Hello guys!

 

Since the moment i got this car i noticed two things, (this is a LHD vehicle), the driver side front wheel had a notable negative camber (not enough to wear the tire unevenly but it has negative camber and it is lowered some millimeters more than the right side, and the front in general is lower than normal.

 

and past week, changing the right side tire i notice the stabilizer bar is touching the hub, check the photo.

 

many told me that the springs are "tired" and need to be replaced, ok, but regarding the negative camber of the left tire, how do i change the camber? with the bal joint?

@Kharl - You have a strut front suspension; this means that, when the springs compress (for whatever reason) the front camber angle increases. Replacing a tired or broken spring will always reduce the front camber angle on that side, and the driver's side spring almost always tires more than the passenger side one. so:-

1. Before you do anything else, particularly before you drive the car again, check for a broken spring, with the note that they often break in the pig tail, which is up inside the strut tower.
2. Your photo may suggest worn out stabiliser bushes; do you get clanking noises going over bumps?

1 hour ago, KenONeill said:

@Kharl - You have a strut front suspension; this means that, when the springs compress (for whatever reason) the front camber angle increases. Replacing a tired or broken spring will always reduce the front camber angle on that side, and the driver's side spring almost always tires more than the passenger side one. so:-

1. Before you do anything else, particularly before you drive the car again, check for a broken spring, with the note that they often break in the pig tail, which is up inside the strut tower.
2. Your photo may suggest worn out stabiliser bushes; do you get clanking noises going over bumps?

Hi, thank you for your help!

 

no broken spring, at least it looks fine, regarding the noise... thats the weird part, the car feels perfectly fine, very smooth, i think too smooth front suspension, no noise at all.

Just now, Kharl said:

Hi, thank you for your help!

 

no broken spring, at least it looks fine, regarding the noise... thats the weird part, the car feels perfectly fine, very smooth, i think too smooth front suspension, no noise at all.

 

those springs are REALLY hard to find here, somebody has suggested me Octavia springs to raise it a little bit,  what do you think?

I'm wondering if your stabilizer bar has 'walked' sideways due to the rubbish plastic collars on the earlier Fabias. Have a look to see if it's even on both sides.

 

Later Fabias have welded metal collars on the bar to stop it moving sideways...

 

 

 

Edited 9 April, 20215 yr by TMB

1 hour ago, TMB said:

I'm wondering if your stabilizer bar has 'walked' sideways due to the rubbish plastic collars on the earlier Fabias. Have a look to see if it's even on both sides.

 

Later Fabias have welded metal collars on the bar to stop it moving sideways...

 

 

 

 

I think you can see the plastic stop just behind the subframe mount looking like it's creeping around the bend of the anti-roll bar in @Kharl's photo.

27 minutes ago, HeavyMetalRich said:

 

I think you can see the plastic stop just behind the subframe mount looking like it's creeping around the bend of the anti-roll bar in @Kharl's photo.

 

Yeah, I thought the same thing.

I'm surprised that there is no "metal on metal" noises as that ARB is being allowed to walk across and you can see where it has been contacting the aluminium console.

6 hours ago, rum4mo said:

I'm surprised that there is no "metal on metal" noises

 

Yeah, surely must have been making a noise.

On 09/04/2021 at 14:20, Kharl said:

Hello guys!

 

Since the moment i got this car i noticed two things, (this is a LHD vehicle), the driver side front wheel had a notable negative camber (not enough to wear the tire unevenly but it has negative camber and it is lowered some millimeters more than the right side, and the front in general is lower than normal.

 

and past week, changing the right side tire i notice the stabilizer bar is touching the hub, check the photo.

 

many told me that the springs are "tired" and need to be replaced, ok, but regarding the negative camber of the left tire, how do i change the camber? with the bal joint?

The wear in that pic is the exact same as my mk1 had, its the d bushes on the arb. Mine were fubar and would allow the arb to freely move side to side. In the fields it would give a big "clang" when I would transition from right to left and it was cause the bushes were barely touching the arb at all. I 'Fixed' mine by removing the d bush and cutting a bit of rubber mat to jam in to them, to tighten them up. It works, but the d bushes are a few euro a side so dont be like me and do it right from the start.

