Camber way out HELP!

[leehands]

Hi all.

 

Check out the alignment below.

 

The camber is way out and the dealer says there is no more adjustment in the lower frame.

 

What to do next???

 

From my knowledge the car has never had a crash ie all the paint is original.

[JaminWales]

Bushes perished or on their way out possibly?

Need to get underneath and have a good look. Could be something that is slightly bent, dunno. What did the garage say?

[leehands]

Dealer says the lower frame is at its max adjustment. But its never been adjusted before (to my knowledge)

 

The marks the bolts have left on the frame would suggest that was the original position.

 

Going to have a look tomorrow. At least I know the bolts are not seized.

Edited 9 April, 2016 by leehands

[brad1.8T]

So the dealer has pushed the engine sub-frame right over to the RHS?  I find that hard to believe with those figures.  The only other thing it could be is collapsed top mounts or worn / extremely soft console bushes.

 

If the sub-frame truly is at the limit of adjustmment and the bushes/topmounts are OK then you can either leave it and monitor the tyre wear or try some camber adjustable poly console bushes.

 

I'd also be questioning why they have left the front toe where it is and why they have left so much camber on the rears - you are almost guaranteed to get saw-toothing / inner edge wear unless you do lots of hard cornering.  If they insist on the settings being in "green" then have it set to -1deg15'.  Better still - bang on -1deg is better when the car has a bit of mileage & gets used in a "normal" manner.

 

There is more to doing a wheel alignment than blindly following the machine - it's akin to doing everything the GPS tells you.

[leehands]

The top mounts, bearings, shocks & springs are new. Genuine top mounts & bearings, Bilstein B4 shocks & Eibach 20mm lowering springs.

 

With the lower springs I expected an increase in camber.

 

After having a good look underneath the car I have found out that the 2 lower arms don't match (1 has been changed) The console bushes are not the originals, the wheels are newer than the car & a reasonable chunk of the under body plastic guard has been broken off towards the passenger rear area.

 

Also found a little bit of over spray under the bonnet on a couple of rubber grommets & a silver washer between 2 panels.

 

This leads me to believe that its had some form of impact, presumably on the passenger wheel !!

 

So the subframe may have been shifted over either during the impact or after.

 

The newer parts like the console bushes & wheels have a 2009 build mark stamp and I know the guy I bought it off had the car in 2010 so i'm thinking its had an impact in 2009.

 

I think the next step is to replace the lower arms, console bushes & drop links, this will then rule out those either been the incorrect parts or worn.

 

If the camber is still out then I have found some adjustable top mounts which will sort the camber of the wheels out but perhaps not the cross camber as this adjustment is still down to the subframe?

 

Within green is OK but spending a little more time & effort is what should be done...Its the "that will do" attitude !!!

Edited 14 April, 2016 by leehands

[brad1.8T]

Audi TT lower arms are camber adjustable - it's not fine adjustment but it's there.  You'll need the compatible ball joints as well.

 

You may as well get the camber adjustable console bushes too.