GTi Si Posted November 23, 2004 Report Share Posted November 23, 2004 I had the wheels aligned today (laser).The camber is currently over 2 degrees negative at the front!We cannot reduce it at the moment as the front shock absorber mounting bolts are too big to allow any ajustment.They are FK coilovers and not set too low (around 15mm lower)!Has anyone else had this issue or knows where I can get smaller diameter bolts to sort this?ThanksS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tigz™ Posted November 23, 2004 Report Share Posted November 23, 2004 I had no problems mate.I dont think its how low you have it, I belive some FKs work, and some dont.Yu just need to elongate the holes buddy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GTi Si Posted November 23, 2004 Author Report Share Posted November 23, 2004 How do you mean some work and some don't?Dodgy manufacturing??I am going to get some original VW bolts and see if they are any smaller.How much bigger do the holes need to be?I am going to check the suspension turrets and make sure they haven't bend or anything causing things to sit funny.S Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red Lup Gti Posted November 23, 2004 Report Share Posted November 23, 2004 I got the same problem mate, i'm running 1.6 degree's ofnegative camber atm. You do need to elongate the holes on the dampers mate, think you should be using the origional vw bolts already in the hub!?I would'nt be driving the car if the camber is running more than 2 degree's negative mate, i bet its well twitchy to drive!! lol Your tyres ant gonna last long either! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tigz™ Posted November 23, 2004 Report Share Posted November 23, 2004 What I meen is that my holes were fine. 1 degree both sides. But I know others ^^^Ross^^^ incuded that have problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tshirt2k Posted November 23, 2004 Report Share Posted November 23, 2004 elongate the bottom hole on the strut on the inner edge of the hole. I used a drill and a round file. Be careful of any wires etc. I had one wheel at 1.3 deg and the other at 2 degrees. With the bolt in place i measured around 5mm from the edge of the bolt to the front edge of the strut.( ie the gap around the bolt head). That should give you roughly correct camber. Must be fk's. i now have 1.3 degrees each side. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattyB Posted November 23, 2004 Report Share Posted November 23, 2004 2 degrees is a bit much! If you do alot of motorway driving your tyres will wear away on the inner edge in no time. It should however give you some meaty cornering ability assuming the rest (toe/caster) is all good!I had 1 degree on my Lupo...wish I could say it was any good - the toe was royally fecked up and no one seemed to be able to fix it! style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":lol:" border="0" alt="laugh.gif" /> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GTi Si Posted November 23, 2004 Author Report Share Posted November 23, 2004 My toe was horrendous, but they adjusted it style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":)" border="0" alt="smile.gif" />Shoudl be between -0.5 and +0.5 - mine were 8.3 and 9.7!However most of the bolts were seized style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":(" border="0" alt="sad.gif" />The camber is supposed to be between -0.5 minutes and -0.1 minutes according to my figures. Mine are 2deg 59 minutes and 3 deg 29 minutes!So, I elongate the lower hole towards the shock body. Will this effect the corrosion protection on them? And I need to elongate it by around 5mm?I was considering getting FK to send me a replacement pair of front shocks...............S Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tigz™ Posted November 23, 2004 Report Share Posted November 23, 2004 Good on ya mate.Let us know how you get on with it.It must be a product fault in the eyes of standard agencys as they are advertised to fit a Lupo, so if it wont allow you to set your camber to the correct settings, surely its a dodgy shock?Good luck with it buddy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GTi Si Posted November 24, 2004 Author Report Share Posted November 24, 2004 Cheers.I spoke to 'other' car experts and they said you shouldn't have elongated holes! He said then you are them just relying on clamping force of the bolts...........but the whole suspension does!I will be looking into it today style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":)" border="0" alt="smile.gif" />S Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tigz™ Posted November 24, 2004 Report Share Posted November 24, 2004 But the standard VW struts have elongated holes? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GTi Si Posted November 24, 2004 Author Report Share Posted November 24, 2004 Indeed style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":)" border="0" alt="smile.gif" />That is what I said. I am waiting to see what he says now style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":D" border="0" alt="biggrin.gif" />S Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tshirt2k Posted November 24, 2004 Report Share Posted November 24, 2004 As tigz said. the original struts have elongated holes. For mk1 and mk2 golfs you can get camber bolts that have a small shoulder to give more adjustment. not available for lupo tho'. It shouldn't corrode that much cos the small area that is filed is covered by the bolt head anyway. It's not 5mm you need to remove. it depends on the clearance you have already between the edge of the bolt and the front face of the strut. i cant explian properly, i need a drawing that i could modify to explain better. A Good one for DIY section.All Cars are different, and with mass production there is always going to be slight errors.I took me about an hour to do. But remember, when you change the camber the toe will change again, so it will need to be set up again. Thats why i made out that they hadn't done it right so i got it done for free again. style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=";)" border="0" alt="wink.gif" />I would have toe set parallel and camber at about -1 degree to give you a bit more grip when cornering. T Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GTi Si Posted November 24, 2004 Author Report Share Posted November 24, 2004 Demon Tweeks do cmaber bolts in various sizes: http://www.