I left my car in for a 4 wheel alignment at Central Tyres in Belfast on Saturday morning with the boot fully loaded with the 70-80+kg I carry around everywhere. I expected to come back to a fully sorted car that won't eat rear tyres less than a year down the line.

When I got back the guy told me that there was no adjustment in the rear camber so it will continue to eat the tyres with the weight in the boot. I was very disappointed to say the least.

I have searched for a camber adjustment kit for the Octavia but on ebay they only list a kit for the older Octavia.

Surely there has to be some way of adjusting the rear camber to account for the extra weight? I really don't want to have to sell the car just for this reason.

There is camber adjustment. They were just being fools. Its on the top arm that connects to the hub. Just get them to look harder and they will see it. What camber is it running?

Left is -1.74 degrees and right is -1.71 and according to their spec sheet it should be running -1.45 degrees on both sides

Left is -1.74 degrees and right is -1.71 and according to their spec sheet it should be running -1.45 degrees on both sides

As I understand it that value 1.45' was the original and subsequently altererd by Skoda to 1.20' +/- 30'

Someone correct me if Im wrong.

As I understand it that value 1.45' was the original and subsequently altererd by Skoda to 1.20' +/- 30'

Someone correct me if Im wrong.

Sounds spot on to me

As for Central Tyres in Belfast

Having just had a minor battle with Skoda UK over my FL vRS and its camber - the current values from skoda are the 1.45' +/- 30'

and as was pointed out to me by the dealer - with that much error a car can by covered by both sets of figures and be in spec.

interesting this topic keeps coming up.. I had rear tyre wear problems on my 56 plate vRS Octy and on my 10 FL vRS. Never had the problem on the Mk1 53 plate vRS or any other car i've ever had !

Why is this problem only relating to the Mk2 Octavia ?

had mine checked on friday...

front toe was out so adjusted.

had car lowered about a month ago and gave it time to settle. Checked rear. Camber.

Rear is about -2deg per side.

Looks awesome but inside edges of tyres are feathered quite badly

guy ( a friend) didn't have time to adjust friday 5pm so it needs to go back

Edited 24 October, 201015 yr by sprout99

interesting this topic keeps coming up.. I had rear tyre wear problems on my 56 plate vRS Octy and on my 10 FL vRS. Never had the problem on the Mk1 53 plate vRS or any other car i've ever had !

Why is this problem only relating to the Mk2 Octavia ?

the Mk1 vRS didn't have multi link rear suspension. It had a torsion beam semi independant system.

apparently it's something that cannot be completely removed from mk2 due to way wheels behave under cornering.

had mine checked on friday...

front toe was out so adjusted.

had car lowered about a month ago and gave it time to settle. Checked rear. Camber.

Rear is about -2deg per side.

Looks awesome but inside edges of tyres are feathered quite badly

guy ( a friend) didn't have time to adjust friday 5pm so it needs to go back

Strange that, as you always adjust the rear first before doing the front. Tyres dont wear from having too much camber, but from the toe being wrong. The more camber you have, the more accurate the toe needs to be. I have run many cars at 3-4 degs negative camber and had no excessive inside wear.

Om my vRS i run just over 2 degs at the front and just under 2 degs at the rear. The tyres are wearing evenly too

Strange that, as you always adjust the rear first before doing the front. Tyres dont wear from having too much camber, but from the toe being wrong. The more camber you have, the more accurate the toe needs to be. I have run many cars at 3-4 degs negative camber and had no excessive inside wear.

Om my vRS i run just over 2 degs at the front and just under 2 degs at the rear. The tyres are wearing evenly too

my mate did say that front woul have to be re adjusted after rear was sorted.

Might be an old thread but I wonder if anybody can tell me if saw-toothing / feathering on the outer edge is caused by the incorrect camber angle. My car is a 2009 VRS estate and I assume it has the old settings.

 

I am going to get a free 4 wheel alignment check at the local Bosch centre. They claim to have all the latest settings but I would rather know what they should be than trust them to know.

 

I don’t understand if the numbers people are using are positive / negative.

People say they run ‘negative’ camber… does that mean the bottom of the wheel is further out than the top (like a traktor) or is that positive camber?

 

As my tyres are saw-toothing on the outer edge I would have though this means the wheels are set up so that the top is further out than the bottom...

 

Can anybody explain this to me, I don’t want to end up making the car worse!

 

Thanks!

Explanation of wheel alignment terms

http://www.vikingspeedshop.com/suspension-101-camber-caster-and-toe/

 

2009 should have the newer settings but they do move around as the bushes wear & you belt into potholes.  Your sawtoothing is probably too much toe-in & shoddy tyres.

 For a vRS (sports suspension)

Front settings

 

caster = 7 3/4 degrees +-0.5 deg  and either equal or more on the LHS (for UK & AUS).

 

camber = -3/4deg +-0.5deg and either equal or 0.5deg more on the LHS (for UK & AUS)

 

Total Toe +2mm +-2mm (it toes in - which is unusual for FWD)

 

Rear

Camber = -1 1/4deg +- 0.5deg and make them equal (personally I aim for as upright as possible).

Total Toe +2mm +-2mm  (personally, I'd be aiming for a max of 2mm)

 

Thrust line needs to be on zero

 

If they are doing free wheel alignments then expect to get a quote for various suspension issues and they will charge you (a lot) for any adjustments.  That's how our shop used to work.  Nothing is free.

 

Would you tell the sparky which coloured wires go where?