A&Q about 350Z
Q:
My 88 8 valver has uneven tyre wearon the inside of the passenger side front wheel. The cars pulls to to one side and the steering wheel does not sit straight when driving straight. Is this the traking or the camber that is out Thanks all
A:
that sounds like tracking mate!
sounds like the car has too much "toe out" on the left hand side.
with the front right wheel sitting straight ahead, look to see if the left wheel is pointing "out" of true.
should be easy enough to get adjusted.
A:
Hey Had the tracking done was slightly out, on my golf only the drivers side tracking can be adjusted, is this the norm ? The guy said the tracking was out and has trued it up. It still pulls to the left and the steering wheel does not sit striaght when driving straight. Any thoughts anyone ? Thanks
A:
get the camber and tracking done...you/they need to remove the steering wheel and re center it once its drives right
A:
Is it tricky to remove steering wheel ? I have been told it is very rare for camber to be out. Could it be that it is still pulling because the camber is out and the tracking was just half the problem. Whats the deal with the single sided traking adjustment
A:
b0llocks about camber rarely being out ....usual tale for garages that cant do it!!
pop the center off the wheel and one big center nut..pretty easy
the single sided thing is just how they were, if you have new track rods theyre aj on both sides now
A:
hey, appreciate yr answer. Is the steering wheel shaft splined. How is the camber adjusted ? I was worried someone had used wrong part on my car when I saw single sided track adjustement. Once I have straightened the wheel up I will get camber sorted. In my mind the camber must be the problem its the only logical thing left.
A:
yeah the wheel is on splines..do the wheel after its all set as camber affect tracking and vice versa
you losen the 2 bottom shock mounts and lean the wheel in or out...find a proper place that knows what theyre doing...quickfit type place are not usualy very good
A:
What sort of numpty garage can't sort camber? You can make a camber gauge with a bit of sheet metal or plastic and a plumb line...
A:
Whats the deal with the single sided traking adjustment
It is impossible for your tracking to be out only on one side. The two wheels will either toe out or toe in by the same amount. That's why you only need to adjust it on one side.
If the car is pulling to the side then it'll be the camber, or something is bent or worn.
A:
What sort of numpty garage can't sort camber?
Cricky! Should we start a list? A&S, Stockport, Kwickfit, Stockport are two for starters. You can make your own guage or there is a magnetic job you see on Ebay but I pay to have mine done (General Motors, Stockport) as they can get it up in the air and they can check the ramp is level - if the car isn't level the readings are meaningless. They can do the tracking at the same time and you need them both done to be spot on.
There seen to be quite a few threads where folk get the ajustments done and it still isn't right - take it back and get them to sort it properly or get a refund! Sadly there are plenty of numpty garages out there.
Barkstar
A:
Hi,
thought I'd my two pence worth as I've just had all mine done.
The tracking can only be adjusted by the drivers side only..... this is the norm.
The camber is rarely out on these unless you have replaced the suspension or it is worn.
The MK2 has always pulled slightly left from the factory........
You will probably find it is your wishbone and anti roll bushes that are causing the problem as were mine.
Finally, VW can do your tracking and camber for £67 inc. VAT, they know what they are doing!
A:
Hi,
VW can do your tracking and camber for £67 inc. VAT, they know what they are doing!
And so they bl**dy well should. It takes 20 mins to do the job, so that's £200 an hour! Time for a change of career
Barkstar
A:
Hey all, seem to have started something here lol. I will have the camber and tracking checked and adjusted at VW. If these are OK and the vehicle is still pulling left how can I check if there the wishbone or anti roll bushes are worn. Someone has lowered my car so i presume they had the suspension apart to do this. Maybe they did not get the camber and tracking reset. I got my money back from those waxxx at quick fit. Is there any other things worth checking Cheers all
A:
I'd get the VW dealer to have a prod - to check the bushes they place a bar between various bits of chassis and wishbone and heave. If it moves a bit okay if it moves a lot not so okay. Real easy for them to do with the car in the air. Just tell them what the car is doing and they'll should find the problem - whether they fix it is between you and your bank manager!
Barkstar
A:
Your problem shouldn't be tracking, at least not by itself. Excessive toe-in or toe-out would cause a multitude of symptoms, including faster tire wear, but the tires should wear evenly. I would guess either excessive camber on one of the front wheels (rather improbable, except if it is too badly aligned due to bump et.c.) or more probably a distorted rear beam that forces you to keep the front wheels turned to go straight, thus causing uneven wear. In any case, check 4 wheel alignment b4 anything else...
A:
Tracking adjusted on one side? Eh?
My car has rod ends both side of the rack. Each is held with a lock nut. Once the lock nut is undone the track arm can be rotated in either direction.
Edit: Missed PB reply about track rods having adjustment on both sides if replaced. Mine are new, so that answers it.
A:
Ok just to clear up a few things, tracking will cause wear on both tyres.
Camber has to be well out to cause one tyre to wear.
