Rear beam alignment (bracket/s replaced) - Ideas?

[boost monkey 0]

Hi team,

 

So i've replaced the dead bias valve bracket (aka N/S beam bracket with arm!) and I'm starting to wonder how to align the bracket for when I want to put the beam back on. I marked out the old bracket before removal, but obviously even a fraction of a degree out of true and there'll be conequences. Are there any locator pins or anything like it that I may have missed? I've only replaced one bracket so far, but would like to replace the O/S one too just for peace of mind (but i'm aware that this may give me more trouble than it's worth, what with attempting realignment etc).

 

Any help appreciated.

 

Jon.

[davidwort 0]

How much room for adjustment is there?

I'd have thought that as long as you get them roughly where they were before (your marks on the body from the old ones) then it'll be OK.

Once you've got everything rebuilt on the suspension side then a 4 wheel alignment should sort it out OK, although admittedly all they can do on the Corrado is align the front with the rear wheels.

Quite how you can accurately measure the position is quite a difficult one, it's only really 4 wheel alignment kit that will tell you if the beam is way off perpendicular to the body and the car crabs down the road, I suppose twin laser levels placed flat across the wheel face on either side could be used to work out if the axle is perpendicular to the body, not sure what you'd use as a reference point on the body though.

[Yandards 0]

Right o, the VW video on the MK 2 Goof covers how to correctly align a rear beam post bush changing.

 

Basically stick the rear beam on the car, back off both set of bolts on the attachment brackets and align the rear beam in the correct spot, then tighten the right hand side bracket up to the correct torque, then put 2 levers in the left hand side and push the beam over towards the right, you want a gap of around 2-3mm between the leading edge of the rubber part of the push and the inboard side of the mounting bracket. Hold the beam there and tighten the left hand bracket up.

 

As this is not covered in any of the workshop manuals for rear beam bush replacement I doubt very much if anyone knows about it; it's not something that is discussed by anyone in the trade I have spoken to and as it's in a video about the Mk 2 Goof I doubt anyone does know about it.

 

This would also go someway to explaining why factory fit rear beam bushes seem to last longer than replacement items as they are not being installed in a pre-tensioned way..

[Supercharged 2]

I think it's best to get everything replaced you want to do and take it do somewhere that will do full geometry including thrust angle... Elite in essex will do this and it's about £100 including the rear axle shift if needed. Also anywhere with a Biessbarth machine will do this (ie Stealth, AMD or VAG dealers)

 

A good setup makes such a difference to the way a car drives!

[boost monkey 0]

Right o, the VW video on the MK 2 Goof covers how to correctly align a rear beam post bush changing.

 

Basically stick the rear beam on the car, back off both set of bolts on the attachment brackets and align the rear beam in the correct spot, then tighten the right hand side bracket up to the correct torque, then put 2 levers in the left hand side and push the beam over towards the right, you want a gap of around 2-3mm between the leading edge of the rubber part of the push and the inboard side of the mounting bracket. Hold the beam there and tighten the left hand bracket up.

 

As this is not covered in any of the workshop manuals for rear beam bush replacement I doubt very much if anyone knows about it; it's not something that is discussed by anyone in the trade I have spoken to and as it's in a video about the Mk 2 Goof I doubt anyone does know about it.

 

This would also go someway to explaining why factory fit rear beam bushes seem to last longer than replacement items as they are not being installed in a pre-tensioned way..

 

Cheers Yan, perpetually helpful! Yeah the bentley mentions pre-tensioning the bushes before tightening up the horizontal bolts. I guess if I don't replace the O/S bracket (I can swap the bolts one by one as they're rusty) then the O/S of the car will still be aligned as per factory - that might be a good base to start from.

 

Although I do hear you Steve, changing parts out is a good idea and stuff that was original that I have changed this time round will obviously last for another 15ish years (excluding the obvious consumables!). I'll see what I can do, but thanks all for the help.

 

Yan, do you have that video available for viewing, maybe digitally?

 

Cheers,

 

Jon.

 

p.s. getting there! :clap:

[boost monkey 0]

Just realised this doesn't make mention of how to align the rear beam bracket to the chassis even before the rear beam is attached (I'm replacing the NS bracket as it's pretty corroded.

 

I guess I'll just attach the bracket as best I can, and then if the garage say it's out of alignment at least the bolts will all be new when it comes to taking the beam off!

[KipVR 1]

I shouldn't worry about it too much mate, just bolt it up as best you can, then take it to a garage with a corghi and get them to do a good alignment check, make sure you tell them you've just done the beam so they can pay special attntion to that area. :thumb right:

[boost monkey 0]

Ah cheers Kip! :D

 

Maybe I should point out all the shineee bits too :nuts: :lol: :grin: "I did that" "That too" "Mate, does this look right to you? Yeah that's cos I did it"

 

:nuts:

[KipVR 1]

Bonkers :lol: :lol: