Hi,

Its a while since I've been on here so here goes !

As title says really...

Has anybody successfully cured sawtoothing or uneven wear on the vrs ?

I've had my car set-up 3 times, by 3 different places in the last 2 and half years and I'm just about to change another set of ' chewed ' up rear tyres less than 12 months after having spent 90 quid to have my car set up by a ' specialised ' tyre fitting center !

This time i think the problem is uneven wear, as when I looked at the rear tyres, it didn't look like the same as sawtoothing which is what destroyed my last set of tyres !

I am having my rear tyres fitted on sat at brittana Tyres in Hinckley after haggleing a great price of £93.99 a corner for Goodyear asy 2's, but I'm not sure if I should let them do the rear tracking or take it to somewhere else who knows what they are doing !

Any advice would be greatly appreciated !

Thanks !

P.s..

Also forgot to mention that 18 months ago, I had to have a new o/s rear lower arm that cost £150, so yeah... its now getting expensive when my rear tyres are not lasting much longer than my front tyres....

You need a Hunter 4 wheel alignment.

Don't know any in Leicestershire, but Wheels in Motion in Chesham have sorted three cars for me now, including my vRS. Once they sort your tracking out, it should stay sorted. About £70 last time I checked. Slightly more if the rears need some adjustment.

Not too far from you and could save you money in the long run by the sound of things!

Good luck!

Thanks for that, but Cheasham bit far for me, so going to chance my arm and take my vrs to Rapid fit in Hinckley, they have hunter equipment so hopefully all will be good after...

Fingers crossed !

Edited 26 March, 201511 yr by studmuffin

Got mine done yesterday, car handled crap I thought but no it's a revelation, best £85 I've ever spent on a car.

I used these guys .... very knowledgeable:-

 

http://www.alignment-services.co.uk/

 

Dave

I used these guys .... very knowledgeable:-

http://www.alignment-services.co.uk/

Dave

Rang these guys up and as soon as I said I had a vrs, they said that they have had a update from Skoda regarding new rear wheel alignment settings, I am now in a right dilemma as what to do now as I have my car booked in at rapid fit in Hinckley who have a hunter rig or do a 2 hour round- trip to Nottingham and back and get these guys to do my car as they have all the latest settings for the vrs...

Ask the Hinckley lot if they have the latest settings? If not, this may prompt them  to go get them..

Edited 27 March, 201511 yr by nickgpfc

Ask the Hinckley lot if they have the latest settings? If not, this may prompt them to go get them..

Just spoken to the guys at Hinckley, and they say that wouldn't know if they have the latest settings because all they do is put your reg number and model into the machine and then adjust to whatever the machine says...

He did say its a hunter rig and its only 3 months old, so if has the new settings or what the new settings are...who knows !

P.s..

Just rang the guys up at Nottingham to ask when they had the latest settings, and he said he can't remember, possibly with-in the last 6 months, so I was really cheeky and asked what the settings are and he said that Skoda have changed the rear camber settings to 120 negative... Whatever that means !

Edited 27 March, 201511 yr by studmuffin

Minus1degree 20' is the correct rear camber setting.  My car was in there (Nottm Alignment) only a couple of weeks ago and the printout shows the camber set to that figure.

 

Dave

Minus1degree 20' is the correct rear camber setting. My car was in there (Nottm Alignment) only a couple of weeks ago and the printout shows the camber set to that figure.

Dave

I'm struggling to get to Nottingham as they are shut tomorrow,

Think I'm going to take it to Hinckley rapid fit and ask them to set the rear camber to the new settings.

To the OP - get the rears as upright as possible around -0.8 to -1.0.  Get the toe set to about 1mm inwards on each side & make sure they have the thrust line correct.

 

You can't do too much with the front but there's some slop in the bolts and you can move the subframe a bit.  Aim for around 8 degrees caster with a fraction more on the LHS.  Camber around  -0.8 on each side with a fraction more on the LHS.  Toe around 0mm-1.1mm in per side (which is odd for a FWD).

Mine was done at Wheels in Motion with 800 miles on the clock and again at 7000 miles once the suspension had loosened up and bedded in.

I'm now on 18k miles and haven't had any sawtoothing at all. Tyre wear is perfectly even across all four tyres.

It was miles out on the first check and needed a minor adjustment on the second check.

Edited 28 March, 201511 yr by Metblackrat

I'm struggling to get to Nottingham as they are shut tomorrow,

Think I'm going to take it to Hinckley rapid fit and ask them to set the rear camber to the new settings.

