stevej 0 Posted May 5, 2009 changed discs and pads recently, and at the time i noticed the drivers side cv boot was split and had evacuated its grease out everywhere & that the passenger side ball joint rubber was spilt. Being a bit fussy i ordered the parts from vw ( 2 ball joints, cv boot kit & 2 anti roll bar links) and arranged for my local garage to fit. I normally dont use them much, but i have had little time off to arrange for a trip to my usual vw specilaist ..... mistake. anyway steering was always good but got the car back tonight & he said its pulling a bit to one side did i know ? it did a little ( and i mean a little). anyway car drove like a pig, fighting with the steering, just felt all over the place - completely diff from before. anyway i had a look tonight and the camber (i think thats what i mean ?) is well out on the passenger side (see pics). i assume that this should be symterical on both sides ? but anyway its way out. i took the wheel off & its look like the struct has been loosened off from the wheel bearing housing & re-tightened up in a diff postion hence the change? does that sound about right ? i will take it back and ask hime to sort it out, but should i arrange to get all the geometry reset up seeing as this has been affected & the ball joints were chnaged. these things just drive me crazy..... it was so sh** to drive tonight any thoughts cheers Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jim 2 Posted May 5, 2009 If the suspension has been removed from the hub and put back again, it needs the camber resetting - it looks like you've got absolutely sh!t loads of negative camber so I'm thinking the mechanic has not done a wheel alignment after doing the work. Either demand that he puts it right, or get down to someone with a full laser alignment system to put it right again... Out of curiosity, have you jacked it up and taken the weight off that side and made sure that he's bolted the suspension strut back onto the hub?! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
stevej 0 Posted May 5, 2009 If the suspension has been removed from the hub and put back again, it needs the camber resetting - it looks like you've got absolutely sh!t loads of negative camber so I'm thinking the mechanic has not done a wheel alignment after doing the work. Either demand that he puts it right, or get down to someone with a full laser alignment system to put it right again... Out of curiosity, have you jacked it up and taken the weight off that side and made sure that he's bolted the suspension strut back onto the hub?! cheers Jim, yeah i jacked it up tonight & had a look. He has attached it back on, but it looks like (looking at the marks on the hub) that it has not gone back on in the same position. i am not one for causing hassle, but its obviously not right. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
VR6 0 Posted May 5, 2009 A decent mechanic would at least mark roughly where the suspension used to bolt up ... it looks like he's just chucked it back together without a care in the world!! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Leonard 0 Posted May 5, 2009 [ i am not one for causing hassle, but its obviously not right. Me neither but if someone came along, opened their fly and flopped their dick in my pint, I would be forced to say something! That is downright dangerous. Just as well you know what you are doing mate, dread to think what would happen if that was done to some mums school bus... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
stevej 0 Posted May 5, 2009 Me neither but if someone came along, opened their fly and flopped their dick in my pint, I would be forced to say something! PMSL !! i may use that quote tommorow i guess i shouldnt get to fed up, it should be easy fixed. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
VR6 0 Posted May 5, 2009 It should really be up to you to sort the geometry if they're not able to and have just carried out the jobs requested ... but they've made such a piss poor job putting it back together that I'd be tempted to try and get them to stump up for it, assuming they can't do it themselves. Worth a try! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
stevej 0 Posted May 5, 2009 It should really be up to you to sort the geometry if they're not able to and have just carried out the jobs requested ... but they've made such a piss poor job putting it back together that I'd be tempted to try and get them to stump up for it, assuming they can't do it themselves. Worth a try! As you say VR6, i dont mind paying to get the geometry set up, but i would rather they tried to improve things before i take that trip. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pete_griff 0 Posted May 6, 2009 hey there pal, i don't know what the mechanic was playing at looking at that. as far as i can remember there's no need whatsoever to unbolt the hub carrier from the strut - you should be able to get plenty of movement on the strut by unbolting the balljoint at the end of the lower arm. (this can still put the geometry out - but nowehere near what unbolting the hub will do. also it's easier to re-align the 3 balljoint bolts as they leave marks on the lower arm showing exactly where they were...) anyway. if they have the correct alignment gear there, then get them to sort it for you (hopefully at a reduced cost considering how they've just thrown it back together in your pic there). if they don't have the gear on site to do geometry then walk away and get it done somewhere else. i'm sure they could make it feel much better than it is now, but to be fair looking at how badly the camber is out there, that wouldn't be difficult! - no wonder the car was pulling so badly... geometry is either wrong or right - there's no real in between ground. (it can be fettled for racing etc - but that's a wholoe other ball game). for the road there's pretty much only the one daily setup suitable unless you're running caster adjustable top mounts, rose joints etc etc (basically high performance racing gear). so, it's either wrong or it's right - make sure you take it somewhere with the right equipment and knows what they are doing. there's no other single thing (other than broken parts etc) over geometry that can make such a difference as to the way the car drives. