BlobbyBrown Posted February 20 Report Share Posted February 20 Just changed the lower control arms and ball joints. New Ball joints were left and right handed. Pretty sure I fitted them the right way around (RIDEX ones had A and B marked, A was LEFT). Will however recheck in the morning. Seen mention of wrong lower arms on here, but they were the same size/shape as the ones that came off. This is a standard 1.0, not GTI. Handling is now really scary (no real directional control), do you think this just needs an alignment. Nothing else was changed. One of the arms had a shot rear bush, so maybe previously aligned with that and the new ones are all in the right place and stiffer!? Just seems really odd. What else to look out for and check? Thanks Rob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mk2 Posted February 21 Report Share Posted February 21 Here... https://forums.clublupo.co.uk/index.php?/topic/101571-how-to-set-up-the-right-camber-angle-non-gti/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlobbyBrown Posted February 22 Author Report Share Posted February 22 Thanks, yes, saw that topic and did as suggested, but not much give in the ball joint to make such a difference. Had it aligned today at the garage and it was 8 degrees out across both sides and could barely drive. Steering alignment was way off centre. The "Alignment Specialist" wasn't happy and said it wasn't right and that the track rod ends were now at their limit with only a few threads. He said that it looked like the bottom arms were too short and that got me thinking about the difference between the GTI BJs and the non-GTI ones. What I can't get my head around is that what I replaced was the same as what I took off so why would it still be out by so much that has meant the rod ends have had to be turned out by so much. When looking that the new RIDEX BJs the measurement between the centre of the Ball and the middle nut centre is 5mm more on the new one than the old one. But according to the mechanic that's mad my set up better! Strange. Don't know whether to now leave it as it's running OK or try and work out what's actually occuring. Rob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mk2 Posted February 22 Report Share Posted February 22 Yeah, regular ball joints are slightly smaller. I bought one the other day as a spare, and it's definitely a GTi version. Bigger. So if anyone needs a LHS gti ball joint PM me... The thread and the nut is bigger too. They will fit, but kick out the hub carrier more, which means the wheels will be toeing out a lot. Which makes sense when you said that the track rod ends are almost unscrewed to get them back in again. The camber will be completely wrong now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlobbyBrown Posted February 22 Author Report Share Posted February 22 Indeed, Camber now means I'll get excessive tyre wear on one edge but why would I need the GTI ones on a non GTI car - doesn't make sense. Looks like I need the GTI ones to push the toe out and bring the T-Rod End back in. Unless there is a different set of Lower control arms which are causing a different shift in the alignment. I could try refitting the old arms with the new BJs to see if the alignment changes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mk2 Posted February 22 Report Share Posted February 22 You need the right ball joints. Regular type, not gti. Same problem I have- I need regular too. On the gti, the hub is different. The shocks are different and the ball joints are different. But I think- not sure, the control arms are the same (but the bushes are different). Subtle stuff thats easy to miss... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlobbyBrown Posted February 22 Author Report Share Posted February 22 (edited) Aha. Here is the spec for the RIDEX arms. The L2 Value here shows as 300mm, but the measurement of the old one I've taken off is 320mm a whole 2cm difference. I'll check other manufacturers. This would explain the perceived shorter arm comment from the alignment guy. I may not be going mad after all... Cheers Rob Edited February 22 by BlobbyBrown Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ObjectiveAway Posted February 24 Report Share Posted February 24 On 2/22/2024 at 6:51 PM, BlobbyBrown said: it was 8 degrees out across both sides and could barely drive. My first thought, when wheels points outwards it is terrible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tripod Posted April 5 Report Share Posted April 5 GTI has a wider track, so ball joints are longer. Took me ages to find ones that were definitely GTI when I needed them. There were plenty listed as being for all variants. Most people selling online have no idea there are 2 variants and were clueless when asked. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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