Hi guys,

 

Another potentially more serious issue.

 

One of my tyres was flat today.. when i looked under my car the entire inside half was bald  

Similar to this.

 

Took it to get changed and asked the guy at the garage what it could be and he said back wheels are out like the beam is twisted.

 

He said it could be the tracking at the front and something to do with the bushes at the back, said they could try doing the tracking at the front and aligning the back through the brushes. Anyone heard of this? They said I wouldn't be charged if it didn't work, but how would i know if it has?

 

The other tyres is similar but only about an inch is worn on the inside.

Edited 8 August, 20169 yr by Dazl1212

Probably best to get it onto a four wheel laser alignment rig, so they can check the complete set up.

Apologies for the whiny tone of my message, 

 

The thing has cost me a fortune since I've bought it and I'm still having issues with it.

Probably best to get it onto a four wheel laser alignment rig, so they can check the complete set up.

Very tempted to do that. I thought only the front wheels could be done though?

 

Excuse my ignorance if I am wrong.

4 wheel alignment will check the rear axle relationship to the body. Whilst there is no real adjustment to the rear due to the beam axle arrangement, it will highlight if the rear beam or bushes need work. It may even be that the previous owner scrubbed them out on the front due to a tracking issue (or worn lower arms etc) and swapped it to the back as it is harder to check the rear tyres when looking at a car, unless you crawl under it. Probably nothing wrong with the rear axle, especially if it driver straight and corners ok, I would only suspect a problem if the it felt tail happy - in other words if the back end feels unstable when driving straight, or feels like it turns sharper one way than the other.

As above, there's not really any adjustment on the rear. If the rear tyres are wearing on the inside that suggests they are toeing out, which would make the back end quite lively. Maybe they were swapped front to back previously.

 

First thing to do is to get a 4 wheel alignment check, have the front adjusted correctly and see what the alignment is like on the rear.

It needs a lift and a good straight edge (preferably 3 or 4 feet long), but it's not actually that hard to check the rear beam for straightness. If the beam is straight, it can still be misaligned, but the effect of that would be excess toe-out on one side and toe-in on the other, so one tyre would wear the outside edge.

 

As several others, I'd suspect some kittenhole has swapped tyres front and rear to cover up wear due to a tracking fault.

It needs a lift and a good straight edge (preferably 3 or 4 feet long), but it's not actually that hard to check the rear beam for straightness. If the beam is straight, it can still be misaligned, but the effect of that would be excess toe-out on one side and toe-in on the other, so one tyre would wear the outside edge.

 

As several others, I'd suspect some kittenhole has swapped tyres front and rear to cover up wear due to a tracking fault.

 

kittenhole? you can't go blaming kittens for this, they are way too cute to do something like swap dodgy warn out tyres from front to rear

kittenhole? you can't go blaming kittens for this, they are way too cute to do something like swap dodgy warn out tyres from front to rear

In joke, based on having once configured the swear filters to replace the word being censored with "kitten".

Hi gents,

 

Thanks for all the replies. 

I dont think its an issue with the tyres as such as I had them all replaced last November, the front ones are fine. 

 

The issue seems solely related to the back, the passenger side one was like the above pic but worse, the drivers was worn only on the first inch nearest to the hub.

 

What they did yesterday is measure the center of the wheels distance to the front edge of the arch and said it was further on one side than the other.

I'm assuming they looked at the beam as they suggested it earlier but said it probably wasn't later after looking. it was them changing their mind that set off alarm bells at the time but I may have been jumping the gun.

 

I have had the back end come out a lot and the guy who drove it at the garage said that the back end was "crabbing"

 

Hopefully this isnt going to be expensive to get fixed.

I'd recommend replacing them both if this is the case, but I'm wondering if one of the rear mounting bushes is worn out?

I'd recommend replacing them both if this is the case, but I'm wondering if one of the rear mounting bushes is worn out?

I thought that, is there a way I could check them? 

 

The car bounces back OK if pushed down.

I thought that, is there a way I could check them? 

 

The car bounces back OK if pushed down.

I meant the mounting bushes that the beam is attached to the body by. You're testing the rear suspension springs and dampers with your push test.

 

Checking for free play in the bushes needs a wheel-free lift or a pair of axle stands.

I meant the mounting bushes that the beam is attached to the body by. You're testing the rear suspension springs and dampers with your push test.

 

Checking for free play in the bushes needs a wheel-free lift or a pair of axle stands.

Cheers Ken,

 

Hopefully it is something along those lines.

I dont have the equipment to test that myself unfortunately.

I wouldn't have thought it would be the rear bushes, but it's worth getting them checked before condemning the rear beam. My car is on 154k miles and as far as I know has not had the rear beam bushes replaced in the 5 years/80k miles I've had it and my rear tyres wear evenly.

 

I suspect the rear beam is deformed. If it turns out you need to replace the rear beam, check that there is no accident damage to the chassis that may be affecting the mountings for the rear beam. Did you HPI the car before you bought it?

Usually some kittenhole has jacked up the car on the rear beam and bent it to kitten.

Those damn kittens are trouble

Hi guys, sorry for the late reply. 

 

I had to be rescued by the RAC today as the tyre on the other side of my car went.

 

He says on side of my cars back wheel is about 10mm in front of the other. if you look at the wheel from the front it leans inwards at the top as if it is on an angle.

 

He thinks its the rear beam of one of the bushes on the arm. Says it looks like its had a whack.

 

What am i looking at for this repair? I think I got sold a dog when i bought this car as Skodas generally seem to be decent cars, but ive spent in 12 months more than I paid for it just on repairs.

Edited 10 August, 20169 yr by Dazl1212

Should get a used rear beam for £100 to £150 built up I would think.

Cheers man, think i'm gonna get this sorted and get rid. 

 

Really fed up with constantly forking out every month on repairs 

 

No idea what id get for it however,

Golf mk IV rear beam are the same so long as you get one that originally came with rear disc brakes. Should be able to find,one quite cheaply, e.g.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/291820104665

Mk1V is physically the same but the internal anti roll bar may not be there or a different rating.

Golf mk IV rear beam are the same so long as you get one that originally came with rear disc brakes. Should be able to find,one quite cheaply, e.g.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/291820104665

That would be great, is it a long job for a garage to do?

 

Will that definitely fit?

 

 

 

 

 

 Is their anyway of checking?

Mk1V is physically the same but the internal anti roll bar may not be there or a different rating.

 Is there anyway of checking?

 Is there anyway of checking?

 

Not sure if it can be got to easily enough to measure. Best bet would be to look for people that are breaking one for spares on here and eBay. Not sure how long it would take to swap over, hopefully someone else can advise on that.

 

Does sound like you've been really unlucky with this car! What other things have you had to fix?