camber adjustment after fitting coilovers

[captainredeye 0]

I'm after vw's original camber settings for a vr6, have been to the garage after fitting coilovers and have been told they can't adjust the camber unless they know what the original camber was!

Also the back is out! but being fixed can't see how its changed.

[P3rks 11]

Front: -1.2 +/- 0.2

Rear: Unadjustable

[captainredeye 0]

Cool will take it in tomorrow and we will see how they get along with it.

[V-Dubstar 0]

Where'd u get em done to mate? Did u know Swindon's branch of Lepson's is no longer trading?!

[captainredeye 0]

I did hear that on the grapevine have lepsons gone under ,taken over or hit hard times??. The shocks i put in myself but i have taken it up to autospeed on station hill in chippenham.

Find it strange that the rear camber isnt right as its fixed and shouldn't of changed.

[DriverVR6 11]

captainredeye, just a word of warning, I'd be very cautious about having your suspension adjusted by an outfit that doesn't even know what the settings should be.

And to be honest, as long as you get both sides the same at about -1 then you should be okay. What equipment are they using to set it?

As for the rear, as you say it is fixed. However, due to wear and tear and age, it will never be exactly to original spec. As long as you rear tyres are wearing evenly, and the camber left and right is approximately the same, and the car tracks straight, then do not worry about it. Do you have the readings of how much it is out by?

[captainredeye 0]

yeah it should be in the attached photo above! apparently they have a brand new gizmo for doing it that allow the adjustment to be done on a flat surface for lowered cars went into bathwick tyres and quickfit and they both told me to try there as they knew they had this equipment. Maybe if i take it to a vw main dealer i will have more luck.

[DriverVR6 11]

captain, the place I use has a computerised Corghi system. Piece of cake to use and set up. All the data, (total toe, half toe, camber, castor, set back, thrust angle) is stored in the system and they simply put the car make, model, year, etc in and the correct settings come up. They then adjust the tracking and camber to get the correct settings. The various settings go from red to green once they have adjusted them correctly. Simple.

Thats the reason I said I would be caution about taking my car to somewhere that doesn't even know what the settings should be.

The rear should I believe be +1.50 +/-00.16 (but don't quote me on those figures as I'm not 100% sure)......but like I said, due to wear and tear and age you'll never get to this figure unless you replace every rear bush, bolt, wheel, tyre, damper, spring, axle beam, etc My rear is -1.58 LH & -1.63 RH. As long as left and right is the approx the same, then don't worry about it. Just check that your springs, dampers and bushes are ok.

 

I'm guessing that with the readings you have at the moment you have zero understeer, and the steering is a little on the heavy side?

Edited May 30, 2012 by DriverVR6

[lewvw 10]

Yeah my rear camber is out too, but as DriverVR6 said, if you are having no adverse affects don't worry about it, i'm not :)

[captainredeye 0]

Honestly the steering feels quite good maybe a little slugish. would maybe lowering or raising one of the rear struts have some effect if not a small one problem is i dont fully understand the print out they gave me.

The machine they use i an electronic one might be a case off they have not got used to it.

[DriverVR6 11]

Your rear settings look ok. From the figures above it is only differs from left to right by 0.25, so I think that should be acceptable. Just check, or get them to check, the rear suspension to make sure that nothing is broken or obviously loose, and that you have the ride height set the same on both sides.

Have the front done, get the tracking and camber exactly the same LH & RH, and as close to the original spec. then it should drive and handle well.

 

And remember, tools and equipment is only as good as the person using it...

Edited May 30, 2012 by DriverVR6

[captainredeye 0]

Just checked the rear top mounts and there was some play but sorted now, by visual inspection it looks a little better on the rear.

[Westginge 10]

Hi, i have a similar problem on my VR6 (as shown in the photo attached from Castle Combe on Monday - is yours anything like that?[ATTACH=CONFIG]64645[/ATTACH]) where the OSF wheel is well out! im planning on getting it all sorted at VW (Oval i think) on the Westbury Trading estate in the next week or so, so i will let you know.

[Kevin Bacon 5]

Christ that is mega negative camber!

 

Incidentally, for the rear camber if it's out of spec, you can get special shims to trim the stub axle back into line.

[captainredeye 0]

Yeah the front looks like that the camber is quite mental! The car is up on the ramps as I'm typing so we will see quite soon what's what!

[VR6Pete 0]

I'd only trust stealth doing my geometry setup on my car!

[captainredeye 0]

Well its all done they were a lot more helpful today and charged me just 19 quid instead of 59! Guy yesterday was a bit of a Dick.

Would be nice to use stealth but a 3 hour journey to have the camber fixed is a little far in my books.

[DriverVR6 11]

captainredeye - Glad you got it sorted. And yes the guy from yesterday did not appear to know what he was talking about. Like I said to you yesterday, tools and equipment is only as good as the person using them....

 

VR6Pete - I only trust myself and no one else regardless of what good reputation they may have. Every place I've ever gone to has always done it wrong and then they have had to do it again with me supervising them and telling them how to do it correctly!

Edited May 31, 2012 by DriverVR6

[davidwort 0]

Over 3 degrees negative camber :lol:

i just don't understand why it is so difficult for garages to get basics like geometry right, there's only track rods and suspension leg bolts to adjust FFS!

[DriverVR6 11]

David, it's because they are morons who don't know their left hand from their right hand. Half the time they can't even use their own equipment they have installed...trust me, I've seen it many times. That's why they like you to sit in the waiting area so that you can't witness their incompetence!

Edited May 31, 2012 by DriverVR6

[davidwort 0]

I was lucky enough to have a little tutorial last year with some proper alignment kit, I've seen it done loads of times but never really paid attention. I was surprised how simple and straightforward a light/laser tracking kit is. I know you can get some very fancy kit like stealth and vw dealers have but tbh for most cars a basic setup is perfectly fine. now if only my garage floor at home was actually level, in any direction :)

[Westginge 10]

Hi, as an update, full 4 wheel alignment now sorted on my VR6 done VW Hertiage in Westbury - all seems good. I did notice when getting it off the trailer at home the ABS light now wont go off? is it possible they have nudge / broken / forgotten to put a cable on ? as they would have been round the back of the wheels quite a lot?

[captainredeye 0]

I noticed a big difference on the steering when the camber was changed , remember the porches at combe at the old track days and some of them looked like they had a 45 degree slope on them.