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
VR6Joni 0 Posted May 6, 2009 I put mine back together 0.5deg out after changing the ball joint and it was fairly unstable then, god know what that's like. Don't think I'd be using that mechanic again if I was you, as he either has poor eyesight or doesn't really know what he's doing. If I was you I'd do it by eye until you find somewhere with correct kit, its only a 10min job to get it to something like (a mate to help nip bolts up on the strut is recommended). Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Yandards 0 Posted May 6, 2009 They should really quote the price inclusive of camber etc alignment as needs to be set-up again after the job. Although the VW workshop manual states that you should only be removing the bottom ball joint when changing a CV joint, I did it this way on my G60 recently and it was easy enough to do and whilst the alignment is not exactly on (although its not been since I've owned the car) it is a lot better than that looks! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rob_G60 0 Posted May 6, 2009 mine looked like that when i changed the coilovers, as said need the camber resting Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
stevej 0 Posted May 6, 2009 guys, thanks for all the comments. i took the car back to the garage this morning. To be fair i reckon the mechanic was a bit embarrassed when i showed him and told him the car was driving badly. He corrected it as much as he could (at no extra cost) and it has improved things, but as was suggested, he has recommended getting the geometry reset and he doesnt have the kit to do this. a noddy question then..... if somewhere is doing a 4 wheel alignment will that include resetting the camber etc as well ? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rusty bolts 0 Posted May 6, 2009 yer it does! i got a quote from vw 150 all round not sure weather thats a good price i need mine doing too asap as iv lowered mine and its wanting to drive in clockwise circles lol Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pete_griff 0 Posted May 6, 2009 guys, thanks for all the comments. i took the car back to the garage this morning. To be fair i reckon the mechanic was a bit embarrassed when i showed him and told him the car was driving badly. He corrected it as much as he could (at no extra cost) and it has improved things, but as was suggested, he has recommended getting the geometry reset and he doesnt have the kit to do this. a noddy question then..... if somewhere is doing a 4 wheel alignment will that include resetting the camber etc as well ? vw charge horrific amounts for this. they charged me £150 and the camber had gone to pot within 50 miles of driving away! tbh, unless you stealers are fantastic you're better off going to an independant specialist. these boys do it day-in day-out, so they're normally good at it. as an example there's a place in hereford where i take all my cars - they charge about £50 all-in and you get a nice detailed printout afterwards showing you the before and after figures. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
stevej 0 Posted May 6, 2009 vw charge horrific amounts for this. they charged me £150 and the camber had gone to pot within 50 miles of driving away! tbh, unless you stealers are fantastic you're better off going to an independant specialist. these boys do it day-in day-out, so they're normally good at it. as an example there's a place in hereford where i take all my cars - they charge about £50 all-in and you get a nice detailed printout afterwards showing you the before and after figures. Thanks Pete, I remember getting a quote for this for my first C from VW and it was about £150. i will prob go to my usual vw specialist to get it set up as they set up our Audi and it was fine after. I just wanted to be sure that the four wheel alingment would include resetting the camber. You were defo correct with what you said in that if the set is wrong it just spoils what is such a good driving car. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Yandards 0 Posted May 7, 2009 Don't go to VW they are very expensive and they usually dont use their 4 wheel kit enough to be that good with it. I find the best places are proper tyre and wheel alignment centres (not the national chains) they do it day in and day out, this means they got good at it and don't charge anywhere near as much. Any half decent place should have an electronic system where you get a print out showing your set-up at the end. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
stevej 0 Posted May 16, 2009 geometry all set up this morning. All fine and dandy now :clap: Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