On 09/04/2021 at 15:25, TMB said:

I'm wondering if your stabilizer bar has 'walked' sideways due to the rubbish plastic collars on the earlier Fabias. Have a look to see if it's even on both sides.

 

Later Fabias have welded metal collars on the bar to stop it moving sideways...

 

 

 

Sorry for the late reply guys.

 

 

YES that is, the bar has 'walked' sideways, how do i fix that?

Depending on what sort of workshop you have locally, I've heard that some one handy with fabricating things, could very easily make, maybe out of very large washers, a couple of metal "stops" and weld them onto exactly the correct points on that now faulty ARB to sort of bring it up to the spec of the later versions - that is, if you know that the plastic stops have split and are the reason why that ARB is being allowed to "walk" from side to side.

 

Maybe even fitting the "D" mounting bushes intended for the later versions without plastic stops, would mean that the ARB is gripped tightly enough to stop it moving from side to side - but VW Group did change from plastic to welded steel stops so I'd be copying what they did.

interesting, the problem is that soldering that into that place... mmm maybe soldering then installing the bushings i guess

8 hours ago, Kharl said:

interesting, the problem is that soldering that into that place... mmm maybe soldering then installing the bushings i guess

 

Anyone considering making up 2 washers or tubing to serve as end stops, would be carefully measuring up and marking both sides, then removing the 2 mounting brackets and sliding the ARB across one side - and then the other and so giving themselves plenty room to weld these new parts in place without causing any damage. It just needs some creative thinking - or just source a new later version ARB, I'd think the first option would be easier in your geographical location. Another way round this is to source 2 split shaft collars and fit them to serve as end stops, that was someone else's idea in another section of this forum - not mine.

15 hours ago, rum4mo said:

 

Anyone considering making up 2 washers or tubing to serve as end stops, would be carefully measuring up and marking both sides, then removing the 2 mounting brackets and sliding the ARB across one side - and then the other and so giving themselves plenty room to weld these new parts in place without causing any damage. It just needs some creative thinking - or just source a new later version ARB, I'd think the first option would be easier in your geographical location. Another way round this is to source 2 split shaft collars and fit them to serve as end stops, that was someone else's idea in another section of this forum - not mine.

Talking about creativity...

 

 

 

Are they available in such a small size for that job, I'd doubt it - but I could be wrong.

3 minutes ago, rum4mo said:

Are they available in such a small size for that job, I'd doubt it - but I could be wrong.

yes, they are, at least here

6 hours ago, rum4mo said:

Are they available in such a small size for that job, I'd doubt it - but I could be wrong.

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Wire-Rope-Grips-Clamps-U-Bolts-Fitting-Cable-Cord-Tie-Heavy-Duty-Steel-Metal/142604618575?hash=item2133e5cb4f:g:dK4AAOSwzXxaHdrb

 

Not sure whether there is enough room to get them on the bar though. It's also not ideal because it's not a nice round flat surface.

Something like this as previously suggested might be a better solution if they fit on....

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Clamp-Collar-Double-Split-3mm-To-130mm-Shaft-Collar-Clamp-Type-Collars/302160614643?hash=item465a2d14f3:g:HoYAAOSww3tY40ne

1 hour ago, TMB said:

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Wire-Rope-Grips-Clamps-U-Bolts-Fitting-Cable-Cord-Tie-Heavy-Duty-Steel-Metal/142604618575?hash=item2133e5cb4f:g:dK4AAOSwzXxaHdrb

 

Not sure whether there is enough room to get them on the bar though. It's also not ideal because it's not a nice round flat surface.

Yea, the same i think.

 

1 hour ago, TMB said:

Something like this as previously suggested might be a better solution if they fit on....

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Clamp-Collar-Double-Split-3mm-To-130mm-Shaft-Collar-Clamp-Type-Collars/302160614643?hash=item465a2d14f3:g:HoYAAOSww3tY40ne

that looks simple great.