The guys at Hinckley don't have the new settings and they can't manually put in the new settings, so its a trip to Nottingham after work on Monday, by which time my new tyres will have done nearly 300 miles as I live in Hinckley, work near Northampton, milage !

I'm having a couple of new front tyres fitted on Monday at Britania tyres in Hinckley.

 

I do know my front alignment is slightly out so I think I'll let them sort that.

 

My rears are still OK after 38k miles - even wear across the full width of the tyre. Think I'll leave the rear as is - if it ain't broken don't fit it.

 

Mark

http://www.alignmycar.co.uk/?gclid=CjwKEAjwotmoBRCc6LWd2ZnkuBYSJACyt2quJQp-aN2zWbPwsqFLua2Z7pjKYjqs-UOPRH6yll4Y5hoCF-7w_wcB

These all use the Hunter Rig. Basically, if the rig is within calibration it will have the latest settings. The garage saying they can't set it to what you want are talking rubbish and obviously don't want the job. You turn the spanner until the reading you want comes up on the computer screen. It's a live alignment so the figures change in real time.

The guys at Hinckley don't have the new settings and they can't manually put in the new settings, so its a trip to Nottingham after work on Monday, by which time my new tyres will have done nearly 300 miles as I live in Hinckley, work near Northampton, milage !

If they can't input manual figures then they are pretty useless.  What do they do when they get a track / rally car in?  They won't be in the database.

 

The manufacturers specs are just a guide.  A good aligner will look at how the tyres are wearing & adjust the vehicle to suit.  If you set the vehicle up outside the green zone then you don't get electrocuted or anything.

 

What it shows is they don't know how to use the machine properly.  My mate runs a Hunter & he's the King of doing alignments to suit the car, not the manufacturers specs.

Studmuffin,

As per dunc69 and metblackrat's recommendations, Wheels in Motion have a very good reputation and may be closer for you since you work near Northampton.

http://www.wheels-inmotion.co.uk

33 Chess Business Park

Moor Road

Chesham

Buckinghamshire HP5 1SD

Telephone 01494 797820

Email: [email protected]

For Wheels in Motion, please telephone 01494 797825

Email: [email protected]

If they can't input manual figures then they are pretty useless. What do they do when they get a track / rally car in? They won't be in the database.

The manufacturers specs are just a guide. A good aligner will look at how the tyres are wearing & adjust the vehicle to suit. If you set the vehicle up outside the green zone then you don't get electrocuted or anything.

What it shows is they don't know how to use the machine properly. My mate runs a Hunter & he's the King of doing alignments to suit the car, not the manufacturers specs.

Yeah I fully understand what you are saying, but we are talking Rapid Fit here !

I normally avoid places like rapid fit and Kwik fit, etc like the plague...

The only reason I took it there is because they have a hunter rig, pity they don't know how to use it properly !

Last year I took my car to Geoff Fowkes in Ibstock, who I was told they are experts in 4 wheel alignment, cost me 80 quid and all it seems to have done is destroy my rear tyres in super quick time, ( only managed to get 26k in 18 months out of assy 2's ! ) they use ' john beam ' equipment, have always been told a hunter rig are the best for a vrs.

Edited 29 March, 201511 yr by studmuffin

I have had rear tyres wearing out on the inner edges for years, I finally had new rear arms fitted and 4 wheel alignment done using a hunter rig.

The printout showed perfect alignment, but the rear tyres are still wearing on the inner edges I just put up with tyres not lasting long. The car drives ok and handles perfectly.

I have had rear tyres wearing out on the inner edges for years, I finally had new rear arms fitted and 4 wheel alignment done using a hunter rig.

The printout showed perfect alignment, but the rear tyres are still wearing on the inner edges I just put up with tyres not lasting long. The car drives ok and handles perfectly.

 

That's because the alignment person is blindly aligning the vehicle to the manufacturers specifications rather than looking at  the problem and tailoring the setup to suit the individual vehicle.

 

Racing cars, historics, classics, etc don't come with specifications.  You have to study what the tyre wear is like & adjust the wear angles for the best compromise between wear & handling.  

 

This is what differentiates an operator from a specialist.

+1 for wheels in-motion, Metblackrat recommended them to me and I found the car felt totally transformed for the better after.

Any recommendations in West Midlands area for hunter equipped specialists?

What pressures are you using and what tyres have you been running?

Aha, looks like I need to get mine sorted before I get some new boots later this year.

 

Anybody got any recommendations in the South Manchester area - e.g AwesomeGTI?

 

TIA