Just got back. Over 2 degrees negative camber on the rears so miles out of spec! As soon as I pulled it onto the ramp the lad said he could see it was a mile out just looking at it.

 

They specialise in setting up track cars and performance road cars so gave me some good insights to the way geometry works and how it affects tyre wear and handling.

 

In a nutshell, on our cars, YES of course the camber can be adjusted and for every mm the rear suspension sags through age, the negative camber gets more and more pronounced, leading to worse and worse tyre wear on the inner edges. 

 

Check your rear suspension for sag folks!

 

Their printer was waiting to be repaired so I didn't get a printout but I watched the process on the screen. Really impressed at the result!

Thats great @Shaunieboy  good you got things sorted.  When you get a place with the right equipment and they know what they are doing it makes a huge difference.

Pity about the printouts but at least you witnessed the process and results.  Do you notice a difference at all ?  I would still recommend reviewing slightly higher tyre pressures, its working well for me.

Did they have any trouble with seized bolts at all ?

Cheers Dave

I've not had the car out on a long run yet, the place was just around the corner from me. Off to work now though so I'll let you know! 

 

What pressures are you running @TasMan? Mines a Greenline so factory spec is 38psi anyway on 205/55/16 

Update: yes, now that I've been out on a variety of roads and pushed on a bit, there is a difference. The car wants to hold its line more and generally feels more planted. Less noticeable on little country roads obviously but there is a notable difference.

 

It's always satisfying getting things optimised.

 

My sawtooth wasnt extreme enough to need new tyres and my current set all have between 3-4mm so still have a good few thousand miles in them. I've just got to put up with a bit of an annoying hum on super smooth roads.

Sounds like a good result, I would need to remind myself of the tyre pressures but will get back to you.

Standard is something like 2.2/2.3 bar, I am up about 2.5/2.6 bar.

Will update when I have checked, and that is a good reminder for me to check them anyway as its been a couple of weeks !

Cheers

I would say that in your case there has not been any Camber adjustment done. At least on Octavia mk II and newer there are for sure rear camber adjustment possible. The front camber can also be to a very small extent adjusted by losening the subframe bolts and moving the subframe laterally. Probably the front lower wishbone balljoints have some adjustment too. Good thing that the thrust angle is straight. I would also opt for a neutral toe-in close to 0. In case the car is hard to keep in lane check/replace the rear control rods and wishbone bushes.

On 17/01/2020 at 17:49, TasMan said:

I would still recommend reviewing slightly higher tyre pressures, its working well for me.

Sorry for the thread revival but I'm also having the dreaded inner shoulder tyre wear.  What higher tyre pressure helps with this?  I usually inflate to 36 PSI cold.  I note the fuel flap tyre pressure recommendations for my tyre vary (depending on how loaded the car is) from 36 PSI to 40 PSI or even higher (46PSI) in the rears when the car is fully loaded.

1 hour ago, Donweather said:

Sorry for the thread revival but I'm also having the dreaded inner shoulder tyre wear.  What higher tyre pressure helps with this?  I usually inflate to 36 PSI cold.  I note the fuel flap tyre pressure recommendations for my tyre vary (depending on how loaded the car is) from 36 PSI to 40 PSI or even higher (46PSI) in the rears when the car is fully loaded.

 

I tend to run 2.4/2.5 on the front and around 2.8 bar on the rears.  This is a compromise between the pressure when lightly loaded or fully loaded.  Its definitely helped my tyre wear over the years when combined with a 4 wheel alignment.  I got 30K miles out of my last set of CrossClimates and that was with 2 - 3mm left.

Is yours an Estate ?  I had one pair or rears wear down badly on the inner shoulder, new tyres and a 4 wheel alignment sorted that out, been fine since then.

Cheers

 

 

Ok thanks. 

Hi. Just replaced nearly whole rear suspension, just left springs. Went for the alignment, and guy adjusted it just front right camber stayed on red as he said there’s no adjustments. He also said to not to worry about. But it is in red and I still have it in my mind. Car is driving fine.

Thanks for advice.

2013 Superb Estate with +100k miles on it here. Had the 4 wheel alignment done with new tyres, also running CrossClimate2's. I've just replaced springs, shocks and drop links on the car as the suspension was horribly soft and clunky. One rear shock was misting, so it was time to do them all. Big difference is that the car handles a lot better now. Even tyre wear since the alignment and better fuel consumption as well. Been pleased with how it all handles now.

13 hours ago, makman said:

2013 Superb Estate with +100k miles on it here. Had the 4 wheel alignment done with new tyres, also running CrossClimate2's. I've just replaced springs, shocks and drop links on the car as the suspension was horribly soft and clunky. One rear shock was misting, so it was time to do them all. Big difference is that the car handles a lot better now. Even tyre wear since the alignment and better fuel consumption as well. Been pleased with how it all handles now.

Sounds a great result. My 2014 is around 97k miles now. Still feels ok suspension wise but I expect its matured like an old couch does and I would notice the difference if done!

Its getting on a bit now but to get a similar spec newer vehicle its silly money. I'll keep mine a few years yet I reckon. I did have to replace all suspension arms within the last year due to MOT reports.

On 23/06/2018 at 13:11, TasMan said:

Seeking some advice on toe and camber settings following a 4 wheel alignment done this morning....

After getting a full set of new tyres I booked in for a 4 wheel alignment locally.

The rear passenger side tyre was badly worn on the inside so things were clearly out of adjustment, seems to be a common Superb Estate issue....

The garage was using a Hunter system and gave before and after prints as attached.  Anyway, I am not convinced on the new settings and questioned these at the time, but was told 'its a 4 wheel alignment and we only ever adjust the toe, and not the camber as its not adjustable...?!'  I got a second opinion elsewhere (Kwik Fit of all places....) and was advised everything should be 'green' suggesting camber is adustable.  I questioned the original garage again but was pretty much told they only advertise 'alignment' and not camber....  Am I wrong to expect the camber to be part of the deal on a 4 wheel alignment ?  

Left Front and Rear camber appear out of tolerance, and worse than before alignment...should I be getting this re-done ....?  

Thanks

 

Before

After

If they only do toe in why don't they 'advertise' 4 wheel toe in rather than alignment? 😀

Having said that camber is often fixed on many cars like the Superb.

My estate wore the inside of the rears very badly despite correct toe in. Replacing the shock absorbers helped a lot.

On 19/04/2025 at 10:05, K-G said:

Hi. Just replaced nearly whole rear suspension, just left springs. Went for the alignment, and guy adjusted it just front right camber stayed on red as he said there’s no adjustments. He also said to not to worry about. But it is in red and I still have it in my mind. Car is driving fine.

Thanks for advice.

Something not right there.

If front camber can't be adjusted how come it has changed when the toe in was corrected?

11 hours ago, mdauncey said:

Something not right there.

If front camber can't be adjusted how come it has changed when the toe in was corrected?

Suspension is complicated, even on a simple layout like the McPherson strut used on the front of these cars. Adjusting one element will have an impact on other measurements even if they're not touched. It can take a few goes around each adjustment to get everything sorted just right.

Camber is not fixed on any car, it varies as the wheel pivots on the kingpin axis, so adjusting toe is going to change the camber since it'll result in the wheel pivoting on the kingpin axis.

As an aside, while camber cannot be individually adjusted on each side on these cars, it can be centered. This involves loosening the subframe bolts and sliding the subframe left or right until the camber is equal on both sides. I've found that not many alignment shops will be interested in doing this job.