`demon-tweeks`.co.uk/ca...ICB&from=searchWhy won't they work on a Lupo?Surely I need to elongate the hole towards the engine if the lower hole is being worked on or it would give more negative camber.So how much do you think needs taking off?I am looking at eccentric top mounts instead. Anyone know if they are made for the Lupo?S Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackrat Posted November 24, 2004 Report Share Posted November 24, 2004 if the struts dont have elongated holes then how do you adjust the camber ? hmmmi cant get enough positive camber on my left front wheel , one day i will sort it out style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":)" border="0" alt="smile.gif" /> its been like that for .. almost two years now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tigz™ Posted November 24, 2004 Report Share Posted November 24, 2004 I wonder why I didnt have any problems? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tshirt2k Posted November 24, 2004 Report Share Posted November 24, 2004 yeah you do elongate the hole towards the engine. but i measured the distance with the (bolt in place loosely) between the edge of the bolt and the face of the strut(wheel side). just keep doing it till its roughly 5 mm. But once its done it still wont look right cos the toe will be out.QUOTE(Blackrat)i cant get enough positive camber on my left front wheel , one day i will sort it out style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":)" border="0" alt="smile.gif" /> its been like that for .. almost two years nowIt was my left front too. but its sorted now.QUOTE(tigs)I wonder why i never had any problems?Maybe its a GTI thing? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GTi Si Posted November 24, 2004 Author Report Share Posted November 24, 2004 Clifford, did you elongate the holes in your shocks?`T-shirt`, so do I elongate the hole by 5mm, or more? I think you mean you held the hub and moved it out until correct then measure the lenth from the bolt in hole........correct?TAS do eccentric adjustable top mounts (which do camber and castor) but are around £100 to make (made to order through Eurotek).S Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tshirt2k Posted November 24, 2004 Report Share Posted November 24, 2004 QUOTE(GTi Si)`T-shirt`, so do I elongate the hole by 5mm, or more? I think you mean you held the hub and moved it out until correct then measure the lenth from the bolt in hole........correct?SNo not by 5mm. i must have elongated it by about 3mm. let me try to explain better. where the shock mounts on to the hub it wraps around the stud. if you are looking at the hub with wheels pointing straight, you can see the gold strut wrapping around the mount. That square edge, i will call the "front edge". now insert the bottom mounting bolt into the hole and secure loosely. pull the hub towards you. Now if you look at the bolt head so you can see the hexagon shape, you measure from the edge of the circle around the hex shape (the bolt , not the nut)to the "Front Edge". When i first fitted mine there was around 1 .5 mm clearance. Hope this is clearer. I just filed until it look right with the wheel on. You can't see with the wheel off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GTi Si Posted November 25, 2004 Author Report Share Posted November 25, 2004 OK.........I think!So you mount the wheels as they should be. You them measured from the bolt hex section to the circle and then cut away the mounting holes until you can insert the hex section properly?S Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackrat Posted November 25, 2004 Report Share Posted November 25, 2004 havnt done it as yet , but would like to as soon as i have my rear arches done Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GTi Si Posted November 25, 2004 Author Report Share Posted November 25, 2004 Spoke to my mechanic today (former rally car mechanic and driver).He said my camber wasn't too bad. I would handle better as well!But if you do elongate the holes you should use eccentric camber bolts or when you go over bumps it could come loose!I am going to keep them as they are at the moment and see how it goes.The tracking is more important. The wheels should be parallel.SS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tshirt2k Posted November 25, 2004 Report Share Posted November 25, 2004 thats not true. thats the whole point of having elongated holes so that the camber can be set to its optimum position, even standard struts have elongated holes for adjustment. its just that in the manufacturing process they have misaligned the holes. ive done a rough drawing.http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v458/tsh...irt2k/strut.bmpMine haven't come loose in the time ive had them. and its not as if it held by one bolt. you could say that about any bolt on the car. :roll: It all depends on how long you want your tyres to last style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":)" border="0" alt="smile.gif" /> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.