jedi-knight's camber / castor / toe.

[jedi-knight83 0]

Just got my car back from the body shop, had the car done of the 4 wheel alignment.

 

Here are the results

 

Front Before:

 

Caster 2.18 / 2.35

Camber 5.34 / 3.43

Toe 9.03 / 9.01

 

Front After:

 

Caster 2.52 / 5.30

Camber 1.47 / 1.11

Toe 0.05 / 0.05

 

Obviously the Toe and Camber were miles out! According to the guy, he couldn’t adjust the Castor angle.... but its actually worse after adjusting than it was before!!! I will be calling them again tomorrow to find out if I can get it set properly this time. Pleased with the look of it now though :)

[Henny 0]

Castor isn't adjustable on it's own on a Corrado... It may vary slightly as the rest of the suspension adjustments are made, but there's no specific adjustment for just the camber... :?

If you've got a difference with everything else lined up properly, then the odds are you've got a very slightly bent bit of suspension somewhere, or a dead/naff top mount or bush as these are the only things that can affect the castor on a Corrado... :?

 

I'm not sure how much that will affect the handling, but the main two are your Amber and Toe which WILL make a major difference to your handling now they're set properly... 8) Bet you are loving the difference now... ;) :D

[jedi-knight83 0]

well the castor angle was alot closer before they adjusted everything...so im just guessing it can be put back??

 

it did feel alot better on the way home but to be honest i havent really been out in it since..

 

so you reckon i should just leave the castor angle to avoid messing it all up again??

[dr_mat 0]

The only way to adjust the castor angle is to move the bottom ball joint fore and aft within it's housing, but there's really VERY little movement there, from what I can see.

Camber is adjusted by moving the bottom ball joint in/out relative to the mounting holes in the wishbone. (And also to a lesser degree by the position of the strut bolts holding the bearing holder onto the bottom of the shock strut.)

Once you've got this lot right, you should adjust the tracking (toe) using the track rod ends, remembering that the VW suspension is designed such that one track rod end is an exact, specific length, and only adjusting the other one.

 

Hey, isn't it amazing what I learned from reading the Corrado Forum?? ;)

[Henny 0]

you can also get a little bit of Castor adjustment by altering the king-pin inclination by moving the top mount about a little bit... but again, you ain't gonna get a lot of adjustment there unless you buy special top mounts... :?

[jedi-knight83 0]

fair enough...

 

but what im saying is the castor angle should be 3.25 give or take 0.30.

 

Before both were under but were BOTH under and within 0.17 or each other..

 

After one is a little nearer the ideal value but the other is way over and now the difference is 2.38 which is way over maximum permissible difference between the two...

 

thats my only grip, that they are now so different, if they were both over it wouldnt be so bad, or both under...as long as they were with 0.30 of each other (which they were)....but now 2.38..........just seems quite a bit

[dr_mat 0]

I think it's only the VR6 where you can move the bottom ball joint around, isn't it? Or is that coming right out my @r5e?

The three screws there are your prime adjustment point for all but the toe angle..

I have heard that most earlier cars had the ball joint in a fixed position relative to the wishbone..

[jedi-knight83 0]

unless you buy special top mounts...

 

top mounts are brand new VW ones so there shouldnt be any play in them

[jedi-knight83 0]

just been for a bit of a drive 8)

 

car feels much nicer now. strangely enough it actually feels more bumpy and it now pulls to the left quite a bit :?

 

i dont really want to spend another load of wedge getting it re-done though :(

[dr_mat 0]

You won't have to pay again - they didn't do it right 1st time, surely!

Castor angle out by 50% on one side??

Sort it out!

[jedi-knight83 0]

well its booked in again for this afternoon.

 

how much do you guys pay for a 4 wheel alignment anyway?

 

vw wanted £80 plus VAT

this was £60 plus VAT

[dr_mat 0]

Well AMD charge £60+VAT so that sounds about right.

[jedi-knight83 0]

Actually AMD chard 60 + adjustment + VAT... according to the website :? i can imagine you wouldnt see much change from £100 if you took it there........the rip off merchants :mad:

 

(sorry just bitter cause i have to save more for my chip now)

[jedi-knight83 0]

just got it back,

 

nothing they could do about the castor aparently so its as it was :(

[Kevin Bacon 5]

If it's pulling to the left, try increasing the damping rate on the passenger damper, say 1/4 turn more than the driver's side. Works for me as mine also tugs to the left having been lowered and all the geometry parameters are within spec AFAIK.

 

K