The reason you are only supposed to adust the right hand side track rod is a rule only for powersterring cars. If the rack is manual it makes no difference (although adjusting one side only can give a difference in turns lock to lock) if the rack is P/S then adjusting the left side can cause problems with the assistance valve body inside the rack.
I'd suggest full track and camber check, but before that a close look all the suspension joints and bushes.
Final thought (doesn't really apply to MK2's as the tracking is zero) but Haynes and Autodata use + and - signs the other way round to VW when it comes to tracking. So if Haynes or Autodata say the tracking on a MK1 is -15' then that's 15' toe in, not toe out as Haynes or Autodata will suggest.
A:
Just had mine done & got a printout before & after (Beissbarth ML4600) got a -2 deg camber on the rear, but theres nowt u can do about that.
Everywhere I took mine the first Q they asked was "aint lowered is it" - what diff does that make?
A:
Everywhere I took mine the first Q they asked was "aint lowered is it" - what diff does that make?
Alot of the laser equipment wont fit under the arches if the car's lowered.
A:
Just to clarify a few things ( i worked at a VAG dealer for 13 years)
Non power steering track rods come fixed on the passenger side and adjustable on the drivers side. On vehicles with power steering they are adjustable on both sides.
You should ALWAYS adjust the front toe at the DRIVERS side track rod only. The passengers side track rod is set to a preset length and if it is messed with you need to take it off and reset the length.
The front camber on ALL mk 1, 2, 3 golfs ,jettas , passats and corrados get knocked out all the time especially the passengers side. This is usually due to kerbing, potholes, bumping up pavements stuff like that. It is always adjusted at the strut where it bolts onto the hub and never at the bottom ball joint. You can get bolts with a smallet shank diameter to increase the amount of adjustment.
Before you even start any of that stuff you should make sure all the bushes are sound. Ones to look out for are the rear axle bushes and the large rear bush on the front wishbone. If these are badly worn the geometry will alter when you are on and off the power making the whole adjustment a waste of time. You should also make sure the car doesnt have any broken springs. If it is on coilovers it should sit as level as possible.
Once that is all done go and get a 4 wheel alignment done by someone that knows what they are doing. It is money well spent and the car will drive better for it. If people dont know how to adjust the front camber walk away. They are obviously cowboys.
The rear setting should be checked first, then the front castor and camber then finally the front toe. It is normal practice to have to move the steering wheel once the job is complete. That is the reason VW fitted the splined adaptor to the steering collum to give it finer adjustment.
All the dealers have biesbarth equiupment and you can set this stuff on lowered cars no problem. I personally did around 6 of the local Club GTI cars and a couple of them were slammed.
Hope this helps and you didnt fall asleep.
Riki
A:
On vehicles with power steering they are adjustable on both sides.
You should ALWAYS adjust the front toe at the DRIVERS side track rod only. The passengers side track rod is set to a preset length and if it is messed with you need to take it off and reset the length.
Why adjustable on the passenger side if u should not adjust it?
& what if had been adjusted?
A:
The MK2 has always pulled slightly left from the factory........
what? why? why do you say that? I've never noticed. I'm not sure why a particular type of car would always pull to the left, surely if it did it wouldnt have been allowed to be made?
A:
Just to clarify a few things ( i worked at a VAG dealer for 13 years)
Non power steering track rods come fixed on the passenger side and adjustable on the drivers side. On vehicles with power steering they are adjustable on both sides.
You should ALWAYS adjust the front toe at the DRIVERS side track rod only. The passengers side track rod is set to a preset length and if it is messed with you need to take it off and reset the length.
The front camber on ALL mk 1, 2, 3 golfs ,jettas , passats and corrados get knocked out all the time especially the passengers side. This is usually due to kerbing, potholes, bumping up pavements stuff like that. It is always adjusted at the strut where it bolts onto the hub and never at the bottom ball joint. You can get bolts with a smallet shank diameter to increase the amount of adjustment.
Before you even start any of that stuff you should make sure all the bushes are sound. Ones to look out for are the rear axle bushes and the large rear bush on the front wishbone. If these are badly worn the geometry will alter when you are on and off the power making the whole adjustment a waste of time. You should also make sure the car doesnt have any broken springs. If it is on coilovers it should sit as level as possible.
Once that is all done go and get a 4 wheel alignment done by someone that knows what they are doing. It is money well spent and the car will drive better for it. If people dont know how to adjust the front camber walk away. They are obviously cowboys.
The rear setting should be checked first, then the front castor and camber then finally the front toe. It is normal practice to have to move the steering wheel once the job is complete. That is the reason VW fitted the splined adaptor to the steering collum to give it finer adjustment.
All the dealers have biesbarth equiupment and you can set this stuff on lowered cars no problem. I personally did around 6 of the local Club GTI cars and a couple of them were slammed.
Hope this helps and you didnt fall asleep.
Riki
Are you agreeing with me or not, seems a little unclear?
A:
I wasnt disagreing with anyone dude. Just trying to clarify things a little. Sorry if i have made it worse by waffling on.
Riki.