5]

Any idea where that ball joint extension came from? Looks spot on for the job!

[boost monkey 0]

those LBJ extenders are a great find Stu! :D saw them first on CGTI: seem to be a few boys on there who know what works and what doesn't.

 

IIRC they're not too expensive either, but as Kev said you have to make sure all the other geometry (roll centres) line up too else they're not much use by themselves.